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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.