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the SOUTHERN WORLD, JUNE 1,1884.
2M
Agricultural Department.
Farm Work for June.
The month just past could hardly have
been more favorable to the farmer. It
has been (up to present writing) a typi
cal May—dry. moderately warm and
gunny. Farmers are probably well up
with their work, and prepared to pursue
with vigor, the June campaign. In
plowing corn at this time and through
out the month it will be remembered
that the object should be to destroy
weeds and to keep the surface in a mel
low condition so as to permit the free
circulation of air and the deposition of
its moisture. J ust how often it will pay
to go over the crop with plow depends
upon the character of the implements
used and the rapidity with which the
work can be done. We believe corn
rarely gets as much cultivation as need
ed or more than will pay, and that the
intervals between plowings are—as a
rule—too long. The old rule prescribed
three weeks as the cycle of crop cultiva
tion, but we always thought it too long.
In fact there can be no inflexible rule. It
would certainly benefit a field of corn to
plow it after every season of rain—even
so often as once a week. It is certain
that in the advanced stage of the crop
growth the interval between plowings
should not be so great as they may safe
ly be when the crop is young.
The practice of sowing peas in corn
and small grain in cotton we believe will
eventually become the universal plan of
obviating two of the evils of summer
culture—the deprivation of humus in the
soil and the subsequent washing away
of the soil itself during the winter and
spring. Where the rows of corn are as
wide as five or six feet it is well to plant
a row of peas in the middle, say speck
led or cogee peas. Then, at the last
plowing, sow broadcast from one peck
to a bushel per acre, according to quan
tity of seed on hand.
The whole cost of the work in each
case will be measured by the market
value of the seed peas and the small
amount of labor of dropping or sowing
them, and it would be a remarkable
failure of the crop that does not return
the seed. Tne improvement of the lanu
is the main object of the broadcast bow-
uig, and while not so immediately mani
fest and susceptible of measurement, it
ia probably the chief benefit secured in
nearly every case. We once heard of
an old farmer in Stewart county who
had brought his lands up to a high de
cree of improvement by sowing his corn
helds, at the last plowing, with a variety
°f tow peas that produced a large quan
tity of vines. The field was sown to
"heat or other small grain in November
and after harvest the next May, a crop
°t peas would come forward from the
scattered seed that had kept soundly in
the soil during the winter.
^he cotton crop is now fairly under
"ay and according to all accounts the
ataud is good and the plants healthy,
t should be put to a final stand at once
and the object of the farmer should be
0 enc °urage a rapid development oi
throughout this and the next
jnoiuh. This can best be secured by
fluent plowings, rather deep, while
j plants are yet small, but diminish
**>5 m depth as the season advances,
nee in two weeks, at most, the sweep
r cultivator should traverse the rows
u stir the surface soil. A cultivator
m T^P clean out the entire
* e at one going is the implement to
u . • * 8 a ^ reat waste ot time to run
aj" , m a three feet row, as we have be-
e shown, a cultivator or other im-
JT* t ^ at 0411 be rtm astride each
and stir the soil on each side as far
In middle Point, is what is needed,
*k1 ^ aljSfcnce °i BU ch an implement, i
tivat 8Wee ^ or or dm*ry five-toothed cul
The ° r Ca ° k? m * < * e do almost as well.
baiu * 01 M uniform width as
y let to® implement be as wide as
will run in the narrowest rows, and side
both Bides of every alternate row. That
ifl, give especial attention to the alter
nate rows. At next plowing follow the
same plan, siding the other rows before
left. By this plan, or any other which
involves but one furrow to the row, the
crop may be gone over in just half the
time as by the usual two furrow method,
and of course may be plowed over twice
as often. We have tried this method re
peatedly and confidently recommend it,
especially to those who may have noth
ing in the shape oi a cultivator and must
rely on a sweep or scrape. The men
tion of these occasions the remark that
we have long since discarded the sweep
in favor of a common shovel, or scooter,
and the heel scrape, as costing iess and
being more easily kept in repair, besides
doing better work in many cases.
The usual forage crops—corn, millet,
sorghum, etc., may still be planted with
fair prospect of success—provided the
July drought be not too severe. The
last week in July or the first week in
August—according as the showers may
begin to fall—is generally the best time
to put in these second or fall maturing
crops. We have succeeded in growing
fine yields of pearl millet by sowing
early in August, the growth continuing
until late in the fall.
After harvesting the fields of small
grain it is usual to recommend that the
land be sown in peas for hay or for green
manuring. It is well to do so—if the
seasons and the other work of the farm
permit. Oftener than otherwise the
ground is too hard and dry to permit of
proper preparation and the securing of
a good stand. It is too uncertain of suc
cess to be relied on as part of a regular
system. K.
Chemists’ Convention.
The extensive and annually increasing
manufacture and sale of commercial fer
tilizers is giving especial prominence to
the work of the analytical chemist. The
work of analyzing fertilizers and the
crude materials which are manipulated
oy the manufacturer and converted into
saleable products has had the effect to
bring the chemist—with his abstruse
processes, into more intimate and prac
tical relations with the world than he
nas ever before sustained.
Every manufacturer of fertilizers and
every farmer who uses them on his land
has a direct interest in the results ob
tained in the laboratory. Four years
ago, the Commissioner of Agriculture oi
Georgia, Hon. J. T. Henderson, impress
ed with the importance oi uniformity in
the methods of analysis used by chemists
in determining the composition of com
mercial fertilizers, determined to call a
convention of the official or Slate chem
ists and the chemists of fertilizer manu
factory to see if they could not adopt
some simple uniform process. He was
impelled to do this by the complaints
that were frequently made by dealers
and manufacturers that the analyses of
our State Chemist was too low.
Very little investigation developed the
fact that there was no uniformity in the
methods among chemists; that different
re-agents and solvents were used by dif
ferent chemists to accomplish the same
purpose, and that the results were as
difierent as the processes employed. It
was further developed that the differ
ences were mainly between two classes
of chemists,—those in official position—
bute chemists, and University chemists
on the one hand, those in charge of fer
tilizer factories on the other. The for
mer, very naturally were impartial seek
ers after the simple truth and had no
nersonal interest in obtaining high re
sults. The latter, while equally honest
and reliable as scientific men, would
naturally incline to that method which
rould give a high commercial valuation
to uie product of their lactones. Ihe
XLice wasdue totheuseof different
dissolve out the reverted
solvents to dissolve ou», ««
phosphoric acid in the samples operated
upon, borne chemists used ammonium
citrate solution and others employed
ammonium oxalate solution, bo the
methods came to be known as the citrate
process and the oxalate process, respec
tively. It was found, too, that there
were other differences—variations in
temperature and time—even among
those chemists w*ho followed the same
general process.
The first convention met in Washing
ton, D. 0., in July, 1880, and was pre
sided over by Judge Henderson, who
had called it. As a result of its delib
erations and discussions, what has since
been universally known as the " Wash
ington method” of analysis was adopt-
ed, provisionally, by the convention and
has been followed since by most chem
ists. The same convention—largely in
creased in numbers by the efforts of cer
tain Baltimore manufacturers—met again
in Cincinnati, the following year, and
the “ Washington method” was tempo
rarily discontinued and a radically dif
ferent process substituted for one year.
No further meeting was held and the
Washington method has since been gen
erally followed by ofiicial chemists,
while the manufacturers’ chemists have,
about as generally, gone back to the old
oxalate poocess.
Believing that the time had arrived
when everything was ripe for agreement
and harmony, another convention was
called to meet in Atlanta the 15th day of
May, over which Judge Henderson was
also called to preside. After a very
pleasant and harmonious session of two
days, during which notes were compared,
experiments detailed and committees
appointed for further experimentation,
certain modifications of the Washington
method were agreed upon and recoin
mended for general adoption. These
changes were understood to be in the
direction of somewhat higher results—a
concession to the manufacturers—a sort
of compromise which was readily reach
ed as the result of four years’ experi
once. The convention then adjourned
to meet again in Philadelphia on the day
preceding the next meeting of the
American Association for the Advance
ment of bcience, which occurs on the
9th of August next. K.
should make his own supplies at home.
think the bouriixan Would the best
paper 1 ever saw. The more 1 read it
the better I like it. My wife cannot
hardly wait for it to come. She says
she wishes it would come every week.
Jambs A. Kbbl.
[Write often, friend Keel. We want
, ust such practical letters as the above.
—Ed. bouTUBHM Would.]
Oakland, Ala.—Every department of
your valuable paper is read with interest
by myself and family. 1 am very much
obliged to you for your reply to my in
quiries about the "Durham Cow” in
issue April 1st, also to Mr. L., of Tarry-
town, Md. 1 am glad to inform you that
not ouly myself, but experienced cattle
men were mistaken, for my cow now
has a fine heifer call. 1 make this con
fession with some reluctance, for 1 sup
pose you will attribute the error to
negligence on my part in managing my
stock, lor you say you " think the farmer
should know ” with almost certainty the
condition of his cow at all times. How
is this possible when the educated and
skillful M. D., with an intelligent sub
ject occasionally (ails in his diagnosis?
You are correct in condemning promiscu
ous herding of cattle; but how easy to
condemn aud how hard to correct. Please
give us some suggestions how to pre
vent this obstacle to improving the cattle
race of our country. You are well aware
that a large por cent, of the farmers own
no land, and consequently cannot have
pastures, llow would it do for the btate
to have a law that prohibited all male
yearlings from running at large? You
object to my cow as a breeder, but do
not say on what grounds. Is it because
she does not raise calves enough ? If so,
that feature would be desirable to many
of our farmers, for the calves never pay
the way they are forced to raise them.
11. L. Kay.
CORRESPONDENT’S COLUMN,
Conykks, Kockdalb Co., Ga.—Crops
all looking fine. Mr. James H. Smith,
Sr., has six acres of brag wheat, on his
larrn, three and a half miles from here
on the Covington road. 1 saw one head
from it which had ninety-three well-
filled grains of wheat, the head measur
ing five and three-eighth inches in
length. This is a fair Barnple. The land
on which this is growing has been in
cultivation thirty years. The lowest es
timate is twenty-five bushels per acre,
it was fertilized with barnyard manure.
T. C. W.
Irma, Tallapoosa Co., Ala.—I live
in the southwest part of Tallapoosa Co.,
Ala., on the Tallapoosa Kiver. Although
this part of the county is hilly, the land
is good for farming, producing one half
a bale of cotton, from ten to twenty
bushels of corn, and from five to ten
bushels of wheat per acre. We have an
abundant supply of cool freestone water,
and a fine climate. 1 think there is no
healthier spot on the globe. We have
almost every known variety of timber.
I live ten miles from town. We have
twocountry stores, kept by K. H. Howie,
and W. M. Bussell, and a Baptist and
a Methodist church. I cannot agree
with Mr. "K.” on cotton chopping. He
thinim the best way is to block out. 1
do not like that plan. I hoe my cotton
good the first time, because 1 think the
first grass ought all to be got out. I be
lieve in going over it as quick as possi
ble, but 1 always want my cotton put to
a stand, for then I have it safe. Most
of the farmers in this section make cot
ton and buy corn. I don’t think they
can make a living that way, at least 1 do
not feel like risking it. Every man
l*rlse llutter.
At the May meeting of the Hancock
County (Ga.) Agricultural Club there
was a contest for the best butter.
Each member exhibited two pounds.
The jars were all numbered and turned
over to a committee selected from out
side the Club. The committee, after a
thorough test, declared sample No. 9,
first best; No. 12, second best; aud No.
4, third best. The two first were ex-
nibiled by Hon. W. J. .Northen, and
the last by K. H. Thomas. baniple No.
9, was made from Jerseys; sample No.*
12 from Grades; and sample No. 4, from
scrub stock. All the samples exhibited
were pronounced fine and proves that a
great revolution is going ou in our btate
in butter making. We waul belter but
ter and more of it.
Alabama has demonstrated the value
of a State Geologist. The recent dis
covery of rich phosphate beds in Terry
and Autauga counties u one of the most
valuable that could be made. It is
thought that Dallas and other counties
will also show rich beds of phosphates.
This is moving in the right direction.
Develop your own resources.
Cecil county, Maryland, proposes to
spend $80,090 this year in making her
roads and bridges first-class. That is
what may be called a first-class policy.
We need thr.t sort of a policy in Georgia.
" Mend your ways.”
The acreage in melons this season in
Southern Georgia is 8,000 acres less than
last season. With good seasons the mel
ons will be belter in quality and almost
the same in quantity.
J. L. Ellis, of Trice, Ga., has a two
year old colt weighing 1000 pounds that
he has refused $400 for. And this Is not
a stock country ?
Never mix wood ashes with any other
manure. One destroys the other.
Cut Dotatoes before foodiiut to cattle.