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Carroll. — Am glad to note that there has been great Improvement
in stock of all kinds since the “stock law” went into ellect two years
ago. H. L. McP.
—The farmers generally are in much better condition than a year
ago, having bought less and worked better. H.
Clayton.—Farmers not in quite as good condition as last jear, owing
to short cotton crop.
Coweta.— The most intelligent farmers agree that on the whole,
farmers are worse of! financially than they were ten years ago. In my
own neighborhood—say, five miles square, I know that they are glow
ing poorer every year with increasing crops. W. F. S.
—Tennessee big white corn is a good variety. The Spanish groundpea
and Kaffir corn are both good. The Kaffir solves the corn question, and
with the Spanish peanut we can raise our pork cheaply. 1 find the sor
ghums the most economic feed I can raise for stock from July until
Christmas. W. F. S.
Douglas. —Tennessee white corn did well and is a good variety. I
cannot recommend groundpeas. Farmers should plant less cotton, more
corn, wheat and oats, and raise their supplies at home. It is easily
done, for I have not failed in twenty years. W. H. V.
Hancock. —Farmers very much depressed. Drouth and flood, bad
weather for harvesting crops, short crops, low prices, have almost par
alyzed the laboring class. J- W. C.
—Farmers are better off because they are living more at home.
J. T.
H any of your reporters experimented with the Peerless
Cotton seed ? They are being advertized and boomed by a certain At
lanta firm, and if it is a better cotton than the Peterkin , Eureka , and
the “Bob,” etc., the farmers should know it. F. H.
—Big Tennessee corn no better than the ordinary varieties. Teosinthe
proves to be an excellent summer forage, easily cultivated, and relished
by all stock, and yielding two cuttings. It headed out about November
Ist, but failed to mature seed. J. B. P.
Lincoln. —Farmers are in much worse condition than I have known
them for years. The trouble is they don’t plant enough of food crops,
and plant too much cotton. A. C.
McDuffie. —The worst year on farmers this county has ever experi
enced. Potatoes and peanuts are the only crops that have done well.
Floods of early fall smashed everything and farmers are despondent in
consequence, and all business more or less paralyzed. We verily believe
a revolution has begun, and this year’s failure may prove a blessing.
We must abandon the old plans. We would do well to study some of
the ways of our fathers. We can succeed if we will. H. McC.
—The Peterkin cotton is well adapted to my county. It is quite pro
lific, and 1350 pounds of seed cotton will yield 500 pounds of lint. I
made over 400 pounds of lint to the acre on eleven acres, this year.
5 A. E. S.
Meriwether. —Jones’ Herlong cotton the best I ever planted. Buck
wheat made a poor yield, and the birds and chickens were so fond of it
that but little seed were saved. B. S. C.
—Spanish groundpeas a great success, and a great many were raised.
B. M. McC.
Morgan. —The introduction of the two plants—Kaffircorn and Span
ish peanuts, alone, would amply repay the State for maintaining the
Department of Agriculture, if farmers would cultivate them as they
should. One of my neighbors made at the rate of forty to forty-five
bushels per acre of the Kaffir, which is much more than Indian corn
will yield, and the feeding value of Kaffir is nearly equal to the Indian.
Both Kaffir corn and Spanish peanuts may be successfully grown after
wheat and oats in time to fatten pork if the land is in good heart.
J. T. N.
Oglethorpe. —All seeds sent proved good. The too much cotton and
not enough corn and meat policy is showing its ruinous effects in a
striking manner. J. J. G.
Pike. —Now generally conceded that the Spanish peanut is a success.
I think farmers are more-,in debt now than at any time since the war.
The outlook for a large majority of them is not hopeful, yet the indica
tions are that less cotton will be planted next year than for years past.
E. W. R.
Putnam. —The floods of 1887 destroying so much corn, together with
a crop of cotton this year—two hundred thousand dollars short of an
average—leaves the farmers in worse condition than for years. The Al
liance is doing a good work in encouraging a spirit of economy and the
planting of more grain and less cotton. The Alliance co-operative store
has been successful in every sense, and it would be well for county alli
ances to correspond with the executive committee in regard to its work
ing. J. T. Dennis, Eatonton, Ga.
Rockdale.— Kaffir corn good for stock and poultry. Tennessee big
corn did well; about ten days earlier than common corn, but is inclined
more to rot. J. S. A.
—All seeds did well. If a farmer expects to be short of feed in June
and July, I advise planting an early crop of whippoorwill peas.
Taliaferro. —Spanish peanuts fully sustain all claims made for them.
L. L. V.
—Chufa seed should be soaked a full week before planting them in
order to secure a good stand. Planted in sandy soil 1 find it a better
crop for hogs than Spanish peanuts. D. N. S.
Talbot. —Jones’ Improved cotton good. Tennessee white corn not
good ; too soft. W. H. E.
—Spanish peanut is destined to become a favorite. The Farmers Alli
ance has done a great deal of good by organization and co-operation.
S. A. F.
Troup. —All seeds did well. J. P.
Upson.— As to wheat growing, I suggest that a number of farmers,
next year, plant one acre each, during the last days of October, merely
scratching in the wheat, well pulverizing the clods. T. J. M.
SOUTHWEST GEORGIA.
Berrien. —Some corn and cotton tests made in this county this year
resulted as follows: Corn, forty to sixty bushels per acre; seed cotton,
12(H) to 1500 pounds per acre. No extraordinary results from seeds
received from the Department. H. T. P.
—None of the seeds sent by you did well this year on account of con
tinued rains, except early in the spring. Many bales of cotton rotted in
the fields, and potatoes almost a failure, and what few were made taste
sour. J. J. P.
Brooks. —The Alliance has already improved the condition of farm
ers very much. There has not been a time in twenty years when the
farmers were more determined to buy less and to pay cash for what they
do buy. If the Alliance accomplishes no more than to stop the policy
of buying on credit, it will have done more than all other influences
combined since the war. The next best thing it can do, will be to abol
ish fences, then our redemption will be complete. T. W. J.
—Grass and hay are growing in favor. More grass, more grass, more
stock. It. J. D.
Colquitt.— The Spanish peanut planted deep and covered shallow,
and planted late, say June Ist, and dirt worked to the vine as it grows,
will make more hog feed than any crop except chufas. The latter excel
all crops for hogs. They, too, should not be planted until the first of
June. One acre of chufas, fertilized with one hundred and fifty pounds
of guano, will fatten ten hogs without a grain of corn or other food. One
peck will plant an acre. Oat or wheat stubble is the place to plant them
F. J. W.
Walton.— The price paid by oil mills for cotton seed, and the low
price at which flour has been sold this year, together with short crops of
wheat for three years, have reduced the interest in growing wheat.
Hardly any fall oats sown for two years past. Spanish chufas (?) are a
success, and more will be planted. Sweet potatoes rotting badly.
Dougherty.—More oats put in last fall than in ten years.
J. L. D.
SUPPLEMENTAL CKOP REPORT OF TIIE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OF GEORGIA FOR 18S8.
Early.—Rnilmails, factoriw., mills, foundries are declaring good <!ivi
dends; nearly every town is building up; merchants with SI,OOO invest
ed in business are beating $5,000 invested in farming! Where lies the
In h
trouble is puzzling my brain. j. x>. xi.
—Such a crop of sugar cane was never seen in this county before.
D. M. W.
Houston. —The Legislature should provide by law requiring each tax
receiver to gather from each farmer returns of crops and stock. It could
be easily done.
[There is already such a law on the statute book, but it has long been
a dead letter, no compensation being provided for doing this extra
work.— Commissioner.] #
Irwin. —Tennessee big white corn will not do for this warm climate.
All other seeds did well, except that Kaffir corn was cut short by a
drouth. Kolb gem melons did well, one weigLiug 50 pounds.
J. P. S.
Macon. —One hundred pounds of cotton seed meal sown on oats in
February will do more good than twenty-five bushels of cottonseed put
on at time of planting. A. J* S.
Mitchell. —The farmers have bought less on time, but the short
crop of cotton and the low price have disabled them from paying as large a
percentage of their time purchases as last year. On many tarms com
mercial fertilizers failed to be profitable, and there will be less used next
year. The Alliance propose buying direct from the factories.
J. B. T.
Muscogee.— The great and important thing is to urge upon farmers
to produce all their supplies at home. C. F. H.
Randolph. —Our farmers are every year adding to the proportion of
supplies made at home. At our recent stock exhibit we had nearly one
hundred head of horse and mule colts, which will be worth SIOO a head
by next fall. R. F. C.
[This is encouraging. Let every county do as well, or better, in this
and other departments of true farming, and the country will then be
prosperous and the farmers cheerful and happy.—Commissioner.]
Taylor. —The farmers are in better condition than in several years.
Cotton has commanded a better price, and the quality was good.
J. T. A.
Thomas. —Garden seeds have not done well. L. H. P.
Webster. —Spanish peanuts are excellent. I made thirty bushels
per acre. G. W. D.
—The tax returns for 1888 show considerable increase in aggregate
value of property. What proportion of this increase belongs to cities,
towns and railroads, and how much to agriculture? Cannot farmers
make their vocation sufficiently remunerative and otherwise attractive
to retain the boys and young men on the farm, rather than see them
drawn into professional pursuits? J. B. W.
—The Spanish Peanut is the salvation of the South. T. J. S.
—Our people are practicing more economy than last year. Altogether
the signs are favorable. Big Tennessee corn produced well enough, but
the weevils destroyed it by the first of November. Kaffir corn a failure
in this climate. R. A. B.
[Kaffir com ought to succeed as well in Webster as in any part of the
State, with same quality of soil, and same culture. —Commissioner.]
Worth. —I consider our county is twenty-five per cent, better off on
account of the improved seeds sent out by your department. Our farm
ers arc in better condition than they have been in years. They have
but little money, but are generally out of debt, and nearly a year’s sup
ply of provisions on hand. But one thing in the way, and that is—
politics. W. A. H.
EAST GEORGIA.
Bulloch. —Too wet to sow oats in lower half of county. In some
localities nearly all the stock hogs have dieifof cholera. C. A. S.
—The Alliance is on a boom, and I think will do much good if man
aged rightly. Spanish peanuts is a valuable acquisition. B. F. L. C.
Burke. —“Murrain” has prevailed among cattle considerably, in cer
tain neighborhoods, and there has been a prevailing fatal disease which
is called “cholera,” for the want of a better name. But the only two
or three cases in my own herd have appeared to be spinal, rather than
intestinal, since remedies which act on the kidneys have proved most
effective. A few cases of glanders occurred among the horses of Mr.
Wadley, but the disease was promptly stamped out, irnder the direction
of a veterinarian from Macon, who caused every suspected animal to
be killed and his body burned. J. B. J.
Jefferson.— -Farmers are beginning to appreciate the importance of
saving hay, and next year’s crop will quadruple that of this. Rye is
being largely sown for winter pasture, and stock raising has acquired a
healthy impetus. H. L. B.
[Another gratifying report.— Com’r.]
Johnson. —If the farmers can pull through next year, I think they
will practice more economy. They are already bracing themselves to
it, and many say they will live on less if they half perish. J. H. H.
[No necessity to perish, nor to suffer for “any good thing.” Only cease
tohuy mules, corn, bacon, lard, butter, etc., and produce them in abun
dance at home— Commissioner.]
Screven.— The Spanish peanut excels every new variety of seeds.
The Kaffir corn is destined to be a great help to farmers. The worm is
very bad on Indian corn in bottoms, while the Kaffir does better on
bottoms and is not troubled by the worms. E. B. G.
Telfair.— The vegetable seeds proved to be excellent. Jumbo melon
very fine. Dhurra corn does not pay to raise. [ls Kaffir meant ?] Span
ish peanut a success, and Peterkin cotton very fine. W. F. W.
INQUIRIES.
[Under this head the Commissioner invites farmers to submit such
practical questions as occur to them in the prosecution of their work.
If of general interest the answers will be published in the next report;
if of mere personal character, a reply will be sent by mail. Let inqui
ries be short and pointed and relating to but one subject matter, and do
not wait until the end of the month to send them.]
PINE STRAW UNDER COTTON.
Would like to have your opinion about putting pine straw under
cotton. Would it rot sufficiently if put in the furrows now in a wet con
dition ? I want to try it, but think the straw should have ashesorlime.
Waleska, Ga. J. J. A. S.
Ans. Pine straw, alone, put in the furrows now would hardly rot suf
ficiently in time to do the cotton much good in the early stages of growth.
It would be better to sprinkle lime along at the rate of a half bushel to
each large two horse load of straw. You could not aflwrd to pay more
than $5 a ton for lime for this purpose, or ten cents per bushel for
the “ air slacked ” lime. The chief office the pine straw will perform
will be to absorb and retain moisture. It does not contain a large per
centage of plant food, and cannot be converted into a fertilizer proper
in the true Sense olMie word. s
FARMERS ALLIANCE.
What do you think of the Farmers’ Alliance ? J. B. D.
Iron Rock, Ga.
Ans. The Commissioner is in hearty sympathy with the avowed
objects and aims of this new order, and is a member of the organization.
There is no doubt of the fact that it has already accomplished a great
dial of good. Its tenets are wise and wholesome, its objects praisewor
thy in the highest degree, and its methods, in the main, have been pru
dent, justifiable and effective. By means of the Alliance, other organi
zations aiding, the farmers are learning to appreciate their true relations
to the public, and to realize their power and influence for the good of
their calling when exerted in the form of organized effort.
JOHNSON GRASS.
1. Please tell us where we can get seed of the .Johnson grass, and
whether it is valuable for hay,and what kind of land suits it best?
2. Also, what kind of fertilizer is best lor corn, and the best way to
use it?
Ans. 1. Johnson grass is very highly appreciated by, perhaps, a ma
jority of the farmers who have tried it. The chief objection to it is that
it is difficult to eradicate when once it has taken possession of land r
especially if it be low lying, or bottom land. It will give good results*
on any land that will make good corn; the richer the soil, the better, as
is the case with all truly valuable crops. Seed can be had of any of th®
large seed dealer’s, as Mark W. Johnson Seed Cos., and Atlanta Seed Co.*
of this city, and J. H. Alexander Seed Cos., of Augusta, Ga.
2. Corn should have a fertilizer with a good percentage of ammonia.
An ammoniated, potash superphosphate, or a fertilizer that eontainsam
monia, phosphoric acid and potash. Any of the high grade or standard
commercial fertilizers will do well on corn. Vegetables generally require
a larger percentage of ammonia and potash. In your county you ought
to produce a large quantity of atabfe manure , which is good for all crops.
This you can do by raising cattle and feeding high—saving all tiio
manure.
N BUCKWHEAT.
We did not know what time to sow the buckwheat seed you sent us.
Many of us never saw it growing. Please tell us when to sow, and how
to cultivate. T. G. P.
Flovilla, Ga.
Ans. Buckwheat is sown for two distinct purposes, viz : Asa honey
plant, and for the grain (of which buckwheat Hour is made). If for bees*
sow about cotton planting time, in rows three feet apart, and about two
or three quarts of seed per acre, covering as if cotton seed. Cultivate as
for cotton, but without thinning the plants. It commences to bloom as
soon as a few inches high, and blooms air summer. If the object is
grain, then sow the latter part of July or early in August, in the same
way, and cut and thresh when there appears to be the largest quantity of
ripe seeds. Or, the seed may be sown broadcast, about one bushel per
acre, and harrowed in on clean, well plowed land. You may scatter the
seeds in the corn field at the last plowing and secure a good bee pastur
age, besides filling the soil with seed for future volunteer crops. Buck
wheat does not require the strongest land, and the crop is a good land
improver.
BEST TIME TO PLANT COTTONj AND BEST PREPARATION OF LAND.
1. When is the best time to plant cot ton, and what is the best prepa
ration for land. What the best fertilizer, and what kind of seed is the
best for planting?
2. Is terracing better than hillside ditching?
3. What is the cheapest and best feed for mules and horses?
4. Is lucerne better than red clover for pasturage and hay ?
Woolsey, Ga. I. G. W.
Ans. 1. If you had asked one more question — “what is the best
method of cotton culture”—a full answer would have required a trea
tise or extended essay on the subject. The time to plant, the best prepa
ration of the land, the fertilizer to be used, and even the variety of seed,
will, in varying degrees, depend on the character of the soil, its peculiar
topography or location, and other conditions, none of which you have
named. I might say, in general terms, that early planted cotton, that
is, cotton planted (in your county) about the 10th to the 20th of April,
usually gives better results, if fertilized, than later planted. I cannot
undertake to say which brand of fertilizers is best, even if I knew.
There are several varieties of cotton between which I would he troubled
to decide, viz., the Peterkin, Peerless, Jones’ Eureka, Hawkins’ Improved,
Herlong, etc. Each of these is good, and there is no great difierence
between them in point of profitable results.
2. Terracing is believed to better, under most circumstances, than
hillside ditching.
3. Oats and hay, or fodder, and good pasture, with plenty of lucerne,
peavines, millet, sorghum and corn.
4. Lucerne is not good for pasture, but is specially good for feeding
green (or wilted) throughout spring and summer. It makes a hay fully
equal, if not superior to clover hay.
STANDARD OF FERTILIZERS.
Would it not pay the farmer if the standard of commercial fertilizers
were double what it now is? E. D. H.
Milner’s Store.
Ans. It would depend upon the price that the farmer would have to
pay for a fertilizer of double the present standard. The present law
requires that a fertilizer shall contain not less than eight per centum of
available phosphoric acid, and two per centum of ammonia. This gives
a very mir fertilizer, and the results from Jive dollars worth of it applied
to an acre of land would be just as large as from the application of Jive
dollars worth of a fertilizer that contains sixteen percent, of phosphoric
acid and four per cent, of ammonia. In the latter case your five dollars
would purchase certainly not more than half as many pounds (probably
less) of the higher grade as of the lower. As anile, it costs more to make
a ton of a very high grade fertilizer than it would cost to make two tons
of a grade of just half the quality. If the standard were raised to six
teen per centum of phosphoric acid and four per centum of ammonia,
then a very large quantity of comparatively low grade materials, such
as cotton seed and cotton seed meal, and some forms of phosphoric ma
terial could not be utilized at all in the manufacture of commercial fer
tilizers. It would drive out of the trade all manufacturers who have
been depending largely on the use of cotton seed meal. The inevitable
effect of raising the standard would be to increase the price, and this
increase would probably be greater in proportion than the improvement
in the standard quality. The limit of quality of acid phosphate made
of the best quality of Charleston rock, is about seventeen percent.,
beyond which its manufacture cannot be profitably carried. Cotton
seed meal contains only eight percent, of ammonia, and so on. In point
of fact, manufacturers do not content themselves with barely coming up
to the standard. The average of all brands is nearly filly per cent,
above the requirements of the law.
VOLUNTEER OATS.
Many farmers are depending on volunteer oats instead of sowing seed.
Some good farmers say they will make; others say not. Please give
your opinion. • J. W. H.
Pope’s Ferry.
ANS. Volunteer oats are not always to be relied on for a crop. If there
is a good stand, and the land is in good heart, and not too much infested
with the weeds which spring up in fall and early winter, they will often
make a better crop than if plowed up and re-sown in the spring. A
fairly safe judgement may be based on the apparent thriftiness of the
plants, and the stand. A top dressing of one hundred pounds of cotton
seed meal per acre about the middle or last of February would greatly
benefit the crop. I will be obliged if farmers who shall try the experi
ment will report the results to this Department lor publication. •
SWEET POTATO ROT.
Was it the warm, wet fall that caused the rot in sweet potatoes? If
digging potatoes after ripening, in dry weather; then airing well for
several days; then covering well, will not protect them; then you
will bestow a blessing by giving a recipe that will be proof against rot.
I had 100 bushels to rot in three weeks after digging. K. C. T.
Pope’s Ferry, Ga.
Ans. Such a recipe—one that is absolutely infallible—has not yet been
discovered, and probably never will be. Thecomplaint of rot is remark
ably general —almost universal throughout the Stale. Ripeness of the
tubers at the time of digging, which is nothing more than a dormant
condition as to growth caused by dryness of the soil, a uniform tem
perature and dryness in the hill or bank, digging about the time of first
frost, are points that pretty uniform experience agrees upon. How
these conditions are to be secured is a question about the details of
which the best farmers differ. It is possible that you may have covered
your hills too thickly early in the winter, or too early alter digging.
The problem of how to keep potatoes with practically uniform certaintv, .
has not yet been solved, notwithstanding the occasional publication of
“a plan that never fails.”