Southern cultivator. (Augusta, Ga.) 1843-188?, December 01, 1870, Page 418, Image 8

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418 CROP BY A NEGRO IVOMAN —GRAIN ts. COTTON. Editors* Southern Cultivator I send you the following, giving statement of a crop made by a negro woman this year on about 30 acres of land ; also liberal calculation of supposed crop of cotton made on same land with same amount of corn. The labor, board, &c., of woman, cost not exceeding SIOO 00. The crop was planted as follows: about 10 acres in wheat, 10 in oats, and 10 in corn. These are the expenses : Labor 100 00 10 bu. seed wheat, $2 per bu 20 00 12 “ “ oats, $1 per bu 12 00 Feed for mule half the year 40 00 10 days labor, 1 extra hand, harvesting, $1 50 per day 15 00 Feed for team, hands, &c., threshing grain, 10 00 One extra hand 3 days, housing corn, $1 per day S2OO 00 PROCEEDS OF CROP. 70 bu. wheat, $2 per bu $l4O 00 200 bu. oats, $1 per bu 200 00 100 bu. of corn, $1 per bu 100 00 Pasture, SIOO 100 00 Straw $25, Shucks $lO, Peas $lO 45 00 Deduct from wages, for working potatoes, garden, &c 15 00 S6OO 00 Expenses deducted 200 00 S4OO 00 Suppose, instead of wheat and oats, 20 acres to be planted in cotton and 10 in corn, three such hands as made the above crop will be barely enough. Labor will be S3OO 00 Feed for one horse all the year 80 00 “ “ “ “ half the year 40 00 Cotton seed to plant 20 acres 5 00 Bagging for 7 bales of cotton, $3 pr bale, 21 00 Hauling same to market 25 miles, at $1 per 100 35 00 Difference in tools between cotton and wlieat T crop, 10 00 Difference in attention required for hands 50 00 $541 00 PROCEED* OF CROP. 7 bales cotton, 500 lbs. each, 18c $630 00 100 bu. corn, $1 per bu 100 00 SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 400 bu. cotton seed, 18c 72 00 Shucks $lO, Peas 10 20 00 Deduct from wages, for working pota toes, &c 50 00 $872 00 Expenses deducted 541 00 $331 00 Sixty-nine dollars in favor of oat and wheat crops. The cotton crop is rather an over esti mate, both in amount and price, for the present year. We have said nothing of the difference in the wear and abuse of the team. Should the oat and wheat crop fail, the pasture will ahvays pay for labor and seed. Should the cotton crop fail, there is considerable loss. Most of fanners say that ‘com, wheat, &c., are not ready money — this may sometimes be so, but fat meat generally is, vilich plenty of grain always makes. I 'would rather plant only five acres of com, and play the rest of the time, than to mortgage a cotton crop before it is made, for provisions to make it. A SUBSCRIBER. Cadaretta, Miss., Sept. 14,1870. ——_— »♦« aw MR. GIFT ON IMMIGRATION—FARMING IN WES TERN NEW YORK, Editors Southern Cultivator. —Esteemed friend George W. Gift, is right in his plea for the leguminosae, clover and cow-peas, as indispensa ble to the rotation of crops, and to plow in to quicken and fertilize the soil, making it both ab sorptive and retentive of w ater and atmospheric plant food. Guano and phosphoric acid are in valuable for the compost heap, and do well alone in light sandy soils. But a compact aluminous soil needs the mechanical aid of vegetable ma nure. It seems a little stimge to us at the north, that the south should difficulty in growing grass and clover as field crop,w r hen it is such a constant task to keep out the grass from the cotton crop. In Pennsylvania where they have the hottest weather in summer, their pasture lands never fail if they only give them a light dressing of lime once in six years. I w r as pleased to read in the October number of the Cultivator, Mr. Gift’s masterly reply to the veteran Davxd Dickson, on the question of coolie labor. It was the more especially interesting, as Mr. Dickson is one of the best practical planters in the south; but it is his misfortune to judge other men by himself. When perhaps not one