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THE SOUTHERN WORLD, FEBRUARY 1,1882,
AGRICULTURAL FACTS.
Nninll Farm*.—• Dairy Farmlnf.—Ber
nt uda tirau.->910,000 a year from italic
tjr Acre*.
Crawlordvllls, On., Democrat.
On a recent visit to the Exposition we met
Mr. Frank P. Jones, of Bufke. Having
known him in his own county, we were fa-
iniliar with his reptitution as a man of fine
practical sense, and as a farmer of extend
ed and successful experience. In conver
sation with him on matters of farming, he
gave us some ideas which we briefly give:
I own about one thousand acres in Burke
county. That land I have divided iuto a
number of small farms, placing tenants on
each. One hundred und forty acres I have
reserved for myself.
Forty acres were planted this yearin corn,
peas being planted between the rows; forty
acre were planted in oats, and after that
peas on the same ground; forty were devoted
to cotton, and the remaining twenty to
melons. You will sec from this that I am
not ail advocate of large crops of cotton to
the exclusion of other things. I think our
farmers givo
TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO COTTON
and too little to other products. My plan
is much the more profitable from several
points of view. In the first place there are
other things which pay better. Take wa
termelons for instance. My twenty acres
of watermelons have paid me as much as
iny cotton this year witn less than half the
labor. During a previous season they paid
morethan twice as much. I have a cousin
farming in the same county—Dr. W. B.
Jones—wlio devotes great, attention to them
and makes a fine profit simply from the
seed of the melons. They pny him an av
erage of from ten to fifteen cents a head in
that way. He runs a farm of thirty acres,
devoted solely to the rasing of seeds of va
rious kinds, which pays him a profit of
about $700 u year. The seed of the old fash
ioned collard puid him $360 an acre this
year.
“But is there not trouble in finding a
market?" we asked.
"None, whatever. He
FINDS A HEADY MAHKKT
not only in the South, but in the North and
West. Of course he udvertiscs, but outside
of two or three agricultural journals he
does little in that line.
There is nothing that keeps back our
Southern farmers more than this idea of all
cotton. My plan is to *
BA18E EVERYTHING I NEED AT HOME,
as far as possible. I have followed this
plan, and liuve tried to impress it upon the
negroes who work for me. The result is
that some of them arc more independent
by far than the majority of white farmers
in Qeorgiu. I had one man with me who
stayed on my plucc until lie had accumu
lated about $000. This he put into a piece
of land. By following my plan he is to-day
worth $3,500, and is out of debt. He bought
his place five years ago. This man lives as
well as I do myself.
There arc many ways in which our far
mers can make more money tlian by devot
ing their whole attention to cotton.
One thing I have great fuith inis
DAIRY FARMING.
I expect to give it a good deal of attention
henceforth. I am starting to clear 100 acres
of swamp land and put it in Bermuda gross
for that purpose. Men of experience in
that line say it will maintain from five to
ten head of cattle per acre. At a low esti
mate this much land will maintain 500
cows' But suppose you put the figures
down to one cow to tho acre, it will keep
up a herd of 100 cows. Say that each of
those will givo three gallons of milk ora
pound of butter per day. At twenty-five or
thirty cents a .pound, you have twenty-five
or thirty dollars a day. It my take four
years to bring it to its full capacity, but I
expect the time to come when it will net
me about
$10,000 A YEAR.
Then a a good deal can be made by the man
ufacture of cheese, if one chooses to go into
that line. It is one of tho most profitable
industries of this country; and yon always
have a good market. I expect no difficulty
in getting a market for anything on my
farm. I can easily dispose of every pound
of butter I make to an advantage. As to
labor very little help is needed. Four or five
men and about ten girls will be ample.
But I don’t expect to stop at that. Each
cow will give say two gallons of sour milk.
Let that be fed to a pig. Give the pig a
pint of meal a day, and at the end of twelve
months you will have about 300 pounds of
net pork. {At seven cents a pound it will
bring $21. Then take the calves of a
hundred cows. They ought to bring $20 a
head in beef at a year old. Then you have
four or five tons of manure a year from
each cow. This manure is better then any
commercial fertilizer you can get."
“According to your idea then the much
abused
BERMUDA GRASS MAY BE MADE A BLESSING
after all?”
“Oh, yes. And it not only makes fine
pasturage, but you can plow it up and use
the roots for hay. Suppose you have fifteen
or twenty tons of roots to the acre. If you
plow it up ami put it into a barrel of water,
or a small stream, the dirt will readily sink
to the bottom, and you can dry it and lay
it by. When you do this you have all the
hay you want. Then the plowing up of the
land will do it good.
I could go into greater details and give
you figdres to show I make my system pay
in other ways,
What 1 said t however, will give you a
good general idea, The farmers around me
begin to see its advantage. Several have
tried my plan and will testify to its good
results. My theory is summed up in a
few words. Cultivate a small quantity of
land, and cultivate it well, raise your own
supplies, and keep out of debt. In my
opinion this is the truest secret of success
ful farming."
Orchard Grass.
This valuable grass ranks next in im
portance to the tali meadow-oat gross for
hay mid winter pasture. It succeeds very
well at the South on drained and dry bot
tom land, or on rich upland. There is a
peculiarity about it. The writer lias never
observed it to spread from the scattering of
its own seeds. From some unaccountable
reason, the shattered seed does not vegetate;
if, therefore, it be sowed too thin, it does
not fill the gap, and presents an unsightly
appearance, and gives inferior grasses a
chance to occupy the vacant space.
Orchard grass, for hay, should be cut as
soon ns it begins to blossom; if cut then, the
hay is sweet, tender and nutritious; but if
the cutting be deferred until the seed has
formed, the hay will be hard and valueless.
After cutting, orchard grass springs rap
idly, and the aftergrowth is heavy. This
should not be pastured during the summer
or fall, but should be reserved for winter
grazing. It should be treated as above di
rected in the cose of the tall meadow-oat
grass.
The seed of orchard grass is also very light
and chaffy, and therefore two bushels should
be sowed to the acre.
This grass was introduced into England,
from Virginia, in 1764. It is very highly
valued in that country, and in the Northern
States it holds a high rank as a hay and
past tire grass. But its chief benefit is lostat
the North, as it cannot be pastured there
during the winter.
Orchard grass is not suited to wet bottom
land, but thrives in a rich upland. It grows
well in an orchard, or in thinned woodland.
With the exception of meadow-oat grass,
orchard grass stands a drouth better than
any other of the cultivated grasses.
Where lmy is an object, these two grasses,
meadow-oat and orchard grass, should be
sowed with red clover and white, as each of
the four blossoms at the same time, and is,
therefore, simultaneously ready for the
scythe. They answer also to mix with
clover in a rotation, where the clover is to
stand two or three years, as they mature
rapidly, and assist in giving a compact sod.
The farmer should remember, that a sod of
good gross and clover turned under is quite
equal in value to a costly application of
either putrescent or purchased manures.
The cultivation of these two grasses at the
Soutii can not be too strongly recommended
on soils adapted to them.—[Howard’s Man
ual of Grasses.
Mr. G. W. C. Munro, of Marion county,
Ga., made over 1,000 bushels of potatoes,
averaging 150 bushels to the acre, on laud
that would no have made over six bushels
of corn to the acre. After the potatoes had
been dug he turned his hogs in the field.
With what potatoes they got, one acre of
ground peas, the gleanings of the pea field,
and fifteen bushels of corn he has fattened
six thousand pounds of meat. He feeds po
tatoes to his stock. Since the laying by of
the crops he has kept six head of mules
and liortes in good condition, and has fed
to them only ten bushels of corn. That is
the way to make money farming.—[Buena
Vista Argus.
jwi Jftoch jjeyarimnt.
BMSdlnc Male; Hock.
Forest K. Moreland says if a young man,
just starting in life, say at tho age of twenty-
one, and wishing to stock his farm, were to
procure two thoroughbred Jersey cows of
different and well known butter-making
families, by careful attention to the breed
ing of his herd, and ordinary industry in his
business, he would, before reaching the
prime of life, become the owner of a first-
class herd of valuable stock, that would be
far more profitable than the same number of
scrub or native cattle. Laying the founda
tion of a herd of thoroughbred Jersey cattle
in a small way like this is not beyond the
means of a large proportion of the young
men just starting in life.
A farmer wishing to start a herd of thor
oughbred stock by producing two animals of
different breeding, will have this advantage
—his herd will consist of two different
strains of blood, or rattier, he will have two
different families, which is always an advan
tage.
Young breeders, just laying the founda
tion of what they hope will, in time, become
a valuable herd of thoroughbred stock, can
not be too careful, in selecting stock, to see
that tliefr pedigrees are well authenticated;
and not only that, but to criticise well the
character of their ancestors referred to in
tlie pedigree. An animal that combines, in
a suitable degree, the good qualities of his
or her ancestors, is more valuable for breed
ing than one that was not. This point is
determined by the pedigree; and for this
purpose alone tho registering of on animal is
very important. Registering stock is the
breeder’s safeguard in purchasing. If he
lias no experience, as is often the ense, or
lias no definite knowledge of the points of
the animal in question, he should seek the
advice of a friend; or, if he is dealing with
a breeder of established reputation, he may
safely trust the matter entirely with such
breeder. And he should also consult his
own taste and intentions. Having decided
on the type of animal which he fancies, he
would be unwise to fill up his herd with ani
mals of different types. Withoutadvocating
one color more than another, or large size
more than small size, it is proper to state
that uniformity cannot be too strongly
recommended.
In selecting animals from which to breed
the question arises—is it desirable to breed
large animals? Too much importance is
generally attached to size. Tiiere are many
reasons in favor of a small-sized Jersey.
There is a certain class of men who have a
strong liking for agricultural pursuits, and
yet are not farmers. Very many profes
sional men live on small country places, and
like to keep a cow, or perhaps two or three
cows, to furnish their own milk and butter.
Small farmers cannot keep many cows. La
boring men, as well os the richer classes,
always keep a cow whenever they are able
to do so. With all these men a small cow is
more desirable than a large one, and very
often men of this class, unable to keep a
large cow, would keep none at all, if they
could not procure a small one. A Jersey
that has a disposition to take on flesh rapidly
is apt to prove unprofitable for the dairy.
The beef producer’s occupation is distinct
from the butter-makers. In the production
of beef, large stock is desirable; not so in the
dairy. Experience teaches that here a small
or medium-sized cow is, as a rule, more
valuable in converting grass into milk and
butter.
The form of a Jersey is her most impor
tant characteristic. The ability to select a
good animal from a number of others, with
any degree of certainty, is a peculiar and
valuable kind of knowledge that comes only
after long and expensive experience in
handling stock, and experience isuseful only
in persons who have a natural aptitude for
observing the characteristics of animals.
Any animal, no difference what the breed
is, always looks well when in good flesh.
But when the production of flesh is not the
important end of an animal's existence, and
it certainly is not that of a Jersey’s exis
tence, one may well sacrifice looks to utility.
The one important point in which the Jer
sey excels, is in the disposition to produce a
good flow of highly-colored rich milk. They
do not excel in the production of beef; in
fact the animal is naturally so much inferior
to other breeds in size as to render it impos
sible that she will ever become a successful
competitor in the production of beef, and
is, therefore, lean and misshapen, judging
by the universal Short-horn standard. A
term of years’ breeding and handling Jersey
stock will greatly modify a man’s ideas of
what the form should be. He will, in time;
attach less importance to the color of the
animal and more importance to the quantity
and quality of milk and blitter.
The question of constitution is of great
importance. If. at any period in the gene
alogy of an animal; there was an ancestor
that was unhealthy, or of bad form, there Is
certain danger of these bad qualities being
reproduced in offspring. The crdcial test of
the quality of a male is the best quality of
his offspring. His progeny should possess
an evenness of character due to the sire.
« Jersey Cows. s
The Island of Jersey is small) if it Was
square it would be OX miles on each side.
However, this little piece of land suffices to
keep 12,000 head of cattle; that is to say, in
round numbers, supports one animal for each
two acres of its territory, this including
rocks, roads, barren land, and the building
lots necessary to the housing of 60,000 inhab
itants. And it has been thus for the last
twenty years, at least, indeed, the census of
1861 gives 12,837 as tiie number of cattle in
the Island of Jersey. What is still more
remarkable, it exports each year about 2000
head (the average cf exportations, according
to the custom house reports, being 2040, for
the last eighteen years) nearly one head for
each ten acres. Now the total number of
cattle in England gives only one for ten
acres; it follows, then, that in proportion to
its extent, the Island of Jersey exports, each
year, more cattle than England contains. In
other words, if England should export at the
same rate, all her cattle would be gone in a
single year, and she would not have left a
single hoof.
THEIR WORK.
The work of the Jersey is to convert grass
and roots into butter and not into beef. She
is not raised to be eaten; she has more value
as a machine to produce butter. Then why
should she be larger? And far from being a
luxury for the rich man, she is more than
any other race the dependence of the poor,
the best aid of small farming. This is very
easily and simply proved (in a general way)
by the experience of the Island of Jersey.
We have seen that they keep their 12,000
head of cattle on six miles square, there
where the rent averages $45 per acre; there
where the farms are smaller than they are
anywhere else; there where each farmer
works with his hands, and is face to face
with the wolf that he needs must keep from
the door. And what do we see ? An island
eaten up by cattle, and the farmer begging ?
On the contrary, all the island is like a gar
den, everywhere sown with improvements
and comfortable houses, and of which the
aspect shows the wellbeing. One finds every
where comfort and plenty, and nowhere
poverty, misery, or beggars.
I do not claim that all this is the work of
the cows, but I say that these farmers who
have so serious a struggle to live, and
yet who obtain so marvellous a success,
should know their business, and not keep
12,000 head of cattle at a loss. If the Jerseys
are profitable there, with the land at $45 per
acre, will they not give a profit in England,
and everywhere else where there is a market
for the butter? But we will go farther. We
claim that the Jersey cow is the handsomest
of all cows, as well as the most profitable.
THEIR MERITS.
We will state them in as few words as pos
sible. We claim that the Jersey is the most
profitable of all cows for butter; that she
will give more butter (relatively to her
weight and the feed she eats) than any other
race whatever; that o.good Jersey will give
half her weight in butter per year. She
rarely weighs more than 800 pounds, the av
erage weight being 700 pounds, and cows
giving half of that in butter, per year, are
found in every herd ; that the milk is richer
than that of any other race, six pints often
giving a pound of butter, giving less water
to milk, carry, and set; that the butter is of
better color, of better texture, of better fla
vor, and of higher price; that she becomes
profitable earlier, usually having, her first
calf at two years, and often sooner; that she
is gentle and docile, easily cared for (in the
Island of Jersey, at least) by the women and
children of the house who lead her to the
field, tie her, take her back to the barn, milk
her, and have the whole care of her, without
help from the men, who are occupied with
other work. Finally, she is equally at home
in the cold climate of the Canadian winters,
and the tropical heat of the gulf 8tates.
I have now before me, letters from the
Secretary of the exhibition of Jersey cattle
at Mobile, where they succeed perfectly, and
from Mr. Burnham, (who has bought the
famous Coomassie), of Connecticut, why