Newspaper Page Text
4
THE SOUTHERN WORLD, AUGUST 1,1882.
gjorticttltarxl gjtyzrtment.
Fodder Pulling*
This is one of the peculiarities of the
Southern system of farming. In the North
and West we believe it is never practiced as
we do it—that is, the blades are not stripped
from the stalk one by one, and the stalks
left in the field. We are not sure that we
can assign the exact reason for this differ
ence in practice. It seems to have reference
entirely to climate—either directly or indi-
dectly. Our Southern corn-stalks are large
and the corn matures long before frost.
Owing to the size of the stalks they are diffi
cult to cure, being apt to sour and mildew.
The Northern corn is smaller of stalk and
ripens at about the time of the first frost. In
fact, frost often occurs north of the Ohio
river, before the ears arc dry enough to be
secure from injury thereby. So the cutting
of the “stalk and all’’ is often imposed as a
necessity thatthe ears may be saved from the
effects of tlie frost and permitted to harden
and dry in the shocks. Another reason for
the Northern practice is found in the neces
sity of providing a more abundant store for
feeding theirmore numerous animalsduring
their long and severe winters.
It has often been urged that the practice
of stripping the blades as with us, is injuri
ous to the corn and should be discontinued.
AVe have no doubt that corn is often seri
ously injured and some times to the extent
of the vnlue of the fodder. But where the
seasons have been good and the cultivation
regular, fodder pulled at the right stage of
the corn will not seriously hurt the latter.
On land abounding in vegetable matter, the
ear itself is usually the first to give indica
tion of maturity and of tliQ approaching
death of the plant, the blades continuing
green until the grain is well glazed, the
shuck lias begun to brown and become loose.
No possible harm can result if the fodder
pulling is deferred until this period, and but
little loss will be occasioned even if the
blades be pulled some days earlier. This
ripening of the ears of corn is quite analo
gous to the ripening of all fruits and vegeta
bles which occurs before the foliage has
turned brown from approaching death and
decay.
It is to be regretted that the supply of our
available cured fornge is too often measured
by the yield of blade fodder from the regular
field crop of corn. The supply from this
source is generally insufficient to more than
supply work-stock—mules and horses—and
is often far short of this demand. Corn for
age, or corn sown very thickly on rich land
and cut and cured as they do in the North,
would yield a far more abundant and
cheaper, if not better forage than tiie blades.
The latter makes excellent fodder, hardly
excelled by the best hay, but the quantity is
always short of what the demand should be.
The truth is, Southern farmers feed too much
grain and too little hay. They have been
too much accustomed to consider fodder,
hay, shucks, etc., as merely intended to “fill
up.” Long forage does serve this purpose, but
supplies a very considerable portion of the
nutritive elements of food, and in propor
tion to quality will relieve the necessity for
grain and at greatly less expense. It.
Baldwin Takes the Ont-Cake.
From the Milledgcville (Ga.) Union and
Recorder wo obtain the following facts about
the results of the Oat Club in that county,
The following is the reported yield on an
acre:
NO. BU8HEL8.
C. W. Ennis
G. W. Hollinshead
E. C. Ramsey
W. I. Harper
F. J. Cline
G. C. McKinley
G.T.Whilden
1,032 10-32 bushels on 14 acres, or an aver
age of nearly 74 bushels per acre.
Potato growing has been the object of a
curious experiment just completed in En
gland. A pound of early potatoes was taken
and allowed to spirit (sprout) freely. From
each potato a spirit was broken, and potatoes
and spirits were then planted in separate
rows. Both grew well, and the following is
the result of the experiment: From the
spirits, which weighed in all half an ounce,
five pounds, five ounces of sound potatoes
have been obtained, and from the pound of
potatoes five pounds, four ounces, showing a
slight balance in favor of the spirit. • The
spirit potatoes were the most regular in
shape, the earlier in growth.
inquiry coluhs.
Editor Southern World.—Can you give
me the address of some one who has the
“Guinea” breed of hogs and greatly oblige.
Montgomery, Ala. R. M. Barry.
Will some of our readers give the desired
information.
Oath after Oath—Dallas Wheat: I see
in your paperof June 15th, an inquiry, if oats
will do to succeed oats. Mere it has been prac
ticed for years without any diminution of
yield, and I have known a half dozen crops
or more made from one sowing, sometimes
plowed and sometimes without plowing. I
see also reports of farmers in regard to yield
of wheat in your state, called Bill Dallas
wheat. I want to know whence the name?
What kind of wheat, if May wheat, on wbat
kind of soil it was grown? Were there fer
tilizers used, if so, what kind and how
much ? How much seed to the acre ? In
short all about it. Farther—to whom ap
ply to procure some for seed ? I am fully
satisfied our seed has run out. The crop
has been getting more and more uncertain
here for seven or eight years, until npw it’s
a failure; and unless we can get seed to pro
duce as of yore, this fine belt of country, so
good for wheat years ago, will cease to pro
duce it. Please let mo hear from you and
correspondents on these questions.
It. M. White.
Ovilla, Ellis county, Texas.
Answer: The Bill Dallas wheat origi
nated in South Carolina a good many years
ago, whence it was brought to Lincoln
county by Bill Dallas, from whom it took
its name. It is a stout growing wheat, with
good heads and plump, amber colored berry
and would ripen in Ellis county in the lat
ter part of May—if sown in October or No
vember. It is not absolutely rust-proof, not
as proof as the Nicaragua, but a much bet
ter flouring wheat. The straw is stiff and
well covered with silica which enables it to
resist the attack of fungus better than ordi
nary varieties.
The best crops in Georgia arc made by
sowing from October—in North Georgia—to
December in South Georgia. We would say
the last of October to the last of November
for our correspondent’s locality (about 32°
latitude). Cotton seed is the usual manure,
but a compost of cotton seed and acid phos
phate is better. Clean cotton land should
be selected, the ground well plowed and the.
seed and fertilizers sown and harrowed in
altogether. One bushel of seed to the acre
is sufficient for an expected yield of eight
or ten bushels, and more in proportion as
the application of fertilizers is heavier.
Rich land is not the safest. High, dry land
of medium fertility and having a good clay
subsoil, well fertilized and sown about the
time of the first killing frost, will be more
likely to produce a good, healthy plant, and
a good yield, than rich, low-lying or moist
land.
Our readers who know the secret of pro
ducing good yields of wheat, are invited to
contribute their quota of information for
the benefit of our correspondent.
We do not know wlio sells the Dallas
wheat in Georgia, but have no doubt Messrs.
Mark W. Johnson & Co., of this city, will
furnish any quantity of reliable seed if ap
plied for in time. R,
Need of Improved Implements.
TheScottsboro(Ala.) Herald, in the follow
ing paragraph, forcibly illustrates the neces
sity and utility of improved implements.
The moral is so strong that it need not be
stated in any plainer language: “Almost 50
per cent, of the advantages of a wheat crop
are lost to the people of Jackson county,
especially of this central portion of it, for
the lack of means and failure of those who
produce wheat to be in readiness to get it
out Wheat that was cut the last of May
and early in June is still standing or lying in
shock or imperfectly stacked in the field
awaiting the tardy movements of a traveling
thresher. Every farmer who makes wheat
should be prepared to get out his crop—get
it out early and save grain and straw before
either is damaged. People have been buy
ing flour from abroad for six weeks while
there is an abundance of wheat wasting in
the fields for the lack of machinery on the
farms where it is produced to get it out. The
straw that otherwise would be a good forage
for cattle is generally and always partially
lost, for lack of preparation and prompt
action in getting out a wheat crop.”
Governor Colquitt has re-appointed Hon.
J. T. Henderson Commissioner of Agricul
ture for Georgia, and it is meeting with the
approval of the press and people.
Georgia State Horticultural Society.
The seventh annual session of this Society,
will beheld in the city of Macon, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday, August 1st, 2nd
and 3d, 1882.
It is earnestly hoped that there will be a
full attendance of all the Fruit growers and
progressive Horticulturists of Georgia, as
the reunion promises to be one of the most
important ever held by the Society. The
work of the Association has been made evi
dent by the great progress and increased pro
duction of fruit within the past few years,
thus rendering its influence a source of
wealth to the country. To perfect the aim
anticipated at the inception of the organiza
tion, the co-operation of all interested in
the welfare of the country is expected, by
their presence and contribution of Fruits
and Vegetables.
The discussions will be eminently instruc
tive, and the information derived from the
concentrated experience of the most practi
cal and successful Horticulturists will be of
untold value to the progressive interests of
this branch of industry.
The following will be among the ques
tions proposed for discussion:
1. The chief obstacles to successful Fruit
culture as regards soil, climate, insects, dis
eases, etc., and the best remedies.
2. Best methods of cultivating, pruning,
etc.
3. Facts connected with the new early
varieties of peaches and other fruits intend
ed for Northern markets.
4. Best methods of packing and shipping
fruit.
5. The cultivation of the Japan persim
mon.
0. Grape culture for market and wine
making.
7. Utilization of surplus fruit.
8. Strawberry and other small fruits.
9. Vegetable growing for commercial pur-
posos.
10. Mulching and other methods to coun
teract effects of drought.
11. Best methods to embellish city gar
dens.
12. Improvement of rural homes.
P. J. Berckmanh, Pres., Augusta, Ga.
T. L. Kinsey, Sec’y, Savannah, Ga.
Georgia Frail Grower*.
Atlanta, Ga.—The Georgia State Fruit
Growers Convention will convene at the
ball of the Georgia State Horticultural So
ciety, in the city of Macon, Georgia, on the
3rd day of August, 1882, at 10 o’clock a. m.
This call is made pursuant to the resolution
of adjournment.
All citizens of Georgia and Florida inter
ested in the growtli or shipment of fruit,
melons and vegetables, are Invited to at
tend to confer with the convention regarding
the establishment of rapid and permanent
transportation arrangements to the north
ern and western markets next season.
The representatives of the different lines
of railroads, are invited to confer with the
convention regarding permanent arrange
ments for the rapid transportation and
proper handling of fruits, melons and vege
tables, in advance of another season, so that
the producers may know wbat to expect in
future.
The defects in the present transportation
system and mode of handling, are so great
as to discourage any increase in these crops
unless some means of relief can be devised
in advance.
The railroad officials are beginning to see
the importance of this interest, and to get
some idea of the magnitude of its future
growth, and of its value to them if properly
managed, and a mutual understanding at
the time may be productive of great good.
John D. Cunningham, President.
J. S. Newman, Secretary of Convention.
Pomegranates.
Editor Southern World.—Please answer
the following questions and oblige a sub
scriber :
1. How far north can pomegranates be
raised and what states suit them best ?
2. What would they bring on the market?
3. The best way of obtaining the cutting
and the distance to set them, and all other
preparations necessary. A. G. Baggy.
Hawkinsville, Ga.
Answer : 1. Pomegranates can be grown
os far north as Maryland and the Ohio river,
but they are liable to be killed to the ground
by a temperature of 15 or 10 degrees. Evtn
as far south as Hawkinsville, as our corres
pondent is aware, the shrubs are occasion
ally killed by unusual cold—especially the
sweet variety, which is much less hardy than
the sour. The pomegranate and fig require
about the same climate. The culture of
neither can be relied on, north of latitude
33, without winter protection for the trees;
but both should receive far more attention
than heretofore in the Middle and Southern
sections of South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and the
whole of Florida. The sections and states
named are well suited to the culture of
pomegranates.
2. Very few are ever seen in market here,
but the fruit dealers will be glad to pay 4
to 0 cents apiece for sweet or white pome
granates, and 3 to 4 for the sour. There is
money in the business at such prices.
3. Mostsoutbern nurserymen keep them in
stock and a start should be made by pur
chasing young trees or suckers. As the
trees are readily propagated by cuttings,
layers, suckers or seeds, there will be no dif
ficulty in getting future stock after a year or
two’s growth of the first planting. We
have never seen a grove of pomegranates
and therefore do not know the distance at
which the trees should be set; but would
say ten feet distance each way will be am
ple. Any good rich soil suitable for apples
or figs would answer for pomegranates.
Blackberries and Raspberries.
Every one who has gathered wild black
berries is aware that the stems grow to the
hight of six or eight feet, and gracefully
bend over at the top. The lower part of the
cane bears little or no fruit, it being nearly
all at the top of the bush. The same hap
pens on a smaller scale with the raspberry
when left to itself. While we cultivate the
blackberry for the sake of better fruit than
the wild plants usually afford, we should
also endeavor to have more of it, and more
conveniently placed on the bushes. From
questions that are asked, it is evident that
all are not aware that the stems of the black
berry and raspberry (at least tliqpe cultivat
ed for fruit) are only biennial. The plant
throws up from the root, often at some dis
tance from the old stems, vigorous shoots,
which grow rapidly, and by autumn will be
come ripe and hard canes, like the old ones.
The old canes, which havo given a crop of
fruit, have completed their work, and
though they may remain alive for awhile,
will all be dead by next spring. When the
fruit has been gathered, it is best to cut the
canes entirely away, to give room to the new
ones. These should have more attention
than they usually receive; if left to them
selves, they will become just like the wild
plants, straggling, and with their fruit all at
the top. Not only on account of the greater
quantity of fruit, but for the ease in picking
it, should the canes be pruned. Blackberry
cancs should never grow over five feet, and
many prefer to keep them at three feet high.
Whenever the green shoot has reached the
desired hight, remove the top, or growirig
point, which, being tender, may be pinched
off with the thumb and finger. Soon after
this is done, branches will start along the
stem, and these should also be pinched, tlie
lower ones when eighteen inches long, and
the upper when twelve inches. By a little
attention, once a week or oftener, giving the
needed pinching, the blackberry, instead of
being along stragglingshrub, catching at the
clothing of all who approach it, may be
brought into the form of a neat pyramidal
bush, which, the next season, will be loaded
with fruit from bottom to top. The samp
treatment may be followed with raspberries,
which are usually kept shorter. One of the
greatest pleasures in gardening is found in
training and shaping plants, and making
them grow as we wish, and effects of this
are strikingly shown in the blackberry and
raspberry.—American Agriculturist.
Wbat an Acre Will Do.
Amerlcus (Georgia) Recorder.
Who can say Southwest Georgia is not the
garden spot of the country, when an acre of
poor land can be made to produce like this.
A gentleman living in the suburbs of the
city, just ninety days ago planted an acre in
German millet; of course the land was well
prepared and liberally manured, the fertil
izers, seed and labor amountining to about
$40.00.
Here is the result of the little crop in
figures: six tons of hay at $20.00 per ton—
$120.00; manure, seed, etc., $40.00; clear
profit $80.00.
A crop of peas is now being put in on the
land, which, with ordinary seasons, will
make fully fifty dollars worth of peas and
hay, thus bringing the profits of an acre up
to one hundred and thirty dollars. What
one acre has done other acres can do.