Newspaper Page Text
Agricultural ftrt merit, j
Hfay vs. Wheat.
Tn view of flic fuel that so npieli
hay has I>< *n etifcd and saved this I
yo;u’, would it not he of interest to |
our atirieulturnl renders to eoimider '
the question of hay raising? 80
far as its value, in contpariso with
wheat is concerned, wo arc unable j
to speak, from actual tent. And j
we doubt if any farmer in middle
Georgia can do ho.
Our westerly brethren have made
the test and given some opinions '
on the subject. It in important to ;
consider the money vAluc of grass j
and grain, and their difference in-’
elements of fertility. Testa have
been made in whieh timothy turn- 1
ini out #ls and wheat #!f> per acre
in the State of Ohio.
■ Now whieh crop paid beet, is the
question. Both exhaust the soil.
It is evident tin; hay paid the best.
Clover in tin; same section would
have paid better still, a*r the roots
grow deep and loosen the subsoil
and bring up the fertility.
When the question of raising cat
tle is considered in connection with
hay raising, the elements of pastur
age comes in and makes hay rais
ing still more profitable. Good
steers will fatten from forty to six-!
ty pounds per month on pasture.
We can truthfully say the best beef
we have seen since we came to
Barnesville has been sold hero dur
ing the past few days and weeks.
This we attribute altogether to the
excellent pastures afforded this
year. It will perhaps startle some,
if,not many of the farmers to know
that cattle buyers in the West yay
ijilO per acre for pasture for the sea
son, and are not allowed to turn on
but so many cattle,
As to the question of exhaustion
by the different crops, with us cot
ton taxes the land most. Corn is
fhc next severest tax on soil. One
of the greatest errors of Georgia
farmers for the past fifty years, in
our opinion, is the manner in which
they have murdered their soil. Cot
ton and corn have been so constant
ly raised, that it lms been impossi
ble for the land to revive in the
slightest degree. We simply give
it as our opinion, that the raising of
grasses is absolutely a necessity, if
we would reclaim the fertility of the
soil.
Saving Manure
The pig-pen, poultry-house, sta
bles and yards will turn out com
plete fertilizers that can he de
pended upon, which cannot be said
of many commercial fertilizers that
contain but part of the ingredients
of plant food, supposing them to be
genuine. With few exceptions com
inereial fertilizers are special fertili
zers, and when intelligently used are
valuable aids in producing large
crops; but when a commercial ma
nure is advertised as desirable for
all crops on all soils, beware of
fraud. Phosphates and superphos
phates may furnish a good supply
of phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid
and lime, but they lack in potash
and ammonia. By using such fer
tilizers a very stimulating etfect
may be produced for a few years,
but unless they are supplemented
by more complete and substantial
manure, the soil may become im
poverished in those elements that
the fertilizers do not furnish. To be
sure, they produce extraordinary re
suits for a few years, and cost no
more than hauling out a good coat
of barnyard manure ; but in inereas
ing them you are borrowing from
the future and drawing upon the
fertility of your farm.
bo make all you can of good, sub
stantial, complete manure at home.
Very few farmers realize in this way
as much from the resources at their
command as they ought. How
much does the average farmer get
from his pig-pens? A load or two
each year of the clear, raw manure
that is dumped into a few heaps
out in the field. Its great strength
goes to waste on a few square rods
producing a rank growth of vegeta
tion that will lodge, and in a large
measure be lost. The same ma
nure properly composted with more
bulky absorbents would have cov
ered an acre and made it highly
productive. When will we learn the
value of absorbents in the pens,
yards and stables?
The straw-stack and the muek
bed may be used to absorb the
fertilizing liquids and gases that are j
, going to waste. Put a good coat of
■ tenure upder the hep-roosts, keep
! a of it for the stable flitter?
■ the yards and the privies. Keep
; the pig-|w.ns, the stable, thfl calf-1
' pens, and sheep pens well IrtV.xnf
j with fine chaff and straw, and you
; will find that the loads of manure
1 upon your farm will be doubled.
\V. D. B.
Da koto,
AND THE LOW Bit ICE OF WHEAT.
As may naturally be supposed,
i Dakota farmers are net very jubi-j
1 lant this vear. And yet there is '
| not the feeling of discouragement
| among them that one might expect
jto find. The price of wheat is low
!er than the shrewdest Dakota hear
I anticipated, and to make matters
worse, there is more complaint than
ever of unfair gradingarul weighing
To the farmers it looks as though
there was a great ring manipulating
the wheat this year. Every pre
tense and possible excuse seems to
be caught on to reduce the grade,
and the farmer seems to be help-
CS9.
It is certain that grades arc low
er than ever before. A little bleach
ed wheat, a small admixture of oats
a slight dampness from the wheat
being in the; sweat, a few visible
kernels that look as though they
might be another than Scotch fife,
will knock off a grade or two. The
price of No 1 hard is low enough,
but when his wheat is called No 2
hard, or No 1 Northern, or simply
No 1 or 2, it reduces the price from
three to fifteen cents below that of
No 1 hard. The above features are
what make the farmer this year, as
the old darkey said about his mule,
that had suddenly landed him in a
fence corner, “’spise” wheat rais
ing.
But, as the old darky's mule had
always carried him before, and
would do it again, it was not a con
firmed and settled “’spise,” but
transient only. So with the wheat
raiser in Dakota. His mule has
thrown him this year, but the mule
lives. He considers it unlikely
that there will be produced every
year “the largest crop of wheat
that this globe ever raised,” and
hopes that his neighbors will turn
their attention to something else.
We have also many farmers say
ing: “1 made more money this year
than last,” because his crop was
larger, anil w larger, and his pro
visions cheaper, and labor a little
lower, for it is undoubtedly a fact
that the yield in Northern Dakota
has been unusually large. And so
the farmer smiles on and is not
ready to give up by any means.
But there is another undertow of
satisfaction that sustains him. He
knows that he has a deep and fer
tile soil that is capable of doing
much besides raising wheat, and he
is sure that if wheat alone don’t
pay, he can raise something that
will. Wheat has been his sta
ple and his hobby, but scattered
all through the northern part of the
Territory are farmers who have
been experimenting with other crop
and other things.
Here is one who, for six years,
has been raising blooded horses.un
til now he says that, by combining
this with wheat raising he can
make five dollars where he made
one before. There is another who
has as fine a herd of Short-horns as
can bejfound on the sunny hills of
Kentucky. And, for the small
farmer, more encouraging still,
here is another who raises his own
beef mutton and hogs on the open
prairie,with no better facilities than
his neighbors; whose garden is
stocked with potatoes, corn, cabba
ges, turnips, beans, peas, radishes,
beets, cucumbers, melons, squashes,
and even sweet potatoes, and that
pride and joy of the New England
housewife, the great round, smooth,
golden pumpkin. And all of those
things not on the ordinary scale ei
ther.
With the exception of corn and
melons, and sweet potatoes, they
actually far exceed the same pro
ducts in the East. They are larger
and there are more of them. Sweet
corn he can always have melons by
selecting a warm piece of ground,
and. though his sweet potatoes are
not quite so large as further south,
they are still good. All root vege
tables find a home in Dakota soil.
Field corn has dene finely this year,
| and it is almost certain that, by ae-
I elimation, a species is being devel-
! oped (hat will be perfectly , KUceew-
I ful. f have in my possession an
ear (of corn I mean) nine inches
in len"lh, with ei"ht rows of good
-Bized,diard‘kernels, full ri}-. which
1 h picked without selecting, from a
I patch raised by two Cincinnati
voung men, from seed obtained in
Fargo.
Tamo grasses, such as timothy,
white clover and other hardy kinds,
will do finely. They came out
green in the spring earlier than the
dative prairie grass and remain so
! much later in the fall, thus making
'good hay and pasture.
The low price of wheat has served
to call the attention of hundreds of
farmers to all of this, who never
gave attention to it before, and very
many of them, both largo and
small, will begin some other indus
try next year in connection with
wheat raising. Wheat will still be
the staple, but not the only prod
uct.
Such seems to be the history of
new countries. Sometimes it is
grain,* sometimes stock, and some
times mining as a specialty, that
gives them a start, and then they
gradually wheel into line and set
tle down to a more general busi
ness.
B. D. W.
-►
Enriching Orchards.
If there is any doubt of the fact
that judicious manuring of apple
orchards will repay labor and ex
penses, or that the succesful rais
ing of the apple crop depends on
proper manuring, then we may just
as well doubt the virtue of manure
upon any other crop of the farm.
Yet how seldom do we see thiscsti-1
mate given to the enrichment of|
the apple orchard? And if it is the ;
main object to obtain a crop of hay
this manuring of orchards performs
a double service. But how seldom
do we see this part of the farm
crops treated thus generously? And
then when the crop fails it is attri
buted to other causes that have no
existence, especially the idea that
apples wont hear any longer in oui'
soil. Now the fact is, apples arc
just as well suited and to the soil of
the middle states generally,as they
are to the soil of any other state or
section of this country. Wo ma
nure the land for wheat, corn, pota
toes, Ac., every year, or we should
not expect a crop, nor should we
expect apples in the übscence of oc
casional fertilizing. Many farm
ers entertain the idea that the ma
nure applied to orchards is so much
thrown away which out to be used
on the regular farm crops, and thus
habitually neglect the orchard, and
then complain that it is useless to
attempt to raise apples, as if the
soil for such crops had run out!
Experienced growers of fruit, and
especially apples, know how falla
cious such an idea is; they know
that the crop responds to the effects
of a dressing of manure as readily
and surely as does any other por
tion of tlieir farm. Atop dressing
of almost anything applied in the
fall or spring will surprise one in
its effects. For spring a fine dres
sing should he bestowed, either of
wood ashes, if it can be obtained,
wood pile or road scrapings, wash
ings from ditches, good pulverized
muck or commercial fertilizers. In
autumn, compost or well rotted
barnyard manure, with the lumps
crushed, is to he preferred. Farm
ers who hesitate to enrich their or
chards should inform themselves
upon the subject from succesful I
fruit growers, not only as to the
mode of manuring their orchards,
but as to the best variety of apples
for the locality, as some sorts, as
pears, will do much better in one
locality than in another, though the
distance may be only a mile or
two.
. --
Fall plowing is required to pro
duce a particular effect, and should
therefore, be performed in a partic
ular manner and one calculated to
effect the desired purpose the most
completely. What is required j
chiefly to expose the largest surface
to the influence of the atmosphere,
to the changes from moisture to
dryness, to the frosts and thaws.
This is done by throwing the soil
into ridges, so that it remains in a
succession of miniature hills and
valleys, exposing twice as much
surface as if the furrow slices were
laid flat. In this ease only the
same quantity of soil as laid previ
ously upon the surface would be
I turned up. In the other case the j
! furrow slice would be exposed on j
i two sides, and, moreover, in jflow
| ing in this manner the bottoms of
j the furrows--are left open anil-loose, ]
I and air can circulate there., It is ;
! at this season that the ground may j
be plowed a little deeper than be
fore to bring up an inch or two of j
the subsoil to mix with the surface, i
and so add to the arable and fertile |
layer. The new soil is exposed to
the atmosphere and mellowed and
changed in character, and this
course, continued at every Fall
plowing, gradually deepens the soil j
i and enriches it with fresh materials |
I for plant food. This could not be I
done safely at any other season than
the present, for reasons that are obi
viotis when the principle involved j
ani{ above explained is understood, j
I When the soil is very heavy and in- j
! dined to be wet the method j
should lie somewhat different. In
this jfcase larger ridges may be!
thrown up. either by breaking the!
surface with wide furrows or bvj
plowing it into back furrows or
double ridges, and leaving these cx- !
posed as they are thrown up in
lumps and clods, which will be bro- ;
ken down anil mellowed by tiro ‘
frosts during the winter. This 1
method, however, is suitable only!
for heavy clay soil, which is most j
improved by Fall plowing.
Speaking of the opening of the :
quail season in California, the San-;
Francisco Bulletin says: “They are;
now so.abundant that they throng j
the roadways. While rewards are
offered by farmers in southern conn
ties for killing this bird, which des
troys much grain, the Alameda and
Contra Costa farmers say the quail
is useful to them. It attacks their
grain only as a last resort, and j
chiefly subsists upon insects. Their
destruction of ants is of incalcula
| bio importance. The quail’s -great
foe is the wild cat. The latter ani
i null is prolific in the counties narn- j
! ed. A quail nesting will cover fif-
I teen to twenty eggs, and nearly ev-;
cry egg will hatch. They nest once
a year, and during such periods the
male is the most pugnacious dc-i
fender of the mother and young. A
man may almost strike him with a
club. The wily wild-cat, as large as
four ordinary cats, will stretch him |
* i
self out and put out his tongue; the j
male quail will approach and peck !
it, whereat the cat seizes his tooth
some prey.”
Farmers cannot be too strongly j
impressed with the fact that if they j
wish to succeed fully in their work ;
they must lose no opportunity of j
increasing the supply of manure, j
It is generally supposed that ani- j
null excrements only are manure,
but this is a very incomplete idea of
what manure is. Any vegetable or
animal substance is food for plants
when it is decomposed, so that no
farmer can go astray in collecting
any waste matter of these kinds and
mixing them with lime, by which
they are quickly decomposed. - Far
mers near villages may gather a val
uable supply of manure from the
various wastes which gather there.
When one walks through a country
village at this season he may see
heaps of leaves, piles of garbage in
in the back yards, gatherings of rub
bish in front of blacksmith’s shops,
and many other sources from which
he can usefully collect materials for
adding to his supply of manure.
The gigantic chestnut tree, at the
foot of Mt. .Etna, Sicily, is 212 feet
in circumference, ninety-two feet in
height, is supposed to be the largest
and oldest tree in Europe, and is
hollow, with an apartment large
enough to admit two carriages driv
ing abreast to pass through it. The
largest sound trees in the world are
the redwood trees of California.
Western farmers practice the cus
j tom of purchasing cattle in the fall
1 and fatten them on pastures in or
der to get the manure from such
cattle. It is found to be quite pro
fitable. One of the differences be
tween the Western farmer and the
Southern farmer is the former
makes his manure and the latter
purchases commercial fertilizers.
Twenty-nine varieties of oats were
raised this season, at the experiment
station at Geneva, N. Y. According
to Dr. E' Lewis Sturtevant. none of
I the tested varieties were exempt
i from rust, though some of them were
; from smut. A kind called the Wliite
I Zealand produced at the rate oi
! ninety bushels per acre.
Plowing Hilly Land.
The best time to plow is much
discussed at this season of nie year,
i Not is it stangi r that farmeps differ
! so much on the subject ns they do.
! The one whose soil is clay or heavy
| loam has learned that frost acting
; upon an up-turned soil reduces the
| insoltiable elements of plant food
j t o a soluble and available fi rm, as
I nothing else can, hence favors fall
plowing ; another, who works a soil
of light porous texture lias found
i that it does not need the disinte
! grating action of the frost, being al
ready of a friable nature, with its
fertility readily available. He has
also learned that land .plowed in
spring is much freer from weeds
during the growing season than
that plowed in autumn. This man
will, of course, advocate spring
plowing.
In plowing, as in most other!
branches of farm work, we must be •
governed by our soils, climate and i
other conditions ; and it must be re-;
I membered that however beneficial j
and satisfactory the treatment of •
j our own soils may be. it may not
be the best for others,having differ-!
| cut soils.
But I wish to treat particularly!
lof the management of hilly lands, j
jit has become habitual among j
j many farmers who call themselves j
! thrifty, to plow all their land in au- j
It limn. Hilly lands so treated lose
I much of their fertility by heavy
j rains. No soil, if hilly, should be
■ jurneil up in loose furrows to lie
lthroughthewinter.lt is desirable
to leave such lands as compact as
possible. It will wash more or less
at the best; but if loosened in au
tumn the most fertile portion will
surely wash down into the hollows,
and perhaps be carried
away. Very hilly land should be
kept in grass, sod being the most ■
practicable barrier against washing. [
\V. D.
Winter- Care of Sheep.
i The winter care of the flock,” says
| the Pittsburg Stockman, “is where
| many new sheep-men make mis
i takes. It is no trouble to keepi
j sheep through the summer, hut of
ten inexperienced flock masters lose
half their flock in a single winter, j
| The reason of this is either careless j
j ness, or ignorance of the nature and |
! requirements of the sheep. The |
most successful winter care of sheep j
cannot be undertaken without suit-!
able stabling. This is the first |
1 great requisite. There is no use j
! trying to keep a sheep thriving, and j
lat the same time have its wool sat
| united with water, with the temper
ature down towards zero. Then,
after seeing you have sufficient shel
ter for your sheep, the next most
important thing is to see that there
is an abundant supply of hay or
other forage. The hay and fodder
must be early cut anil put up in the
very best condition. With these
preliminary preparations a flock of
sheep can he wintered safely, cheap
ly and profitably. With good hay
and proper shelter sheep require
but little groin. These facts alone
should determine every shepherd
to provide proper stabling for them
as an economic measure.”
The yield of apples in various sec
tions of New England this season is
enormous. Great quantities of ei
der and vinegar at low prices will
be the result of the great crop where
shipping for export is not attemp
ted. Thirty-seven thousand bar
rels of " apples principally
Baldwins, worth $1.50 per barrel,
were exported from Boston in two
weeks, and the total shipments up
to the last week in October from
Boston, New York and Montreal
were 152, 040 barrels. The Boston
Commercial says that red apples
are at present the favorites of Eng
land. Wo may well suppose that
the thrifty Now Englanders evapo
rate a great many apples.
Competition between St Louis and
Chicago has given rise to the pro
ject of holding a Cattleman’s Con
vention in the former city, which
proposes to be the first of its kind ev
er assembled. The strike is point
edly against the Chicago Fat Stock
Shows, the first of which went oft'
with so much eclat last year. The
cattle dealers and stock-yard men
of St Louis are entitled to great cre
dit for their energy and enterprise
but their sister city on Lake Michi
gan enjoys a deseved prominence
for the promotion of live-stock bred
ding and commerce in meats. By
the way, the cattle ranges in the
West were never so overstocked, or
the trade in beeves heavier than at
Present, so early in the season.
HEW BRICK WAREHOUSE,
Junction Tavlor & Meriwether Sts.,
G IIIFFIN, GA.
R. F. Stephenson & Cos,, Prop’rs
CL A ] ’ Dill I r ER, Sea km an .
Commodious wi.gon yard, open for lulmis
' ion day ami night, good shelter for stock;
; comfortable quarters for planter*?, with plenty
; of fuel, wash puna, combs, towels, etc. Coma
to !-< .* üb, and v o will appreciate it. No pains
• will bo spared lor your comfort tmd interest.
We hare just received u fresh lot of the old
j and n liable
PACIFIC GUANO.
for side add payable October at same
price as If bought later. sep3sstf
THE CINCINNATI
Weekly Enquirer,
FOR 1885,
Will taavp no superior in the newspaper
world.
! Its news matter is from the IMily Enquirer,
I which paper lutS <ftit-doue all others in onter
i prise and facility for gathering the news, and
iwirur published at Cincinnati, the most oen
traJ of the large eotn.mcrclal cities, with com
plete railroad and mail accommodations, is
enabled to place the news In the hands of the
j>eople Many Advance of papers
i printed elsewhere.
I All departments of the paper are replete
j with latest information of special and geuer
i al interest to the end that each and every
) memlxjr of the household visited by it, w ill
iind much to benefit and profit thereby. Asa
TAMIL YNE U SI‘A PER
it has no equal, to which fact its circulation
and popularity will hear ample testimony.
FA KM INTERESTS, are treated in a com
mon sense manner and rendered doubly inter
esting by numerous contributions from prac
tical farmers in every State of the I’ulon.
THE HOUSEHOLD page is given up to tho
ladies, who know best howto entertain and
instruct one another In all useful and profita
ble employments.
MARKET REPORTS, reliable and fresh
from our own reporters enable buyers and
sellers of all commodities to trade with profit.
BoYiS ANI) GIRLS, are not forgotten or
aught else that in any way contributes to
make up a live newspaper. The Enquirer is
in fact the one newspaper of oil, to be first se
lected for the family circle.
ITS MORAL T< jNE and teachings being in
happy accord with pure t houghts and taste,
< xtMi’ingfpi infiuenee for good in opposition to
all contaminating evils.
Specimen copies free, get one, examine and
decide for yourself.
THE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE IS
Si.ls for One Year.©so.6s for Six Months.
We have no club rates, all paying the same
price single or in clubs. Wo give a free paper
one year to any person sending a clubof seven
names a $1.15 each.
Cash commission paid to Agents.
THE DAILY ENQUIRER
is printed every day in the year mailed post
paid as follows:
1 Mo. 8 Mos. 6 Mos. 1 Yr.
Sunday and Daily, $1,50 *8,75 $7.00 $14.00
Daily except Sunday, 1.25 8.25 0.00 12.00
Any f hree days, - - .65 1.75 0.25 6.00
, Any two days, - - -.45 1.25 2.25 4.00
I Any one day, - .25 .65 1.25 2.00
; Sunday Issue, - - .25 .65 1.25 2.00
JOHN R. McLEAN, Prop’r,
Cincinnati, 0.
NOTICE.
Having sold my stock of goods in Milner; it
is my w ish to dose up ail my business as soon
jjfible. To enable mi i*i* 8". i most
• earnestly beg all who are indebted to me by
j not** or account to call and pay the same. I
; know some of my friends and debtors cannot
j pay the money this winter. All such ought
>io come at once and arrange their indebted
! ness satisfactorily. I cannot nor will not in
j dulg*‘ those who arc indifferent to their own
indebtedness to me. If you wish Indulgence
come at once to see me.
A. J. WHITE.
Milner, Ga., January 28, 1884.
J S POPE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ZEBULON, GEORGIA.
Prompt attention given to business in all
the courts. Criminal law a specialty.
A. A. MURPHEY,*
LAWYER,
Brick Office, Barnesville, Ga.
FOR SALE.
Engines, Boilers, Saw Mills, Com Mills,
Power Cotton Presses, Pulleys, Shafting,
1 [angers. Water Wheels, Mill Spindles. Cast
ings of all kinds, Hancock Inspirators. Steam
Gauges, Whistles, Pipings, <fce. Machinery of
all kinds repaired. For information and
prices write
It. 1). COLE A CO., Xcwnan, Ga.,
Manufacturers of every variety machinery.
fcb2l-ly
Farms For Sale or Rent.
Store Rooms, Office Rooms and Dwellings in
town to let. For bargains and easy terms ap
ply to It. J. POWELL.
novl3-tf
Charlton C. Holmes,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
BARNESVILLE, GA.
Will practice in the courts comprising the
Flint Circuit. Collections a specialty. Office
over H. J*. A E. W. Elder’s store. octl2
DO YOU KNOW
THAT
LORILLARD’S CLIMAX
PLUG TOBACCA
with Red Tin Tag; Rose Leaf Fine Cut Chew
ing; Navy Clipping!*, and Black, Brown and
are the best and cheapest,
quality considered! novl3-ly
BANtTARItIW, Riversidn. Onl. Tho dry clinote cores,
bose, Throe.fc, lull idea, 86 p., route, cost, free.
MARRIAGP|||p!
<AII that the doubtful curious or thoughtful want fcoi •
t know. Cloth and guilt binding6o cts.paper 25c,Mar- ’
>riage Guide. 144 p 15c. sent senled. money orstnaby !
DR, WHITTIER mSMTSSfe
>The great specialist, NervouoDebility.lmpedimeate '
fro Marriage ,_Consu I tation and Pr.mpblpt free, 1 1
Mit FREE!
JjpTIEUABLE SELF-CUREr
A favorite prescription of one of tho
most noted and successful specialists In the r 8
(now retired. forthecure of .V tnni DrbiUlu,
31a h floor/, 11 rah ness and Itrray. Sent
laplainscaledenvelope/,-ee. DruggistscKtflllit.
Address DR. WARD & CO., Louisian., Mo.