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THE SOUTHERN WORLD, SEPTEMBER 15, 1882.
Weed Corn.
Now in the time to select seed corn for
next year’s planting before the crop Is remov
ed from the field. A careful farmer wishes to
select, not only the kind of ears he will
plant, but the characteristics of the stalk
itself. When the selection is deferred until
near planting time and then made from the
mass of corn in the crib, it is, of course, im
possible to know whether an ear was pro
duced by a two-eared stalk, or anything in
reference to the size or height of the stalk.
It is a good idea to go over a corn field, even
as early as at silking time, for the purpose of
marking the stalks whose proportions, pro
lificness, time of silking, etc., promise to
meet the requirements of the standard de
termined upon in the mind. But the actuul
selection, gathering and separation of the
ears intended for seed should be done in the
field in advance of the general harvest of the
crop. This work should be entrusted to no
one, but should be the peculiar work of the
proprietor. The points of merit may be
thus stated. The stalk should be of medium
height, straight, large and rather flat at the
base, (with good brace roots) and tapering
from the base upwards. There should be
two ears, as nearly equal in size as may be,
set rather low down, with foot-stalk of mod
erate length, the shuck covering the ear
closely, and the ears well turned downward.
Even the tassel should not be overlooked; it
should be full and perfectly formed. Every
point of excellence desired should be sought
in the stalks and ears selected on a principle
precisely analogous to that followed by
the stock or poultry breeder. In order to do
this successfully, there should be, as already
hinted, a well considered definite standard of
perfection in the mind which should be
strictly adhered to os far as possible.
Of such stalks as, on the whole, come up
to this standard os nearly as may be, the
ears may be gathered by simply cutting the
stalk above and below the ears and hanging
the selected ears on an adjacent stalk until
convenient to carry to the barn, when they
should be put in a place to themselves until
near planting time, when a further and final
selection should be made with reference to
their appearance after removing the shucks.
This is no fancy or theoretical plan, but
eminently practical, and was followed by
the writer for years with very marked re
sults in the improvement of his corn, so that
neighbors from far and near came to liis
crib—willing to exchange two bushels of
good corn for one selected from the bulk.
R.
Sowing Wheat,
A large portion of the Cotton States is not
specially adapted to the growth of this most
valuable of all bread grains. In the South
ern portion—south of 32° latitude—it is not
generally advisable to sow wheat at all, even
for a home supply, because the yield is too
uncertain to allow of profitable or satisfac
tory production—one year with another.
There must be a limit to diversifying crops,—
a point beyond which it is not wise to go, in
endeavoring to produce all that we con
sume, however necessary the article may be
to our comfort or subsistence. There are really
but few articles of prime necessity that we
cannot produce with greater or less certainty
and with the number that may thus be
grown with fair degree of certainty and
profit, there will be no difficulty in suffi
ciently diversifying our crops, without re
sorting to those that are uncertain.
A prominent and very intelligent and suc
cessful farmer of Burke county, writes as fol
lows of wheat: “I may have asked you
something in reference to ‘Nicaragua wheat’
—something that has grown up with ‘chills
and fevers’ and become acclimated like a
Mexican or his Mustang. My locality is
too malarial for wheat. A healthy country
for fine wheat When well drained and old
enough to ’get changed,’ this soil might
grow wheat—not now, to any profit And
besides, weevils are into it before it is har
vested from the field. If I make a few
bushels, as soon as threshed it must be made
into flour orshlpped. Can’t keep it without
trouble. I have estimated it is worth $2 a
bushel to make wheat here. Swamp wheat
or Nicaragua flint might withstand the cli
mate and insects.” The writer of this ex
tract cultivates a large farm and grows per
haps a greater variety of crops than any far
mer in that section of the State. But he
calculates closely,soon finds out which crops
pay best, and confines himself to such.
Yet, there are farmers who prefer to grow
wheat in a small way in those unfavorable
sections of which we have been speaking.
Such have generally been most successful
when they have selected some high, well'
drained laud, with comparatively light sur
face soil and a good clay at a few inches
depth. Rich soil is not the best as it in
duces a too succulent and rank growth of
straw which is thereby more liable to rust.
It is better that the soil be of medium fer
tility and that it be well fertilized with a
goodammoniated fertilizer, containing full
proportions of the three most important ele
ments, phosphoric acid, ammonia and pot
ash. The time of sowing and variety sown
are imi>ortant, especially the latter. By
common consent the period of a few weeks
immediately following the usual time of
the first killing frost of a given locality, is
the most suitable seed-time—giving good re
sults oftener than when any other period is
selected. The object in deferring until frost
has occurred, is to avoid the fly, though this
purpose is not always accomplished, as this
insect frequently depredates extensively
throughout mild winters.
Dallas wheat seems now to find most favor
as a hardy ruit-reeisting variety. It doer have
rust, and not unfrequently, but the injury
is generally by no means so severe as in the
case of other varieties. Good crops have been
harvested of the Dallas wheat when several
other varieties near by and enjoying precise
ly similar conditions, have failed. The Dal
las is not a very early wheat - which is some
what against it—but the straw is so stout
and stiff that it resists rust better than other
good varieties. It makes a good milling
wheat—producing good family flour.
In general, the best rotation for wheat is
to follow any clean cultivated crop. In the
lower or doubtful region, cotton lands is by
all odds better than corn land. Wheat does
well after oat stubble provided the latter has
been turned over early in the season and es
pecially well after an early crop of peas. In
the northern part of the cotton belt cotton
is too late maturing to enable the farmer to
sow wheat at the right time, and a very con
venient and proper resort it has to the clover
field on which a crop of clover has been
turned in pretty early or cut off and the
stubble or second crop turned in promptly
or grazed off.
Whatever the character of the previous
crop, the ground should be put in the very
best condition by plowing and repeated har
rowing (if necessary) and the seed put in
with a grain drill if anything like a large
area is planted, followed by a roller to com
pact the soil. Now is the time to prepare
the land and secure seed and proper fertili
zers, so that everything may be in readiness
when the proper time arrives for sowing.
R.
Is there a Rust-proof Wheat T Season
able Suggestions and Criticisms.
Editor South err World.—(1.) You have
given us in your valuable paper, something
about wheat for the South. I see you are very
patient and accommodating with your sub
scribers. Will you be kind enough to give
us a little more on the same subject. Is there
a “rust-proof wheat?” I don’t mean a so
called, but sure enough “rust-proof.” I saw
at the exposition a very fine wheat, grown
near Augusta, Georgia, said to be rust-proof.
If you know of any wheat that is really
rust-proof please state where it can be had
and at what price.
What is rust? Is it an insect? Is it de
veloped and fostered by the season, toil or
what ? I have written to Hon. T. F. Rainey
in reference to this wheat. I want to get in
the seed of an early wheat, but from what
you say I judge its earlineas is its chief, if
not only, recommendation. No wheat has
been grown in this section, Dallas county,
to my knowledge for years, but it use to do
well. I have one more query and two sug
gestions.
(2.) Do you know anything of the "Planet
Junior Cultivator?” It is a single-horse
harrow like concern and is highly recom
mended for cultivating very young plants.
I have never seen one. Some of your cor
respondents speak of using single-horse cul
tivators. ' I would like for some of them to
tell us the “pros and cons” about them. We
have the two horse cultivator with four
plows, but we need something suitable to
the cultivation of cotton or com as soon as
it is out of the ground. Now for the sugges
tions :
First, to your correspondents. When one
writes of an experiment tried, he should be
careful to state the character of the soil. If
sandy, whether red or gray. If prairie,
whether black, shell or yellow. This is al
most universally neglected, but of the great
est importance, as any one will see after a
momenta reflection.
My second suggestion is to you, Mr. Edi
tor, if you will not take it as presumption.
An agricultural journal is valuable for the
suggestions as to farm work it makes. Sug
gestions which I am likely to improve to
my advantage, are those made at or just be
fore the proper season. For instance—sug
gestions as to corn or cotton planting are
not in season in the rummer, but in winter
or early spring. If you would have some
one adopt something new or out of the old
rut in refference to shearing sheep, you will
publish in the spring. You see the point I
know, if it has a point. I suppose I am not
unlike most men, I read to learn, I take
your paper with a view to learning. You
and hundreds of others are my teachers; if
you want me to be an apt pupil, give me the
lesson just before the thing is to be done. I
have in my drawer hundreds of clippings
from papers, things that struck me at the
time and I thought when I read them “well
that’s a good idea, I’ll cut It out and try it
at the proper season;’’ and when the proper
season came I have forgotten the whole
thing. If I had time to look over my scrap
book every week or so I would not forget
so easily, but this I don't do and the lesson
is lost. I have in mind now a journal
whose editor is known far and wide in the
South. His thoughts are valuable, his selec
tions are excellent, but he is the most out of
season man I ever read after. In the dead
of winter he will give you something about
hiving or robbing bees. In the spring when
the farmer is busiest about his young grow
ing crop, this editor will read him a lecture
or give him a valuable suggestion about gin
ning cotton or housing corn. But may be
I'm wrong, possibly I am running in a gang
by myself about this matter. If so, I beg
your pardon for the suggestion.
I have given you an idea of the way the
thing strikes me. If its wrong, don’t blame
me for I was “brung up" that way. My
teacher carried me through “Aggers” begin
ning with enumeration and addition and so
on through the book. He didn’t give me a
lesson in subtraction, then skipped to frac
tions. I have always rather liked his
method. W. B. Crumpton.
Shield’s Mill, Ala.
Akbwer and Comments: (1.) There was a
variety of wheat grown for several years by
Mr. C. D. Black, Campbellton, Georgia, and
called “Nicaraugua wheat” which was dis
tributed to a very limited extent by the
Georgia Department of Agriculture. Ac
cording to the experience of Mr. Black, after
five or six years trial, and of those who re
ceived small packages of the Nicaragua as
above, this variety has not been known to
rust at all. But Mr. Black informed the
writer that his wife begged him to quit
growing it as it made such “poor flour,” and
that he gave up fls culture several years
since for that reason. The mills could not
make a good flour from it. We see no rea
son why the quality of resisting rust—which
is a vegetable fungue and attacks only the
stalk and blades of the wheat—should nec
essarily be associated with an inferior,
flinty and dark colored grain as is the case
with the Nicaragua. In other words, we
cannot see why the wheat plant may not
have peculiar hardness and stiffness of straw,
and at the same time produce a first-class
milling flour. The circumstances in regard
to the Nicaragua, very naturally suggests
the propriety of experimenting with this
seed with the view to improve the quality of
the grain without diminishing the capacity
to resist .rust The Nicaragua has also a
very heavy, long and rough beard. Several
years ago, Maj. R. H. Hardaway, of Thom-
asville, Ga., undertook to breed out the long
beard; and after repeated trials we learn that
he succeeded in developing from this long
bearded wheat a variety having no beard.
We have heard nothing further from his ex
periments, nor the conclusion at which he
arrived. The result as stated, however, is
only an additional proof of what may be
done by persistent and intelligent effort in
eliminating defects and preserving excel-
encies in cultivated plants, and is sugges
tive.
It is well settled that nut is not an insect,
but a species of fungus, propagated by aporea
or a kind of infinitessimally small seeds
which float in the smallest breeze and sur-
vive from season to season. It is also pretty
generally understood that local atmospheric
conditions are the prime agents in develop
ing the fungus. These conditions are heat
and moisture, whereby a tender succulent
stage of the plant is induced, which is fa
vorable for the lodgement of the spores and
their certain development. This condition
is also induced by moist rich spots, or bot
tom lands, even in dry weather.
There is no reason to believe that any ap
plication to the soil—such as suggested by
our correspondent—will have any effect in
preventing rust.
The “Bill Dallas" and Early Red May wheat
are two of the most approved varieties.
Neither is absolutely rust-proof, but the
Dallas has a very strong, tough straw and
yields a good crop of plump grained wheat
even after the blades and straw have been at
tacked by rust, and the Red May is very
fine.
(2.) We know nothing by personal observa
tion of the “Planet Junior Cultivator.” Will
some of our readers enlighten us by their
experience in the use of the one-horse culti
vators, suitable for the very early cultiva
tion of young corn and cotton?
We heartily endorse and emphasize the
first “suggestion” of our correspondent.
To the second “suggestion” we have this
to reply: We endeavor always to be season
able in our articles—having due regard to
the season. There are topics, however that
are always in season. But our correspond
ent should remember that a “new idea" will
occur to a farmer which he wisely keeps to
himself until he has put it into practice., If
successful and he is so inclined, he writes an
account of it for his agricultural journal,'
and it appears in print two or three weeks
or more after the season has passed.
If he defer his writing until the next sea
son, the novelty will have worn off, and
with it the desire to communicate his dis
covery to the public. So it is better to write
while the fever is on—even if out of season
—than not to write at all. Moreover, many
of us write best when the “spirit is on us,”
and it cannot always be coaxed either as to
time or subject. After all our correspond
ent’s point is “well taken” and its soundness
cannot be gainsaid. We would suggest the
practice of preserving files of agricultural
papers for future reference. They are now
generally folded with reference to conven
ience of filing and binding. We take occa
sion also to recommend the keeping of a
•liary (every day is the meaning) in which
the work, thoughts, future plans and pur
poses, weather, etc., are to be faithfully en
tered. Such a diary we kept for many years,
on the farm, and found it invaluable. Loose
scraps in heterogenous mixture, do not an
swer so well as a well arranged, faithfully
kept diary. R.
INQUIRY COLUMN.
HARVESTING PEA-NUTS OR GOOBERS (?)
Editor Southern World—Please let us
know the best mode of gathering goobers or
pea-nuts, and the best implements to use.
Is there no improvement on the negro and
the hoe? 1 am pleased with The Southern
World, and would be glad to have it
weekly. Hugh Davis.
Marion, Alabama.
Answer: We are not aware that any im
proved harvesters, if there be any, have
been used in Georgia. Perhaps some of our
Tennessee, Virginia, or North Carolina
friends can give the information desired.
Pea-nuts and goobers—for they are not the
same—are both grown in Georgia to a con
siderable extent for hogs, but very few for
market, and the hog is the Georgia pea-nut
harvester. On our own farm we only har
vested enough for aeed for our own planting,
and our practice was to run the wing of a
sweep under each side of the rows, so as to
loosen the hold on the plants, then lift out
the vines with a spading or digging fork,
turn them over to dry in the sun and when
dry haul to the barn, where the nuts were
picked off at leisure. Those remaining in
the ground after pulling up the vines, were
left for the hogs. R.
OPPOSED TO BERMUDA.
Ed. Southern World—I have seen many
inquiries recently in your paper as to where
Bermuda grass roots could be had and for
cultivation, etc. I can supply from my front
lota car load of roots, and will give anyone
a handsome chromo that will take them (the
roots) and will guarantee they will never re
gret but once that he took them. As for cul
tivation, it don’t need any—mine has flour
ished and is extending in spite of all I can
do. I have had it pulled up and spaded the
ground and raked out the roots and salted
it down, but now the grass is as thick as the
hair on a dog’s back, and still growing over
walks, up feuce posts, and everywhere that
it is not wanted; it roots out the brick bor
ders around my flower beds, chokes my roses
to death, and I fear will be the death of me.
Inclosed I send you some nice sprigs that
will grow beautifully, if you will only cover
them with dirt. Send on your men for roots,
I can stock your State and have enough left
for the balance of mankind. I think it is
an invention of the devil and comes direct
from Hades, as I have never been able to
get down to the other end of a root yet.
Covington, Tenn. % Bermuda.
Comment.—Our correspondent seems to
' have experienced a rough time with Bermu