The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., June 11, 1910, Page 415, Image 3

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
HOW ABOUT "LAYING-BY" TIME?
Some Methods Tlmt Are Followed by Tobacco Farmers_Xot by
Cotton Farmers, of Course—And Some of flip Disadvantages of
These Methods.
By A. L. French.
A GREAT MAM or our tanners
are looking forward with pleas
ure to "laylng-by” time, and
perhaps It may not be out of place for
us 100,000 farmers who read The Pro
gressive Farmer and Gazette to gath
er around close, discuss cultivation a
little and see if we can not get a lit
tle better understanding of this "lay
ing-by" matter. All over our upper
Piedmont country of the South—the
Bright Tobacco Belt—strong men.
full grown, some over-grown, are to
day pushing on the rope lines and
admonishing the 700-pound mule to
"come up," and Incidentally In com
ing up bring the ltoy Dixie alongside
the row of corn "barring It off." It
Is almost unbelievable that thousands
of farmers plnnt corn yet with the
slnglo-shovel to "lay-off," tho boys
and women to drop the seed, and the
double-shovel to cover. Then the
land Is left for nature to work her
miracle of bringing forth plants un
der such unfavorable conditiona im
aided by harrow, weeder or other
new-fangled things. The rows get
weedy, of course, but the old lady
and the children are there to "chop
It out," \«hilo the old man and the
mule bar off.
You fellows out there in the cotton
country needn't laugh, for this Is no
laughing business but a statement of
actual conditions as they prevail over
much of the country tributary to the
mountains, and I really dislike much
to say It. but I actually saw a big
fellow out In your section driving a
"powerful" small mule one <lny some
years ago.
Ibis Is a condition, as I have said,
that prevails; but It is not a necessary
condition at all. Perhaps this meth
od had best be called a habit, for it
certainly is not a harder or more ex
pensive Job to use a one-horse plant
er in place of the shovel plow or
double-shovel, children, etc. Then It
would be only a little harder on a
man's feelings to harrow the land
two or three times with a one-section
harrow than to just sit around and
lit liin crass :in l \\<>i<iIm crow until
"barring off time."
After all. what is tho use of tho
"barring off," an way? If that field
had been harrowed thoroughly and all
weed and grass <eed killed In the up
per two 'nrh< < of the soil, wouldn't a
five- or seven tooth single cultivator
have answered all tho purposes of
Cultivation just as well and saved
bringing more weed seed up within
sprouting distance? Would It not
have been best, too, not to have plow
ed that furrow uloiigstde tho tender
plants, rutting tunny roots and leav
ing thousands of others exposed to
the heat of the sun to wither nway
and die? And how many barrels of
water, think you, will have been
evaporated from that rough exposed
surface? Water, too. that will be
much needed by the thirsty corn
plants along In July and August.
The fellows made a few mistakes
so far along, didn’t they? Well, to
proceed: in about ten days the fur
row is turned back to the corn and
wo are glad to see the dirt cover up
these corn roots and fill up that
rough, exposed surface; but the trou
ble is, that he has left two more
fresh furrows and a narrow ridge ex
posed between two rows of corn this
flme, and we wonder why the culti
vator would not have been the better
tool to have used here also. Hut,
hurrah! in about two woeks ho “busts
out' the middles and she is lald-by,
having a deep ditch between the
rows, the sloping banks of which af
rord means for getting rid of what
little moisture there is in the soil just
at the critical period of the plant’s
growth when it needs moisture more
than at any other stage.
He made a mistake here sure,
didn’t he? He should have used that
small-tooth cultivator instead of the
plow to bust out with, and then used
it a time or two more until time to
seed the land in peas.
And yet, the fellow will make some
corn. Nature is mighty kind to her
"little ones."
BETTER TOOLS AN’I> HEAVIER
TEAMS.
The Two Go Together and Will Yet
Bring About a New Era in South
ern Farming.
Messrs. Editors: The Western
farmer is making use of the best
farming implements to be had, and
as a result he furnishes the corn for
a good many of the Southern farmers
to feed their mule while they make
two trips across a field to cultivate
one row of cotton or peanuts or to
bacco. This Is not as it should be,
for we can grow as much corn to
the acre here as can be grown any
where.
We need more time, and labor-sav
ing tools, used in a practical manner,
will give us more time. Better tools
however, will generally call for more
it not heavier teams with the South
ern farmers. It is useless to expect
an implement to do good work and
not have a heavier draft than ene
that does not do so much or so good
work. That is, do not expect some
thing for nothing, if you find a plow
...in ~a_ ___a_ _ .« • .
***** MW |VIU nvim MVU/i UUI IB
a little too much for your team,
change the team and not the plow.
If two will uol do the work, try three
abreast.
The double cultivator and two-row
corn planter have come to Btay, and
slowly but surely the light one-horse
plow is giving way to the heavier plow
of the chilled type; but the majority
have yet to learn to run them deep
enough. It Is also a very hard mat
ter to get some of our farmers to
stop using the turn plow to cultivate
(he corn crop, but the change Is
gradually coming about
The Southern farmers are learning
to replace the decreasing amount of
vegetable matter in their soils; and
while the average yields per acre of
the Western farmers are growing
smaller because he thinks his land is
Inexhaustible, that of the Southern
farmer Is slowly Increasing, because
of the Increasing amount of humus.
Now If we will only use the Imple
ments and methods of cultivation
that they ubo, and thus produce our
crops at a decreased cost by a saving
in time and labor we may hope to do
*1 C AAA People Have Put Their A \T
1 D,UUU On Thi» Buggy. V. IV.
Buy your Buggy and Harness direct from our factory and get it at first coat. No drum
mer's expenses, jobbers’ commissions, wholesalers prcflts and dealers’ enormous profits are ad
ded to the prices of GOLDEN EAGLE VEHICLES. We manufacture and sell direct to users,
and save our customers $20.00 to 140.00. We also sell Harness at cost as an advertisement.
Get our Catalog now for
Mall coupon to day for 19X0 Catalog Spring Buying.
Golden Eagle Buggy Co.. Station 57. 144. 148. Edgewood Ace.. Atlanta, Go.
Gentlemen: Please mail me postpaid, your new 5-color 106 page catalog.
Name..
Poet Office.B- F' D' No'.
- .—————
for ourselves what they are doing
for us.
We need better implements, more
and heavier teams, and plenty of live
stock to eat our hay and grain, and
turn It into meat and manure—the
meat to go to market at the present
fancy prices, and the manure to go
to improve the sadly depleted fields
of our beautiful Southland.
THOMAS BELL.
“How to Destroy Bats."
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 369, “How
to Destroy Rats,” has been lately is
sued by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture. It may be had
by addressing the Secretary of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. The
summary of recommendations in
cludes:
1. Protection of native hawks and
owls and the smaller predatory mam
mals.
2. Greater cleanliness and care in
the disposal of waste and garbage so
that the rats cannot readily get at
them.
3. Care in the construction of
buildings and drains so as not to
provide entrances and retreats for
rats, and the closing of rat holes in
old buildings.
4. Early threshing and marketing
of grains on farms.
5. Removal of straw stacks and
piles of lumber or trash in the fields.
6. Rat-proofing of all buildings for
the storage of provisions, grains, or
feed stuffs.
7. The keeping of effective rat
dogs.
8. Systematic destruction of rats
by trapping, poisoning and hunt
ing.
Buy Your Wagon On An
Investment Basis
Choose FromThe IHC Line
m LTOUR wagon must pay
Y you dividends. It should
"*■ not be a source of trouble
^^F and expense. So we say—
buy your wagon on an in
vestment basis. It's the
most profitable way in the
^B end.
H An I H C wagon is a
H government bond wagon in
■ vestment. It will last longer
j^B —and do better service while it
j^B lasts—than any other make of
H wagon. It pays the biggest dividends.
^B A cheap wagon is constructed in a cheap way, of
B cheap materials with cheap machinery, by cheap workmen. Such a wagon
^B is expensive at any price—when you figure up its total cost.
H Thousands of business farmers have chosen from the I H C line. It's
||B the surest way of getting the most wagon-service and satisfaction. You will
i^B do well to choose one of these styles—
I Columbus Weber
New Bettendorf Steel King
The greatest wagon value in all America. Each is a quality wagon—
built up to the high I H C standard—not down to any price.
Don’t be misled by looks—or first price. For paint covers a multitude
of wagon sins—and price is too often the only argument of a wagon maker.
The best materials are used in the I H C line of wagons. The wood
stock is the finest—air dried, seasoned and inspected at every step—even
after the paint goes on. Spokes, hubs, skeins, bo*, axles, seat, all iron and
in fact every part of an I H C wagon is as good as the widest experience,
the best materials, the most skillful workmen and the latest improved ma
cllinerv can make it. Everv nart is enuallv irond. ermallv trim and ennallv
fH strong. There are no “weak spots” in the I H C line.
The Weber is the King of All farm wagons, with 65 years of wagon
HM experience back of it. The Columbus is a high grade, general purpose
||H wagon suitable for all conditions of roads and climate where wood wagons
fill are in use. The New Bettendorf is a steel gear wagon of great capacity and
light draft, suited to any climate. The Steel King is an all steel wagon up
HI to the 1HC standard, and is rapidly gaining popularity.
T'.. Be sure to call on the local International dealer. Get a pamphlet and
jfrl let him show you one of these wagons. You will note the vast difference
^1 between wagons of the I HC line and all other wagons. If you prefer,
EH write us direct for a booklet or any other information yon want.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF AMERICA
(Incorporated)
H^ _CHICAGO . . . USA