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THE PROGRESSIVE PARMER
Thursday, October 7, j,
Profeooor Maooey'o
Editorial Page.
Farm and Garden Work for October
IT HAS BEEN SHOWN at one of the experi
ment stations, whose bulletin I have mis
laid and cannot just now lay my hand on,
that thorough preparation of the land, fining the
surface soil as much as possible, resulted in al
most doubling the wheat crop compared with land
of like quality alongside that was left loose and
lumpy. I have often insisted upon this point, and
"have urged my readers that every time they put
the harrow over the field they are adding bushels
to the crop. I want to still further emphasize this
for October is the time for doing this. From
North Carolina southward I would defer sowing
wheat till after there has been a light white frost,
and in the meantime keep the harrow going on
the land.
If wheat is following on a pea stubble or after
corn or tobacco, do not re-plow the soil deeply, but
let it remain settled from the earlier plowing so
that the capillarity of the lower soil will be un
disturbed, while you make a dust blanket over the
top to retain the rising moisture. In a dry fall a
field that is left to lie rough-plowed and dry out
will have a hard time to germinate the seed, while
one that has been kept constantly harrowed will
have plenty of moisture, and October in the South
is apt to be a very, dry month.
The amount of wheat to be sown per acre will
depend on the fertility of the soil. On strong clay
loam well suited to wheat the plants will tiller or
spread more than on thin soil, and less seed need
be used. As an average amount I would say five
pecks, but on thin land would sow six to seven
pecks. i: -
SOW OATS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I am sat
isfied that the best results in the oat crop will be
had from sowing in September, at least as far
north as North Carolina. South of this October
will do very well. Then, too, if you have oats for
seed that are thoroughly fanned and cleaned of
trash and cheat seed, you can sow the crop better
with thelioe wheat drill than in any other way.
This will put the seed in deeper and at a uniform
depth far better than any broadcast sowing, and
the little furrows will feed in and protect the crop
In winter just as well as the so-called open furrow
method and will make heavier crops. But, as with
wheat, make the soil fine and well settled, for
there is more winter killing from sowing In a
loose and badly prepared soil than from any other
cause.
PUT THE COTTON UNDER SHELTER. In
most parts of the South crimson clover can still be
sown among the cotton, and will give a winter
cover, a place to use the manure spreader all win
ter and something to turn under in the spring that
will give you a heavier corn crop. If you cannot
get clover seed to sow, at least sow rye and save
the fertility that would be washed out in the win
ter from bare soil.
Get the cotton out of the field as fast as possi
ble and get It baled, and then do not rush It to
market, but keep it under cover and market as
the price suits. There is always a large amount
of "weak" cotton grown by croppers, which de
presses the market in the fall. Wait till that rush
Is over, but do not leave your bales outdoors on
the ground to get damaged. Get it under shelter,
and if there is a warehouse near you where you
can store it, do so and take the receipts.
Trade the cottonseed fo rmeal and hulls if you
can get a fair exchange, and then determine that
you will feed these In addition to the pea hay and
shredded stover and make manure for your corn
next spring. What a difference we would see on
Southern farms If the cottonseed meal, pea hay
and corn stover were all fed on the land that
produces them!
It would-be easy to grow as much cotton as ever
on one-third the area while having beef and pork
to sell and farms growing richer instead of poorer.
and less of the farmers money going into the
pockets of the fertilizer trust.
TIE THE CORN SHOCKS WELL T hv
tlced in traveling about that a lareW nnrt nf the
damage complained of in corn that Is cut off at
the ground Is due to carelessness in shocking.
have seen field after field where the shocks are
tumbling open and exposing the interior to tne
rain. This is because so many fail to tie the tops
of the shocks. Every shock should be bound at
the top with tarred twine or binder twine. Have
a rope of small size with an eyelet on one end.
Pass this around the top of the shock, putting the
other end of the rope in the eyelet and draw the
tops together while another hand makes the tie.
Then remove the rope to use on the next shock.
Still,: In a humid climate, there will be some dam
age, of course, on the outside, and I have seen
shocks here this fall, where we have a seaside cli
mate, that are quite black with fungus growth but
bright Inside. But. nevertheless, for the best use of
the land it Is better to cut the corn where one has
wisely made plenty of other forage. The lack of
peavine and clover hay Is one of the principal rea
sons for adhering to the stripping of blades, and
one having plenty of better forage can afford to
save corn and have less valuable fodder by cutting
it off at the ground.
Then, as soon as the corn in the shocks is well
matured, get it out and haul in the fodder before
the land gets too wet to haul over. It is far more
comfortable to shuck the corn from the shocks in
pleasant weather than to let it stay in the field till
A Personal Note,
HOSE WHO TAKE Editor Poo at his
word and are piling in their cards,
must take this as my reply to all, for
I cannot answer each personally. The whole
object of my life has been' to help uplift
the farming of the South, and I have prayed
for the leading and direction of the All -wise
One whose soil we till, and if I have ac
complished anything of good it is because
He has led me in a way I knew not. I have
lived to see great improvement in the farm
ing of the South, and wish that I could live
to see still greater. I can hardly realize
that I have spent seventy years of life, for
I feel so young and active that it seems odd
for people to call me old. I am 70, but they
say a man is as old as he feels, and I feel
like 40, and hope that I shall continue to
feel that way for some time to come.
W. F. MASSE Y.
one's hands are numbed with the cold In shuck
ing it. Then, having the corn in shocks, one can
prepare the laDd nicely with the disk or cutaway
harrow for the fall grain.
WORK IN THE GARDEN. My, first sowing of
spinach is now up well, also my lettuce plants for
fall and winter. I shall make another sowing of
spinach, for there is no greens so nice all winter.
You can still sow Seven-top turnips for spring
greens'. When the cold weather comes throw
some soil to each side of the rows as a protection.
Plant sets of the Yellow Potato onion now for
green onions and ripe ones. White Queen, too, is
a beautiful onion and very early, but it runs to
seed in spring and should be used green only.
Make furrows and fertilize well and bed on these
and. set the sets deeply in the ridges so that they
will be on the surface when the soil is pulled from
them In spring.
Have a few glass sashes and a frame for grow
ing lettuce and radishes of the early sorts in
spring after the lettuce has been cut. One who
has never had a cold frame in the South has a
faint idea of what an amount of healthful vegeta
bles can he had from a small space.
;i ' X M
HOAV TO KEEP SWEET POTATOES. As soon
as frost nips the vines cut them off from the hills
even if you do not dig at once, for the dead vines
left on the hills will affect the roots. Dig, If pos
sible, on a bright sunny day. Let the roots lie
along the rows and sun till evening, and do not
allow them s to be thrown in heaps and bruised.
Haul in in baskets or boxes, and never pile in a
wagon body, for the keeping of the potatoes de
pends largely on the way they are handled in dig
ging and storing. I
If you have no potato house with heating ap
paratus you can store In banks under a rough
shed. Make a thick layer of pine straw and put
about twenty-five bushels in a heap and cover
thickly with pine straw. Make a rough board
shelter over the heaps, but put no earth on them
till the sweating is over and: the weather is get
ting cold. Then cover with six inches of dry soil.
keeping the heaps dry is of great imoortan
the dry soil will keep out more cold than wet son
I nave Kept them sound till June in this
Points in Selecting Cotton Seed.
n HE "AGRICULTURAL NEWS," publish
hyKJ in Barbados, gives the following points to
be considered In the selection and improve
ment of cotton seed:
To maintain uniformity in the cotton
production.
j "(2) To increase yields by producing a
heavier bearing plant, and one which matures
vail its bolls.
j "(3) To produce plants with a disease- '
resisting power.
j "(4) To produce a plant which yields a
.minimum quantity of weak fiber; hence, one
jwhich gives a stronger and less wasteful
jcotton. - -
I "(5) To Increase the quality of the cotton
as regards fineness and length.
"(6) To produce a plant adapted for the
conditions of the district in which it is being
jdeveloped." j
ll suppose that the first item means the main
taining of a standard cotton for the district in
which it is grown, and hence would more fairly
be included In the sixth Item, for in all of our
Selection of cotton seed we must have in mind
the necessities of the climate in which we are
Working. In the upper South this means an early
picturing cotton, of course, and in the demand
brought about for an early cotton In the weevil
infested sections, it becomes of greater import
ance for the upper South to produce seed for that
section.
j lAs to the second item, the object of any breed
er; of cotton should to' get the heaviest producing
plant attainable, even if in our climate we cannot
hope to get a plant that will mature all its bolls,
though In exceptional seasons w ; may mature the
tcp crop.
.The third item is important in many section?
where the cotton wilt has developed. There the
selection of seed from resistant plants becomes of
yital importance, and it has been shown that this
resistant character can be perpetuated.
I Then, as regards the fourth and fifth items, it
Is j certainly desirable to produce a strong fiber
and a fine and long one. But then another ques
tion arises: "Is it practicable to greatly increase
the length and fineness of the fiberwithout sacri-
firing earliness and productivity?" So far as has
been shown the shorter fibered cotton is, as a rule,
the earliest and most short-jointed, and hence
mpst productive of bolls, and in producing a
plant we must have always in view the demands
of our climate as is indicated by the sixth item.
What might be accomplished in the tropical cli
mate of Barbados would not at all apply to the
upland cotton of the great Cotton Belt. We would,
therefore, make the important points for our seer
Uon the productiveness and short-jointed habit of
th'e plant, and so far as is consistent with this and
earliness, we would pay attention to the length
and fineness of the fiber, but would rather sacri
fice these for earliness and productive character.
jTo attain these we must have a separate seed
patch for seed only, frpm which we can eliminate
all long-jqinted and prospectively inferior plants
as; soon as they develop and before the blooms
have infected those around. It is the same prin
ciple that Is true with any plant we wish to im
prove. We must remove unfavorable influences
around it. It will not be sufficient to merely se
lect seed from the best plants if bad plants are
blooming all around them. We must endeavor, so
far as possible, to insure the parentage of the seed
from the best plants only. Starting then with
the best improved seed attainable, we plant the
seed patch, and having in mind the ideal cotton
plant for our section, see that only those plant?
are left to bloom and make seed that come some
where near that ideal. By sticking closely to this
yar, after year we shall finally get what we are
afte.
Have you ever noticed that many of the
Northern farm papers made by city men, treat
their farmer readers as If they were children or
half-idiots? The silly, patronizing, so-called
"heart-to-heart" talks In which the publishers en
gage, patting themselves on the back and playing
the demagogue generally, are enough to make a
self-respecting farmer sick with disgust. We notice
that none of our Southern farm papers deal In
such sickening gush, and this Is another reason
for patronizing papers made in the South by men
Who live in the South. - ..
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