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SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.

TORONTO

Hillside Plow.

tA»A%»>

A Terraced Field.

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

BY
F. S. EARLE

1 J J J

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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1908

All rights reserved

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Copyright, 1908,
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1908. ^

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J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick «fe Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

Part I. General Considerations

PAGES

1-117

Climate

2-5

The Soil

5-1.5

Management of the Soil

15-40

Improvement of the Soil

40-90

The Growth of the Plant

91-97

Insects and Diseases

97-107

Marketing Products

107-112

Farm Policy and Management

112-117

Part II. The Chief Southern Agricultural

Crops ....

118-291

Sugar Cane

.

118-141

The Grains

.

141-158

Pasture and Forage

Crops

158-170

Fiber Plants

•

170-190

Tobacco

•

190-201

Coffee

.

201-205

Cacao .

•

. 205-206

Rubber

• 4

. 206-207

Temperate Fruits

•

. 207-241

Subtropical Fruits .

• i

. 241-264

Tropical Fruits

• •

. 264-270

390179

vi CONTENTS

PAGES

Nut Crops '270-275

Truck Crops 275-282

Forestry 283-284

Domestic Animals 284-291

Index 293-297

LIST OF HALF-TONE PLATES

OPPOSITE PAGE

A Moist Tropical Forest 5

A Cotton Field in Fruit 172

Sisal 188

Coffee Tree with Fruit . . . . . . 201

The Mexican Rubber Tree (Castilloa elastica) . . 206

Oranges 241:

A Mango Tree 262

A Pineapple Field 264

Bananas 266

Vll

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SOUTHERlsr AaRIOULTURE

PART I

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Primitive man obtained his food from the fruits
and roots of various wild plants and from the flesh
of wild animals. • Agriculture began when he first
took thought to care for his favorite food plants and
to plant them near his usual haunts. The first
crops doubtless sprang from the seeds of wild fruits
carelessly scattered near the favorite camp or rest-
ing place. The fruits of these chance-sown plants
were handy and easy to gather, hence the plants
were cherished and to some extent protected from
injury, while valueless plants would be broken down
and destroyed. From such crude beginnings has
modern agriculture sprung with its manifold labors
and activities that have so wonderfully changed the
face of the habitable part of the world, destroying
the natural plant covering with its endless variety,
and substituting great areas of those few plants that
are of greatest utility to mankind. Agriculture is
thus the propagation of plants through the inter-
vention of man.

B 1

2 t^^enerat. considerations

Climate as effecting Agriculture

The growth of wild plants is determined by two
sets of factors, those connected with the soil and
those connected with the climate. Cultivated plants
are also subject to these same conditions except in
so far as these may be modified by human effort.
Cultivation is the collective name for all those pro-
cesses by which man seeks to alter these environ-
mental conditions, tlius making them more favorable
for his crops. It is easier to modify soil conditions
than climatic conditions, hence the climate of any
region must always profoundly influence its agri-
culture. Climate depends on the two factors of
temperature and humidity. A climate may be hot
or cold, wet or dry, and the kinds of crops that can
be grown will vary accordingly. These factors
depend in turn on three others, — latitude, altitude,
and topography.

Latitude as effecting Climate. — If we start with
the land of perpetual snow in the Arctic regions and
travel southward, the climate will become gradually
warmer and warmer until we reach the perpetual
summer of the tropics. Each change in temperature
will be accompanied by corresponding changes in
plant and animal life. These changes are so well
marked and conspicuous that naturalists are able to
mark off a number of well-defined areas called life
zones, each of which is characterized by the plants
and animals found in it which do not occur either
farther north or farther south. Other plants and
animals have a wider range of adaptability and may

CLIMATE AS EFFECTIXG AGRICULTURE 3

be found in more than one life zone, but even with
these there is always a region where they thrive best
and seem most at home. A study of these life zones
in any country is of considerable practical impor-
tance to the farmer, for a knowledge of the life zone
in which he is located will show at once what the
probabilities of success will be with the different
cultivated crops. Thus in the Hudsonian zone he
can plant potatoes, turnips, and barley, but not
corn. In the Alleghanian he can plant corn, wlieat,
and apples, but not cotton. In the Austro-riparian
he can plant cotton, corn, and rice, but not apples
and wheat.

Altitude as effecting Climate. — If we pass from
base to summit of a high mountain, we will find that
altitude affects temperature in exactly the same way
as latitude. Thus on every high mountain in the
tropics, in the course of a few miles we may traverse
all the life zones from the tropical jungles and per-
petual heat of the base to the perpetual snow and
ice of the summit. In fact, it is in mountainous
countries that these life zones are most clearly
marked. This is due to the fact that distances are
so much shorter and comparisons so much more
easily made. On level lands the boundaries usually
overlap and are indistinct, but on steep mountains
they are often very clearly marked, one kind of vege-
tation beginning and another ending very abruptly.
The majority of wild animals and plants do not have
a vertical range of more than a thousand feet.

Topography as effecting Climate. — A careful study
of the life zones in a mountainous country will soon

4 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

show that the same zone is not always to be found
at the same altitude. The plants of the cold thickets
up near the timber line will be found straggling
downward for a considerable distance in shaded ra-
vines on the northern slopes, while on the side exposed
to the sun the plants of the hot plains at the base
may extend upward for many hundred feet.

In a level country like the great Mississippi Valley
there is nothing to interrupt the free movement of
the air, and the cold northwest winds of winter rush
unchecked throughout its whole extent. If a great
chain of mountains extended from east to west
across the middle of it, these northers would to a
great extent be deflected and the southern portion
would have a much warmer, more equable climate.
On the other hand the warm winds from the Gulf of
Mexico would be prevented from reaching the upper
portion and its climate would be correspondingly
colder. Italy owes its warm, genial climate to the
protection of the Alps. Small local variations in
altitude also have a pronounced effect on climate.
The cool air at night settles into the low places,
while the warmer air rises about the tops of the hills.
In driving through the country at night every one
has noticed the chill on descending into some damp
ravine and the pleasant warmth encountered on the
higher ridges. Fruit growers take advantage of this
fact and locate peach orchards and strawberry fields
on high ground, where they will be more likely to
escape damage from spring frosts.

Topography is thus seen to have its effect on
temperature, but it has an equally great effect in con-

<v
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32

THE SOIL 5

trolling humidity. When a warm wind laden with
moisture from the seapasses over the land, it becomes
chilled in rising over high hills or mountains, since,
as we have seen, these are cooler than the lower levels.
Cool air cannot contain as much moisture as warm
air, hence part of it is squeezed out and falls as rain.
As a rule the windward side of a mountain range is
wet, while the leeward side is dry. We thus find
that the east coast of Mexico and Central America,
which is exposed to the sweep of the northeast trade
wind, has a heavy rainfall. In passing over the high
mountains of the interior these warm, moist winds
become cooled and lose their moisture, so that as they
descend on the western side and again become
warmed they are very dry. What are practically
desert conditions prevail over large areas of the west-
ern side of these countries. The same thing occurs
in South America and in the more mountainous of the
West India Islands. Porto Rico and Jamaica have
a very heavy rainfall on the north side of the moun-
tains, but on the southern side it is so dry that irriga-
tion is necessary for the profitable production of most
crops. If our hypothetical chain of mountains ex-
tended across the Mississippi Valley, the south side
would not only be warmer, but it would have much
heavier rainfall, since more of the moisture from the
Gulf would be deposited; while the northern side
would not only be cold, but very dry.

The Soil

Formation of Soils. — The earth or finely divided
substratum in which the ordinary land plants grow

6 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

and extend their roots is called the soil. It consists
of more or less minute rock particles mixed with de-
composed vegetable matter. The rocks that formed
on the cooling of the earth's crust in the early geologi-
cal ages soon began to be disintegrated by the action
of rain and wind. As the cooling process continued
the action of frost contributed largely to the same
end. The loosened particles, swept along by the
torrential rainfalls of this stormy epoch, were carried
to the sea, where they were deposited to form the
thick beds of stratified rocks which by subsequent
elevation and erosion have served to furnish the
material for most of our agricultural soils of to-day.
During the long ages of the glacial period, when so
much of the present temperate zone was covered with
an immense sheet of ice and snow, the slow, irresistible,
glacier-like southward movement of the mass also
served as a poAverf ul means for crushing and pulveriz-
ing the buried rocks below. From the earliest times
running streams have been efficient agents not only for
eroding rocks, but for transporting the disintegrated
particles from one place and depositing them in an-
other. As vegetation of various kinds began to ap-
pear on the sandbars and other exposed deposits of
these crude rock particles, the remains of the dying
plants became mingled with the sand and silt and by
its modifying influence served little by little to form
a true soil. Agricultural soils may, therefore, be
classified according to their origin as alluvial de-
posits along streams; lacustrine deposits in the bottom
of ponds and lakes, or the bottom of the sea, that
have subsequently been elevated or drained by the

THE SOIL 7

movements of the earth's crust ; and glacial deposits
left by the great ice sheet; or finally they may have
been formed in situ by the slow weathering and de-
composition of the underlying rocks. Bog soils are
also worthy of special mention since they are mostly
formed in situ from the remains of aquatic or semi-
aquatic plants. Sand dunes and other shifting de-
posits made by the wind usually have but little
agricultural value.

Kinds of Soils. — For practical purposes soils are
usually classified according to the size of the particles
of which they are composed. Among farmers they
are spoken of as gravelly, sandy, loamy, or clayey,
and intermediate grades are expressed by combina-
tions of these terms, as sandy-loams, loamy-clay, etc.
Soil physicists make a more accurate classification,
which is expressed in the following table: —

clay, soil particles, .005 mm. or less in diameter,
fine silt, soil particles, .01-.005 mm. in diameter,
silt, soil particles, .05-. 01 mm. in diameter,
very fine sand, soil particles, .1-05 mm. in diameter,
fine sand, soil particles, .25-. 1 mm. in diameter,
medium sand, soil particles, .5-.25 mm. in diameter,
coarse sand, soil particles, 1-.5 mm. in diameter,
gravel, soil particles, over 1 mm. in diameter.

In describing soils the shape of the soil particles is
also taken into consideration. Of course most soils
contain particles of different sizes. In making a
mechanical analysis of a soil these particles are sepa-
rated according to the sizes in the above table, and
the percentage of each is determined. The adapta-

8 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

bility of a soil for different crops will depend very
largely on these percentages.

Composition of Soils. — Tlie chemical composition of
soils naturally varies quite widely according to the
nature of the rocks from which they have been de-
rived and the climatic influences to which they have
been subjected. The smallest particles constituting
the clay are usually silicate of alumina, while the
sand is mostly silica. These two substances in vary-
ing proportions form the great bulk of most soils,
but they are both inert so far as supporting vegeta-
tion is concerned. A soil containing only these tw^o
substances would be absolutely sterile. Combined
with these in varying quantities are usually found
iron, carbonates and sulphates of lime and magnesia,
and minute quantities of phosphate of lime and of ni-
trates, carbonates, chlorides, and silicates, of potash
and soda. From a chemical point of view the fertility
of the soil mostly depends on the small amounts of ni-
trates and phosphates and of potash which it contains.
At least the other essential elements of plant food are
usually sufficiently abundant in all soils, but the quan-
tity of one or more of these three is often insufficient,
especially in soils that have been long in cultivation.
The solubility and therefore the availability of the
phosphates and potash in the soil depends largely on
the amount of vegetable matter which it contains.
The nitrates, which may be considered the most im-
portant of all the soil substances, are mostly derived
from decaying organic matter, so the amount of this
material in the soil may often be taken as an index
of its fertility. Bog soils, however, contain so large

THE SOIL 9

a proportion of vegetable matter that the mineral
elements are often in insufficient quantit}'. The
presence of large quantities of lime in a soil gives it
some characteristic peculiarities. The name of cal-
careous soils is applied where more than ten per cent
of this substance is present. It usually happens
that the surface layers of the soil contain more de-
composed vegetable matter and so are darker colored
than the part that lies below. This upper portion
is called the top soil or surface soil, while the deeper
layers are spoken of as the subsoil. The mechanical
composition of the two is often quite different, and
the line of demarcation between them may be clearl}^
marked. The top soil may vary in depth from
a few inches to as many feet. A deep surface soil is
usually an indication of fertility. In some cases, as
in the loess soils at some points along the Mississippi
River and the red cane lands of the Tertiary period
in the West Indies, there is no proper subsoil, since
the surface soil extends downward practically un-
altered for a great depth.

Biological Activities in the Soil. — So far only the
chemical and physical properties of the soil have been
considered. It is also the place for innumerable
biological activities. Instead of being the inert,
lifeless mass that it seems, it is literally swarming
with untold myriads of minute living beings whose
life processes profoundly affect its composition and
properties. Without the aid of these active but
infinitesimal workers the soil as we know it to-day
could never have been built up ; and if their activi-
ties should suddenly cease, its fertility would be

10 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

quickly lost, never to return. These bacteria, or
germs, as they are often called, constitute the minutest
forms of life. They are so small that they are scarcely
more than visible under the highest powers of the mi-
croscope, but they occur in such numbers, their vital
activities are so great, and they multiply so rapidly,
that they constitute one of the most powerful factors
in the world's economy. They are the agents of de-
cay. It is by their aid that refuse animal and vegeta-
ble matter of all kinds is rotted down so that it may
become incorporated in the soil and so become avail-
able for the growth of useful plants. Besides the nu-
merous kinds whose combined activities result in this
most useful work of decomposition there are many
others, some highly beneficial and others noxious,
whose activities in the soil strongly influence its qual-
ity and fertility. Some attack the ammoniacal com-
pounds resulting from putrefaction and convert them
into nitrites. Others in turn convert these nitrites
into nitrates. It is only in the form of nitrates that
our ordinary crops are able to use nitrogen as food,
hence we see the immense practical importance of un-
derstanding how these salts are formed in the soil and
of knowing how these processes may be influenced
by different methods of cultivation. Nitrogen stored
in the soil in other forms represents potential fertility,
but it only becomes actual fertility after it has passed
through those complicated changes known collectively
as nitrification, which are produced by the combined
action of these different livinof orofanisms and which
result in the formation of nitrates. These nitrates
are very soluble, and they are readily taken up in

THE SOIL 11

dilute solutions by the absorptive surfaces of the root
hairs found so abundantly near the ends of the young
growing rootlets. Owing also to their extreme
solubility, they are readily leached out of the soil
and lost, and they are also liable to the attack of still
other bacteria known as denitrifying organisms which
set free the precious nitrogen and allow it to escape
back to the great storehouse of the atmosphere.
Losses from these two sources are often very heavy,
and they are continually occurring in all cultivated
soils that are not fully occupied by some actively
growing crop, excepting of course when they are
securely locked by the frosts of winter. The absence
of frost and the fact that in consequence these mani-
fold soil activities are progressing continuously
throughout the year constitutes the chief real basic
difference between southern and northern agricul-
ture. This fundamental difference must always be
kept clearly in mind when attempting to formulate
rational agricultural practices for either region, or
when attempting to adapt northern methods to
southern conditions.

Besides this great series of organisms that we have
seen to be concerned in the breaking down and
putrefaction of organic matter and the subsequent
conversion of the nitrosfen it contains into the
available nitrates, there is another series of bacteria
known as nitrogen-hxing organisms Avhich have the
power which none of the higher plants possess of
seizing the free nitrogen of the air and so combining it
with other elements as to utilize it as food. It thus
becomes organic nitrogen, and when excreted by these

12 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

organisms or on their death it is available for the
growth of the higher plants after j^assing through
the usual nitrifying changes. This ability to draw
on the vast reserve of free nitrogen existing in the
atmosphere is a matter of the utmost importance.
The study of these biological activities in the soil
which play so important a part in its fertility and
consequently are so vitally important in the world's
progress has only recently begun to receive atten-
tion. In the past few years many attempts have
been made to propagate and artificially distribute
these nitrogen-fixing bacteria and to learn the con-
ditions which control their natural growth and in-
crease in the soil. The problems involved are very
complex and difficult and so far but few results
of practical value have been obtained. The field
remains an open one, and it is one of the most attrac-
tive and important in the whole range of the scien-
tific investio^ations bv means of which this asfe is
striving to explain and to improve upon the ancient
agricultural practices of the world.

There is one immensely important group of these
nitrogen-fixing bacteria, however, whose activities are
now fairly well understood and whose services are
being utilized on a large and rapidly increasing scale.
These organisms are parasitic on the roots of the
numerous species of plants belonging to the bean
and pea family or, as it is usually called, the Legumi-
nosce. Their presence causes the growth of little
galls or swellings known as nodules or tubercles,
and in this respect they are to some extent an incon-
venience to the plant. The favor of being fur-

THE SOIL 13

nished a habitation and of being provided with a
certain quantity of the sugary material which they
take from the phmt sap is amply repaid by their
nitrogenous excretions which are in a form to be
quickly available to the host plant. Plants of this
family are thus enabled to grow and thrive in soils
that are very deficient in nitrogen, since they are
able to obtain a sufficient supply of this most neces-
sary material from the atmosphere through the agency
of these minute inhabitants of their root tubercles.
The tissues of leguminous plants are rich in nitrogen,
and they are more useful than any others to plow
under for green manuring, since they really add to
the soil large quantities of this ever desirable ele-
ment. Other green crops and weeds when plowed
under only return to the soil what they have pre-
viously taken from it. The fact that clover and
other similar legumes were useful for green manur-
ing has been known since the earliest times, but the
reason why they are better than other kinds of plants
for this purpose has only been known for a compara-
tively few years. Even when crops of clover, cow-
peas, or other similar legumes are cut and removed
from the land, the roots and stubble contain enough
nitrogen to be of considerable use to succeeding crops.
This is a matter of tlie utmost practical importance,
since by establishing a proper rotation and by keep-
ing the ground continuously covered by some legu-
minous catch crop when not occupied by the principal
crop it is possible, at slight expense and without losing
its use for a single season, to constantly maintain the
nitrogen content of the soil and that without pur-

14 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

chasing a pound of this most expensive of the ele-
ments of fertility. When crops are constantly taken
from the land, however, the potash and phosphoric
acid will at length be exhausted, no matter how great
its original fertility, and it will become necessary to
supply them by purchase. The important question
of methods for maintaining or improving the fertil-
ity of the soil will be more fully discussed in a sub-
sequent chapter.

Besides the exceedingly useful organisms that have
been so briefly discussed in the preceding paragraphs
the soil frequently harbors others that may become
exceedingly injurious by attacking and causing dis-
eases in our cultivated plants or our domestic ani-
mals. As a general rule the richer a soil is in humus
and decaying vegetable matter, the more likely it is
to be able to support these noxious parasites, since
some parasites are able to support life, at least for
certain periods of their existence, on such decaying
materials. It frequently happens that when the
same crop is grown continuously on the same soil
for a series of years, the land becomes so filled with
some disease-producing organism that this crop can
no longer be produced and its cultivation has to be
abandoned. This again is too large a subject for
full discussion here, but enough has been said to con-
clusively show that the study of the biology of the
soil is fully as important as that of soil chemistry
and soil physics. In fact chemistry, soil physics, and
biology with its manifold branches, especially bacteri-
ology and vegetable physiology and pathology, are
the scientific foundation on which all rational farm

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 15

practices must depend. Agriculture itself is a busi-
ness, not a science, but its nature is such that in order
to conduct it successfully a knowledge is required of
the results obtained by the students of many sciences.

Management of the Soil

Preparation for Crops ; Clearing. — In a state of
nature arable soils, at least in humid or semihumid
regions, are always covered with a dense growth of
natural vegetation which it is necessary to destroy
to make room for cultivated crops. In very arid
regions extremely fertile soils are sometimes abso-
lutely destitute of plant covering, but this is very
rare. On forest lands the vegetation consists almost
Avholly of trees and shrubs, and the clearing is a seri-
ous labor; but on prairies or savannahs, where it con-
sists entirely of grasses and other herbaceous plants,
the wdiole may be turned under by the plow. The
methods of clearing forest lands differ widely in
different countries. In the tropics the work is
usually very crudely done. The trees and bushes
are hacked or chopped down with the machete or ax
during the dry season and they are burned where
they fall. The crop, whatever it may be, is now
planted among the cliarred logs and stumps without
any attempt at plowing the land, and such cultiva-
tion as is given is done with the hoe or machete.
The plow is only employed when the smaller stumps
are rotted and the land begins to be invaded by grass.
In temperate regions the clearing is usually rather
more thorough. The bushes and smaller trees are

16

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

taken up by the roots witli the mattock, and the land
is plowed with a "new ground plow," or jumping
shovel, before the crop is planted. In either case it is
ultimately necessary to dig out the remaining stumps
and any large stones before the land can be fitted for
cheap cultivation with improved modern machinery.
Stump-pulling machines of various kinds are often

A Stump Puller.

employed in this work, and the larger stumps are
frequently split in pieces by dynamite. In most
cases it would probably be cheaper in the long run
to do all this work in the first place and completely
clear the land of all obstructions before beginning to
plant it. This, however, entails so heavy an initial
expense that it is seldom attempted.

Plowing. — The endless number of plows on the

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 17

market may all be referred to one of the three follow-
ing types: — shovel plows, moldboarcl or turning
plows, and disk j)lows. The first plow Avas prob-
ably little more than a crotched stick with the
short arm of the crotch sharpened so that it could
be dragged through the ground. In the evolution
of the shovel plow from this primitive form a steel
point was first added to protect the cutting end of
the stick, and subsequently this point was flattened
into a triangular shape and was slightly curved.
The " Creole " or " Cuban " plow, still so much used
in many parts of tropical America, has only reached
the second stage in this development. It is only
a steel-shod stick dragged through the ground.
Shovel plows are largely used in laying off rows for
planting and sometimes for cultivation, but they are
but little used for the preliminary preparation of the
land. Most modern cultivators are only gangs of
small shovel plows.

The turning plow is the one mostly used for
breaking up the soil in preparing it for planting. It
is so called because it cuts out a clean furrow slice
and turns it more or less completely over, thus bury-
ing all grass and weeds that are growing on the sur-
face. It consists of a wooden or steel beam to
which the team is attached, which corresponds to the
long arm of the crotch in the primitive plow. To
this is attached a standard which corresponds to the
short arm of the crotch, and handles bv which it is
controlled by the plowman. The standard carries on
one side a long, narrow vertical plate, the land side,

which serves to hold the plow steadily to its work,
c

18 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

while on tlie other it has the share or point, which is
a slightly curved steel or iron plate with a horizontal
cutting edge which serves to cut out the furrow
slice. It extends backward and upward to connect
with the moldboard, which is another plate with a
compound curve so shaped that the furrow slice is
carried upward and is at the same time twisted over
so that it falls wrong side up. Plows with differ-
ently shaped moldboards are adapted for handling
different classes of soils. In gravelly or very sandy
soils cheap cast-iron plows are often used, as the more
expensive but softer steel ones are quickly ground
away and worn out by the grit. On sticky lands
that contain much clay it is necessary to use steel
plows because the iron ones do not scour well, the
soft dirt sticking to the moldboard and preventing
the proper turning of the furrow slice.

Turning plows vary in size from those cutting a
furrow slice only five or six inches wide to those
cutting sixteen or eighteen inches, and they are
adapted to be drawn by from one to as many as six
or eight animals. The term " gang plow " is applied
to those implements that carry two or more shares
and moldboards arranged one behind another so that
two or more furrows may be turned at each bout or
turn around the field. Such implements can only
be used on lands entirely free from obstructions. In
the ordinary walking plows there is no mechanism
for supporting the plow, but it is held upright and
in place by the plowman. In riding or sulky plows
the implement is attached to a frame that is carried
by two or more wheels. The plowman rides and

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL

19

controls the depth and position of the plow by means
of levers.

The disk plow is entirely new in principle. It
consists of a large circular knife or disk of thin steel
which is pressed into a concave shape and mounted
so as to revolve on a central axle. It is set so that
the sharp edge enters the soil almost vertically and
the furrow slice is lifted and turned over by the
concavity of the revolving disk. Disk plows are

Double Disk Plow.

always riding plows. They may be single or arranged
in gangs. They are very useful for certain pur-
poses, especially in handling sticky refractory soils
in which ordinary turning plows do not scour
well.

Formerly plows were nearly always drawn by oxen.
In tropical countries this is still the prevailing cus-
tom. The first cost of oxen is less than that of
horses or mules ; with good pasturage they can work
on that alone without requiring expensive grain

20 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

feed, and when they reach an unprofitable age for
work, they can be fattened and sohl for beef. Oxen,
however, move slowly and cannot endure as many
hours of continuous labor as horses and mules.
With a good span of mules a man can easily plow
an acre a day in ordinary soils. He will do well to
plow half an acre with a yoke of oxen. One man
can manage eight horses and a sulky gang plow, but
with four yoke of cattle it requires one man on the
plow and usually two others to manage the team.
In countries where human labor is very cheap it
probably still pays to use cattle; but in countries like
the United States and Cuba, where farm wages are
high, it is cheaper and more satisfactory to use horses
and mules. At the South mules seem on the whole
to stand farm labor better than horses. Where
farming is carried on on a large scale and where the
land is level and other conditions are favorable, steam
power is coming to be utilized more and more for
plowing and other farm work. Steam plows are of
two general t3^pes: first, those where the gangs are
drawn by locomobile engines which simjjly replace
the animals and move round and round the field; and
second, those where the gangs are attached to cables
and are drawn back and forth across the field by a
single stationary engine or by two which are moved
slowly along its opposite sides. Recently the at-
tempt is also being made with some success to adapt
gasoline or alcohol motors such as are used for auto-
mobiles to agricultural purposes.

If a field is always plowed in tlie same manner, the
continued turning of the furrows in one direction

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 21

tends to pile up the dirt around the borders and to
hollow it out in the middle of the field, where the
center or so-called "dead furrow " comes. Occasional
back furrowing remedies this trouble. To back fur-
row it is necessary to begin plowing in the middle of
the field and turn in the opposite from the usual di-
rection so as to continuously turn the furrows toward
the center. By using skill in laying out the lands
for plowing and by back furrowing when necessary
a field may be kept quite level or high places may be
leveled down and low ones filled up, or if the land
is low and wet, it may be gradually built up into nar-
row beds with open Avater furrows between them in
such a wa,y as to greatly improve the drainage. It
is usually better to take long narrow lands rather
than those that are short and nearly square as there
will be much less time lost in turning.

Great care should always be taken to see that
plows are so adjusted as to run level and even,
and that they turn the soil to the desired depth.
On sulky plows these adjustments are made by
means of the various levers. On walking plows
the depth is regulated by adjusting the clevises at
the end of the beam by which the team is attached.
The lower the point of attachment, the shallower
the plow will run. Elevating the point of attacli-
ment correspondingly deepens the furrow. Short-
ening the traces or elevating them by adjusting the
back bands will also serve to lessen the depth of
the furrow. On many plows there is a secondary
clevis by means of which the width of the furrow
may be regulated. When the ground is in good

22 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

condition, a team can turn a wider furrow than
when it is hard and dry. The skill of the plow-
man will be shown by the care with which he makes
all these different adjustments and varies them to
suit changing conditions.

Harrowing. — In the preparation of the soil the
harrow is of almost equal importance to the plow,
but on most farms its use is not so well understood.
The intelligence of a farmer can be very accurately
gauged by the skill with which he uses this imple-
ment. In only too many cases the soil is turned up
in great hard lumps by the plow and these are al-
lowed to lie and bake for days in the sun before any
attempt is made to break them to pieces with the
harrow. In this condition the harrow can only
drag the clods about or jump over them as if they
were stones, and it is found impossible to put the
land in fit condition for planting until after soaking
rains. On lands that are intended for immediate
planting the harrow should always quickly follow
the plow. If the ground is moist enough to plow
at all, the clods and lumps will be easily broken or
cut to pieces by the harrow if it is used at once.
The surface of the fine mellow earth so formed soon
dries and forms a dust mulch which prevents the dry-
ing out of the lower layers, and so holds enough mois-
ture in the soil to secure the prompt germination of
the seed. The main use of the harrow is to put the
soil in such a physical condition that it can best
retain moisture for the use of the crop. If, for any
reason, a field is not planted as soon as it is pre-
pared, the harrow should be run over it again, to

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL

23

freshen the surface just in advance of planting.
This will kill many germinating weed seeds that
would otherwise spring up in advance of the crop.

There are many kinds of harrows adapted to
different purposes and to different conditions of
the soil. The following include the more important
types: —

The old-fashioned square or V harrow consists of
a heavy wooden frame, made either in the form of a
square or a V, carrying a number of strong square
steel teeth that project downward six or eight
inches. The team is hitched at one corner, and it
is dragged back and forth, or round and round the
field. It is a crude implement, but it is one of the
best to use on rough, stumpy land, as the stout frame
will slide around the stum]3S Avithout injury.

The slant tooth, or smoothing harrow, carries
more numerous smaller teeth, usually in a sectional
iron frame so arranged that the teeth may be set at

Smoothing Harrow.

any desired angle by means of levers. This is a
very useful tool. It scarifies and levels the surface
without dragging out buried grass and weeds. It is
often used after other harrows in order" to give
the land a finishing touch in advance of planting.
With the teeth set at an easy angle it can also be

24

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

run over the ground after the seed is planted, and,
in the case of corn and some other crops, even after
the plants are up, and it thus serves to give an effi-
cient and very cheap first cultivation.

The acme harrow consists of gangs of narrow,
knifelike, curved steel blades, arranged with their
cutting edges downward and adjusted to cut deeper
or shallower by means of levers. This is a riding
harrow. It does much the same work as the smooth-
ing harrow, but it stirs and levels the surface of the
soil rather more effectively. It cannot be used after
the crop is up.

The spring-tooth harrow has teeth made of long
coiled bands of tempered steel, so arranged that the

Spring-tooth Harrow.

free ends dig into the soil like little shovels. Their
jerky, springy motion enables them to enter the
ground easily, and they are very effective in fining
it and tearing it to pieces. They are especially use-

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MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL

25

ful in lightening and loosening the soil after it has
been compacted by heavy rains. An objection to
their use, under some circumstances, is that they
tend to throw buried grass and weeds to the surface.
At other times this is an advantage. These harrows
can be used successfully on rough, rocky, and stumpy
ground, since when one of the limber teeth encoun-
ters an obstruction, it straightens out and slips over

Disk Harrow.

it, and then springs back into shape. These im-
plements are made either as riding or walking
harrows.

Disk harrows are similar in principle to disk
plows, but the disks are smaller, usually twelve to
sixteen inches in diameter, and a number of them
are mounted side and side on one axle. In the
usual form of the implement two such gangs of from
four to eight disks each are mounted so that they

26 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

can be set by means of levers to work at any desired
angle to each other. If the gangs are set straight,
that is, with their axes in the same direction, the
disks will simply cut lines in the soil, but it will not
be moved and broken. The sharper the angle at
which the gangs are set, the more the disks will
push and turn the dirt, throwing it in each direction
from the center. To keep the land level it is neces-
sary to drive so as to lap half, that is, so that the
outer end of one of the gangs, the second trip, will
pass where the center of the machine passed the first
trip. In this way the soil will be worked first out
and then back, and it will be left in very fine con-
dition. This is always a riding harrow. The disks
may be solid or cut away in wide notches. The disk
harrow will cut up sod, and cut and grind up clods,
better than any of the others. In almost all cases it
is the best implement to put immediately behind the
plow. One should be included in the equipment
of every farm where the land has been sufficiently
cleared to admit of its use. It is an awkward im-
plement to use among stumps and large rocks. In
fact, every farm should be equipped with more than
one kind of harrow. The disk should follow the
plow, and on the same day that the land is plowed;
but to secure a really good, fine seed bed, it is neces-
sary on most soils to follow the disk with the acme,
or the smoothing, harrow. This, as a rule, should
be done just in advance of planting. If light rains
have fallen between the two harrowings, so much
the better, as the surface will pulverize better and
the lower layers will be somewhat compacted so as

JVIANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL

27

to hold moisture better. If, liowever, a heavy rain
has fallen and the land is much compacted, it may
be necessary to re-disk it, or to dig it up with the
spring tooth.

Rolling and Dragging. — A roller is a heavy cyl-
inder mounted so that it can be rolled over the land.
It is used for crushing clods and also for compact-
ing the soil when it has been left too loose and open
by the plow. It requires good judgment to know
when a roller can be profitably used. If harrowing
has been properly done, there will be no large clods

A Roller.

to crush, and the roller is simply used for firming
and compacting the soil. In some kinds of soil if
no rain falls for a considerable period after plowing,
there is danger that all of the plowed soil may dry
out since the air spaces are too large for the mois-
ture to rise from below by capillarity. Seeds
planted under these conditions would fail to germi-
nate. Passing a heavy roller over such a field soon
after it was plowed would press the particles closer

28 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

together so as to restore capillary action and the
stirred soil would be moistened from the subsoil be-
low, and seed would be much more likely to ger-
minate promptly. The compacting of the surface,
however, favors evaporation, and the danger now
is, if the drought continues, that the reserve mois-
ture of the subsoil will be all pumped up and
evaporated so that the young plantlets will suffer.
To avoid this trouble it is usually best, when it is
found necessary to use the roller, to follow this
implement with the smoothing harrow to break up
the compacted surface and restore a dust mulch.
Of course plowed land should never be rolled when
it is wet. Grass land is sometimes rolled when quite
wet in the early spring to settle plants into the
ground tliat have been lifted by freezing or to
bury small stones out of the way of the mowing
machine.

A plank drag, or leveler, is sometimes used after
harrowing instead of the roller. This crushes clods
and fines and levels the surface even better than

A Plank Drag.

'&•

the roller and leaves it in nice condition for a seed
bed. On most soils it is preferable to the roller. It
is an inexpensive implement that can be made by any
farmer out of a few pieces of two-inch plank.

Furrowing or Bedding. — The soil being now pre-

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 29

pared for planting by ploAvlng and harrowing and
if necessary rolling or dragging, the next proceed-
ing will depend on the nature of the crop and the
character of the soil. If crops are to be planted
broadcast, the seed will now be sown and it will be har-
rowed in. No tillage is possible, as a rule, with broad-
cast crops, so that this completes the labor until the
harvest. If small grain is to be drilled instead of
broadcasted, the land is now ready for the drill. For
most crops, that are to be planted in rows, like corn,
no further preparation is necessary, but the seed drill
is run over the level land, or a light furrow is opened
and the seed dropped by hand. For cotton, how-
ever, and for most vegetable crops on wet lands the
soil is bedded up before planting by throwing two
furrows together and running the planter on top of
the low ridge thus formed. If the beds are too high,
they can be partially leveled with the drag.

For sugar cane, however, on w^ell-drained lands and
for many other crops in dry countries the practice is
just the reverse. A deep furrow is opened with a
double moldboard plow or lister, the seed is planted
in the bottom of the furrow and is lightly covered,
the planting furrow being gradually filled in by till-
age as the crop growls. On light friable soils the
preliminary plowing and harrowing is often dis-
pensed with for such crops as corn and cotton, the
listing furrow being opened or the bed thrown up
with the soil in the condition left by the previous crop.
This, of course, saves much labor, but it is not prac-
ticable on heav}^ refractory soils. If fertilizers are
used, they should be applied so as to be incorporated

30 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

in the beds or be worked into the soil in the bottom
of the planting furrow.

Tillage. — This term is employed for all those
operations by which the soil is stirred about grow-
ing plants. The word " cultivation " is often used
as the equivalent of tillage, but in reality it has a
broader meaning and covers not only this, but all
the other processes required in the production of
crops. Tillage is beneficial and for most crops posi-
tively necessary for the following reasons. First, it
kills weeds. This is its most obvious utility and un-
fortunately it is the only one that is understood by
many farmers. All plants that come up of their own
accord in cultivated fields or in grass lands are
termed weeds. In fertile soils, especially if care-
lessly tilled, they usually spring up in great numbers.
They are very harmful, especially when the crop is
young and small, since they not only rob it of the
needed plant food and soil moisture, but by their
ranker growth they crowd and smother it by shut-
ting out light and air. Killing weeds is thus an ab-
solute necessity. Careful farmers will always see to
it that all weeds are killed before they produce seed.
In this way in the course of a few years their num-
bers can be very sensibly reduced.

While the killing of weeds is thus the most obvious
necessity for tillage, it is by no means its only or
perhaps its chief benefit. The roots of plants re-
quire air as well as moisture for their normal devel-
opment. Tillage breaks the hard crusts formed on
the surface of most soils after rains and allows the
oxygen of the air to enter it freely and also provides

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 31

for the escape of the surplus carbonic acid that is
constantly being formed in the soil from the decay
of organic matter.

This free interchange of gases bet^Yeen the soil
and the atmosphere is necessary, not only for the
normal growth of roots, but for the carrying on of
all those manifold biological activities already re-
ferred to on which the fertility of the soil so largely
depends. Tillage, therefore, not only kills weeds and
provides an abundant supply of oxygen to the roots,
but it actively promotes nitrification and all those
other complex chemical changes induced by the
growth of bacteria by means of which vegetable
matter and other potential plant foods in the soil be-
come soluble and available for the growth of plants.
This unfortunately is not an unmixed benetit. Sol-
uble plant food that is not at once absorbed by the
roots is in danger of being washed or leached away
by the rains. This, in fact, is constantly taking
place. The fact should never be lost sight of that
while tillage is absolutely necessary for the produc-
tion of good crops, it also rapidly depletes soil fer-
tility. When land is constantly devoted to tilled
crops, active measures must at the same time be taken
for adding in some manner to its supply of vegetable
matter and other plant foods, or its fertility will be
rapidly exhausted. This is especially true of tropi-
cal or subtropical countries where these soil activities
continue unchecked throughout the year.

Finally and perhaps most important of all, tillage
aids materially in conserving the moisture of the
soil during dry weather. The fertility of a soil

32 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

depends quite as much on its consistency and water-
holding capacity as on its chemical composition.
During and after a heavy rain there is, of course, a
movement of the water downward through the soil.
This movement is due to the force of gravity. Its
amount and rapidity will depend on the character
and fineness of the soil particles and on their
arrangement. Water sinks much more readily into
a loose mellow soil than into one that is hard and
compact. Not all the water, however, that falls on a
soil passes through it. The attraction of each soil
particle is sufficiently strong to hold against the
force of gravity a thin film of water covering its
entire surface. The smaller the soil particles, the
greater will be their aggregate surface and the
greater, consequently, w^ill be the amount of moisture
so retained. When the rain ceases and the surplus
water has settled into the lower levels, a counter up-
ward movement of moisture begins. The surface
particles of the soil lose their film of moisture by
evaporation. The soil having been compacted by
the rain, these particles are in close contact with
those below and a portion of the film of water which
surrounds these lower particles arises by what is
called capillary attraction to replace the moisture lost
by evaporation, just as the oil in a lamp wick rises to
replace that which is consumed in the flame. These
lower particles that have now become partially dried
call in turn on those below and thus a capillary
pumping process is set up that if unchecked, will, in
time, return to the atmosphere all of tlie moisture
thus held in suspension in the soil. If, liowever, a

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 33

cultivator be passed over the land, stirring the soil to
the depth of a few inches, the soil particles will be
torn apart so that this capillary pumping system
is broken u]) and the dried particle can no longer
reach down and help itself from the moisture film of
its neighbor. The result is that the surface soil that
has been stirred dries out very quickly, but this
layer of loose dry soil acts as what is called a " dust
mulch " and protects the lower undisturbed portion
from drying, in just the same way that a mulch of
straw or of coarse manure would effect the same
object. The growth of our crops depends almost en-
tirely on this film of moisture that is retained by the
soil particles. The root hairs which develop in
such immense numbers near the tips of tlie youngest
rootlets appress themselves close to the soil particles
and are able to absorb moisture from this film to-
gether with the small amount of soluble material
which it has taken up from the soil. It is in this
way, and in this way only, that plants are able to
supply themselves with the necessary mineral food
elements, and with the excessively important ni-
trates, and it is from these films only tliat the neces-
sary moisture is obtained to maintain the turgidity
of the cells, supply tlie large amount lost by trans-
piration, and provide for all the manifold activities of
life. If the soil contains too much water, so that the
spaces between the particles are filled with it instead
of with air, these absorptive root hairs perish for
want of oxygen. If the films lose too much water
from surface evaporation, the root hairs can no
longer absorb it in sufficient quantities, and growth

34 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

ceases or the plants may even wilt and finally die.
We thus see the great importance of doing every-
thing possible to provide, first, for drainage to
prevent the soil from becoming water-logged and,
second, for the conservation of moisture to prevent
the drying up of these fihns of so-called hygrostatic
moisture on which the growth of our crops so com-
pletely depends. Tillage is our most efficient means
for accomplishing this latter purpose, since a mellow
tilled soil takes in all the water that falls in a light
rain, while much of it runs off from the surface of a
hard soil and is lost ; and the stirring of the surface
after a rain largely prevents the loss of water by
evaporation. It should be the general rule on every
farm to stir the ground around growing crops as soon
after every rain as it can be worked without injury.
The man who waits for a crop of weeds to grow be-
fore he cultivates fails to secure the greatest benefit
from his labor.

The above remarks do not apply with such force
in those tropical countries where there is a well-
marked rainy season, since the rainfall is sufficiently
frequent and abundant to insure a constant supply
of moisture for many months. Here on fertile, virgin
lands enormous crops are produced without any pre-
tense at tillage. Even here, however, tillage eventu-
ally becomes necessary in order to mellow and aerate
the soil and as being the most economical means of
killing weeds. When crops are to be grown during
the dry season, it becomes absolutely indispensable,
although unfortunately its importance does not seem
as yet to be appreciated in those countries.

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 35

Implements of Tillage. — In small gardens the hoe
and rake are the principal instruments for tillage.
Various forms of wheel hoes are also used for tilling
such field crops as sugar beets and onions that re-
quire to be worked while very small and which
are planted in narrow rows. Labor with hand im-
plements is, however, too expensive to be employed
for most farm crops, and it is necessary to utilize

Goose-neck Hoe and Eye Hoe.

implements that are drawn by animals. In those
tropical countries where labor is cheap the greater
economy of using such implements is not yet fully
understood, and many fields of tobacco and sugar
cane may be seen that are still cultivated entirely by
hand labor. The only places where this should be
considered permissible is on new or very rough
lands where implements drawn by animals cannot be
used.

For such crops as corn, potatoes and sugar cane,
when the land is in good condition and free from
trash or obstructions, the best implement to use for
the first cultivation is the smoothing harrow with
the teeth set at an easy angle so that they will not

36

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

A Two-horse Riding Cultivator.

A One-liorse Walking Cultivator.

A Two-horse Walking Cultivator.

A One-horse W^alking Cultivator,

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 37

dig too deeply into the soil. If used at the right
stage of growth, it can be dragged over the young
plantlets with almost no injury, while the surface of
the soil will be left fine and mellow and the young
weeds will be destroyed. This gives a very cheap
and very effective tillage. By the time another
working is needed the plants will be big enough so
that the two-horse riding cultivator can be used.
This implement straddles the row% and it carries two
gangs of small shovels so arranged that they can be
guided by the feet of the driver. The ground on
both sides of tlie row is thoroughly stirred by one
trip through the field, and enough fine dirt falls be-
tween the plants to cover and kill any small weeds
that have found lodgment there. When this im-
plement is properly used at frequent intervals, very
little hoeing or other hand work will be required to
keep a field clean of weeds and in good tilth until
such a time as the crops shade the ground and tillage
is no longer possible. Different sizes and shapes of
shovels can be used on the gangs and they can be set so
as to throw more or less dirt to the row. In some im-
plements disk gangs may also be substituted for shovel
gangs. This is the most universally useful imple-
ment for tillage and is adapted to a wide range of
crops. There are, however, many others. A cheap
walking cultivator drawn by one horse is very com-
monly used, especially on small farms. The usual
form has five small shovels. The outer shovel on each
side may be replaced by curved steel plates that scrape
the dirt either from or toward the row. It is then
called a horse hoe. The implement is usually made

38

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

SO that it can be adjusted in width to suit narrow or
wide rows, but it is usually necessar}?- to run it twice
in each middle in order to do thorough work. When
cotton, tobacco, or vegetables are grown on a low bed
or ridge, as is commonly the case in the South, a simple
one-horse implement, known as a ''heel sweep," is
very much used. This consists of an ordinary single-
shovel plow stock with a small " bull-tongue " shovel

to make it run steady
in the ground, and
bolted on under this
point a narrow Y-
shaped band of steel
about two or three
inches wide. This
blade varies in size
according to the
work to be done,
from eight or ten to as much as twenty inches.
When in use, the point is held in the ground at the
base of the ridge or bed and the handles are leaned
away from it enough so that one wing of the sweep
will cut along about an inch under the surface of the
bed. This mellows the surface and kills all weeds
without tearing down the ridge. It is a very simple
but very useful implement.

Formerly small turning plows were much used in
tillage, but they are expensive in the matter of labor,
as it takes several furrows to plow out a middle.
They stir the ground too deeply, cutting many roots
and allowing too large a portion of the soil to become
dried out, and their use tends to ridge up the rows

A Sweep.

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 39

more than is desirable except on very wet lands.
Where there is no trouble on account of drainage,
level cultivation is always to be preferred, since level
land presents a less surface for evaporation than when
it is thrown into sharp ridges.

All authorities now agree that while the prepara-
tion of the soil should be deep and thorough, tillage
should be shallow and frequent, and that the surface
should be left as nearly level as the necessity for sur-
face drainage will permit.

Mulching. — In some special cases mulching with
straw or other coarse litter may be resorted to instead
of tillage for the purpose of conserving the soil
moisture and preventing the growth of weeds. A
mulch is often used about fruit trees and with small
fruits, but as a rule it is too expensive for use with
field crops. A permanent mulch has tlie disadvan-
tage of tending to induce the formation of feeding
rootlets near the surface of the ground, while tillage,
on the contrary, tends to keep them down below the
part of the soil that is usually stirred. What is in
effect a temporary mulch is often cheaply provided by
planting some quick-growing plant as a cover crop.
Later when this cover crop is plowed into the soil,
it furnishes the organic matter that is so constantly
needed for maintaining its fertility. Tillage is usually
necessary during the period when the crop is making
its most rapid growth, but at all other times the land
should as far as possible be protected by some cover
crop to take up the elements of fertility rendered
soluble by the tillage and which would otherwise be
leached out from the soil and lost. The alternation

40 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

of short periods of tillage with cover crops is the best
possible form of management for most agricultural
soils.

Improvement of the Soil

Some soils are in their natural condition exceed-
ingly well fitted for the production of crops. . Others
require to be altered and improved in one or more
directions before they can be made to yield profit-
able returns.

Drainage. — Some of the richest soils are low and
flat, and in their natural condition crops are injured
by too much water. A water-logged soil can never
be productive. In such cases improvement by drain-
age becomes a first necessity. Drains are of two
kinds, open ditches or surface drains and underdrains.
The amount of ditching required to properly drain a
piece of wet land will depend on many things. If
the land is low and is flooded by water running down
from above, a single ditch dug along the upper side to
divert the surface water may be all that is necessary.
If, however, the land is inclined to be boggy from
water that rises up from below through the subsoil,
deep ditches at comparatively frequent intervals will
be required. Ditches should always be carefully
laid out with a level so as to give them a gradual but
uniform fall in order that they may carry off the
water promptly. In laying out a system of ditches
it is necessary to give careful consideration to
the matter of securing a free outlet for the water.
In very flat level countries it is sometimes necessary
to dig large canals for a considerable distance in

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 41

order to secure a proper outlet for drainage ditches.
If the slope of the land will permit, ditches should
always be laid out parallel with each other as the
land between them will be so much easier plowed and
cultivated. The shape of the ditch will depend on
the character of the soil and also on the kind of tool
used in making it. In stiff soils a ditch with per-
pendicular banks will often stand very well, and
this form is most economical when dug by hand.
Other soils cave so badly that it is necessary to give
the banks a very easy slant. Ditching by hand with
spade and shovel is laborious and expensive. Where
the nature of the soil will permit, shallow ditches can
be quickly and cheaply made with the plow, followed
by a V-shaped scraper made from one long and one
short plank. The long plank acts as a rudder and
holds the scraper straight in the furrow, while the
short arm pushes the dirt out on to the bank. By
giving two or three plowings and scrapings a fairly
deep ditch may be dug. A road-grading machine
drawn by six horses will, where the land is free from
obstructions, do still cheaper and quicker work.
When dee23er canals are required, the bottom must be
finished by pulling out the dirt with the steel scrapers
used by railroad contractors.

Open ditches are very useful and often indispensa-
ble, especially for the larger central drains, and their
first cost is much less than that of a proper system of
under drainage, but they are objectionable for many
reasons. They take up much room, and it is difficult
to keep the waste land along the banks free from nox-
ious weeds. They prevent passing freely about the

42

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

fields, and when large, necessitate heavy expense for
bridges. The annual cost for cleaning out and keeping
in order is very considerable. For all these reasons

Draiutile and Tile Hoe.

it is usually cheaper and more satisfactory in the
long run to go to the expense of laying underdrains.
Temporary underdrains are sometimes made by filling
in the bottoms of ditches with poles or loose rocks
and covering them, or by inverting a wooden gutter

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 43

in the bottom of the ditch and covering it. The
only satisfactory underdrain, however, is made with
the regular cylindrical draintile manufactured from
brick clay. These tiles are made of any desired
diameter, in pieces one foot long. A narrow ditch
is dug, the bottom is carefully graded and shaped
with a special implement known as a tile hoe, and
the lengths of tile are laid in end to end and are
carefully covered. The water enters between the
joints, and when properly laid, the grade is such that
the water flows evenly without depositing sediment
to fill up the tile, and the work once well done is
good for an almost indefinite period. The whole field
may now be plowed and planted, and there are no
unsightly ditch banks to breed troublesome weeds.
The water, in working its way down through the
soil to the drains, leaves little passages by which the
air can enter so that underdrained soils are always
better aerated and mellower than those with open
drains. In consequence, they can also withstand
droughts much better.

A competent drainage engineer should be consulted
in laying out a system of underdrains, and the work
of laying the tiles should not be undertaken by per-
sons without instruction or experience. Tile drainage
is as yet very little practiced in Southern countries.
The conditions on many of the sugar-cane lands are
such that it would unquestionably prove to be a
profitable investment, and the time will doubtless
come when it will be much more generally used.

Terracing. — While the South is thus somewhat
backward in the matter of utilizing tile drainage, it

44 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

is here that we must look for the best practice in
improving hillside lands by terracing. The cotton
growers of the hilly uplands have adopted this
system very widely and with great success to
prevent the terrible loss from erosion or washing
that always occurs when light, friable, hillside soils
are carelessly tilled. Two methods to avoid loss
from washing are adopted by the cotton farmer.
The first is called circling the rows. Instead of
laying out the rows in straight lines running up and
down the hills, as is so often carelessly done, a row is
first carefully laid out on a grade or contour line
so that all parts of it shall be exactly on the same
level. Such a row Avill circle in and out along an
irregular hillside in a Avay that is sufficiently per-
plexing to one unaccustomed to this method. Other
rows are then run parallel to this first one, and short
ones are introduced, whenever necessary, to keep the
rows strictly on contour lines. Such crooked rows
look very peculiar and unbusinesslike to the farmer
from the level prairies, and the system is open to the
objection that cultivation is only possible in one
direction; but when the laying out is properly done,
it unquestionably does much to prevent the terrible
loss from washing that is the bane of the hillside
farmer.

This circling of the rows is regarded as a more or
less temporary expedient. When it is intended to
make a permanent improvement, the liillsides are
laid out in terraces. To do this it is usual to start
at the bottom of the hill and with a surveyor's level
lay out a contour line, marking it with small stakes

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 45

at frequent intervals. A point three feet higher
than the first terrace line is now measured with the
level, and a second contour line is staked out as be-
fore. This process is continued until the entire field
is staked out with contour lines, one located three
feet vertically above the other. The spaces between
these lines will, of course, vary greatly in width
according to the steepness of the slope. Where the
hills are steep, the terrace lines will run close together,
and where the slope is gentle, they Avill be much
farther apart. With a large two-horse turning plow
a double-back furrow is now thrown against each
line of stakes, throwing up as high a ridge as possible.
This is intended to act as a dam to hold back all the
water that falls on the terrace above and make it
sink into the ground, instead of running rapidly
down over the surface. This not only prevents
washing, but tends to accumulate a store of moisture
in the soil for the use of the crops. The land be-
tween the terrace lines is now plowed with a reversa-
ble hillside plow, so that all the furrows are turned
downhill. The first row is now laid out along the
terrace line and the others are located parallel with
it, filling in the broader parts of the terraces with
short rows on the upper side. The success of the
system will depend on the skill with which the con-
tour lines were laid out in the first place and the
promptness with which any breaks in the terraces are
repaired after unusually heavy rains. If the lines
are not properly run, water will be sure to accumulate
and break over at the lowest places. Badly laid out
terraces do more harm than good. The continued

46 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

plowing with the hillside plow, year after year, con-
stantly tends to build up the outer line of the ter-
race and cut down the inner one, so that ultimately
the terrace becomes nearly level. This system, when
carefully followed, has much to recommend it,* and it
should be much more widely adopted in all hilly re-
gions. It is to be especially recommended for per-
manent plantings like orchards and vineyards. Coffee
plantations are usually made in steep hill lands, and
they should always be planted on some modification
of this system.

On very heavy hillside soils, in regions where the
rainfall is excessive and the question of surface
drainage has to be considered, it is sometimes best
to lay out the rows or the terrace lines with a slight
but gradual fall, so as to slowly carry off the surplus
water instead of trying to hold it and make it all
sink into the ground. It is a difficult matter, how-
ever, to lay out the rows so that the water will run
freely and still not run fast enough to wash. While
the system is theoretically an ideal one, it seldom
works satisfactorily in practice, and it should only be
adopted after full consideration and usually after
some preliminary trials. The amount of slope to
give the rows will depend entirely on the nature of
the soil, and the amount of the surplus rainfall.

Irrigation. — There are many regions where the
soils are well adapted to agricultural purposes, but
where the rainfall is insufficient or too irregularly
distributed to admit of the production of crops. In
fact it is a general rule that the richest lands are
found in dry countries where they have not been

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 47

subjected to continued washing and leaching. All
that is needed to make these lands exceedingly
productive is the artificial application of water.
This, when done on a considerable scale, is known
as irrigation. The name would hardly be applied
to the process of sprinkling small plots in a garden.
Many of the most famous agricultural reofions are
entirely dependent on irrigation for the production
of crops. It has been practiced for untold centuries
in Egypt, India, and China, and was used by the
Aztecs of Mexico long before the time of Columbus.
At the present day it is largely practiced in all these
countries, in Spain and Italy, in Hawaii, some of
the West India islands, and on the west coast of
Central and South America. Its most important
recent development, however, is in the drier parts
of the western United States, where great areas of
what formerly appeared on the maps as " The Great
American Desert " have been redeemed and brought
into profitable production. The work of building
reservoirs and of developing and controlling the
water supply in the West has now been taken up by
the national government and the development of
irrigation farming is likely to be still more rapid
in the future than it has been in the past.

At present irrigation is for the most part confined
to what are known as the arid regions, wdiere the
rainfall is insufficient to produce crops. There are
many other regions, however, where the rainfall is
rather scanty, at least in what are known as dry
years, or that are subject to long droughts that injure
crops, where irrigation might be profitably employed

48 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

on special occasions to supplement the rainfall or
with special crops like rice that need an abundant
water supply at a certain period of growth. There
is no doubt that in the future irrio^ation will be
much more extensively practiced in what are known
as humid regions.

In those parts of the tropics where there is a well-
marked wet and dry season the rainfall is ample or
even excessive for a part of the year, bnt is insufficient
for the best growth of crops at other seasons. Since
here the temperature conditions are suited to growth
at all seasons the annual production could be greatly
increased by supplying irrigation during the dry
season. This has already been done in certain
localities with very favorable results.

Water for irrigation purposes is obtained in various
ways. The simplest and cheapest method, where this
is possible, is to utilize the water of running streams.
The water is diverted from the stream by means of a
small dam at some point far enough up so that it is
high enough to secure a free but not rapid flow in
the canal which leads it to the land to be irrigated.
The intake of the canal is so arranged that in time of
flood only the usual amount is admitted, the surplus
passing down the old channel. A gate is also pro-
vided by which all the water may be cut off from the
canal when it is necessary to clean it or make re-
pairs. From the main canal the water is distributed
to the fields in ditches that are laid out according to
the topography in such a way that the ditch always
passes along the highest side of the field which is to
be watered from it. The ditches are provided with

IMPKOVEMENT OF THE SOIL 49

a system of gates so that the water can be run to or
cut off from any part of the lands at pleasure. The
length of the main canal and the cost of canal and
ditches will, of course, depend on the topography of
the region and on the character of the soil. Some soils
dig easily and yet hold water in the ditches well. Here
construction is cheap and easy. In rough broken
countries it is often necessary to carry the canals or
ditches over ravines or rocky places in flumes built
of lumber. In other regions there are places where
much of the water sinks into the ground and is lost.
Here it is necessary to line the ditches with clay or
sometimes even with cement. All this adds to the
cost of construction.

Where no running streams are available, it is often
possible to provide water for irrigation by building
large dams across ravines in such a way as to make
reservoirs for catching and holding the water from
occasional rainstorms. The rain that falls in dry
countries usually comes in the form of heavy showers,
so that most of it runs off quickly from the hard,
baked ground, forming temporary floods in the ravines
and dry water courses. The catching and impound-
ing of this storm water is more expensive than
utilizing a running stream, but there are vast areas
that can be irrigated in no other way, and there is no
question but with the increase in value of agricultural
lands more and more of these irrigation reservoirs
will be built. In the case of running streams the
building of storage reservoirs for holding the waste
water largely increases the capacity of the stream
for irrigation. Water from reservoirs is distributed

50 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

to the land by a system of canals and ditches with
gates in the same way described above.

In some parts of the West considerable areas are
now being irrigated from flowing artesian wells.
Where artesian water can be obtained, it makes an
ideal supply for irrigation. The irrigation farmer
who holds lands under a ditch system is, to a certain
extent, dependent on the water company who owns
the ditches. He must take his turn w^tli his neisrh-
bors and take and utilize the water when he can get
it, not always when he would most like to have it.
The fortunate owner of an artesian well is, however,
independent. He can use his water how and when
he pleases. It is usual to pipe the water from the
well into a small reservoir located on the highest
part of the farm. From here it is taken out in
ditches or sometimes carried out in pipes, according
to the way in which it is to be utilized.

There are many other regions where there is an
abundant underground flow of water, but wdiere the
pressure is insufficient to cause it to rise to the sur-
face. Here it is possible to sink wells and irrigate
by pumping. This is being done more and more on
the Western j)lains. Windmills are utilized very
largely for pumping water for stock and for irrigat-
ing small plots, but the supply that can be obtained
in this way can hardly be depended on for general
farming. It is usually necessary to employ either
gasoline or steam pumps. The cost of this, and,
therefore, the extent to which irrigation by pumping
can be utilized, depends on the two factors, the depth
of the water and the cost of fuel. Low-lying lands

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 51

near rivers and lakes are often irrigated by pumping,
where it is not feasible to take the water out in
ditches. Where the distance to be lifted is small
and fuel chea^), the powerful pumps now in use make
this method of irrigation practicable on a large scale.
Much of the rice land in western Louisiana and east-
ern Texas is irrigated in this manner. In irrigation
by pumping the water may be run directly into the
ditches, or it may first be stored in reservoirs. The
latter is the more usual practice with small pump-
ing plants.

In southern California and some other mountain-
ous countries water for irrigation is obtained by
drifts or tunnels dug back into the hills until some
underground water, channel is tapped. The water
runs out of such a well as this by gravity and thus
obviates the necessity for pumping. It is, of course,
only under exceptional circumstances that this
method can be employed, but such a " water mine "
may be exceedingly valuable, for in arid regions it
is the control of the water supply rather than the
ownership of the land that carries the greatest value.

Whatever the source of the water, there are
various methods of applying it to the land. Where
the supply is abundant, especially with such broad-
cast crops as alfalfa and the small grains, the more
usual method is by flooding the entire surface. In
order to do this successfully the land must have
been carefully prepared before planting and all the
minor inequalities leveled down so as to allow of
the even flow of the water. Temporary openings
are made in the ditch bank and the water is allowed

52 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

to run first in one place and then in another until
the entire field has been covered. A modification of
this method consists in the throwing up of borders
or ridges with the plow at right angles to the course
of the ditch at intervals of three or four rods.
These borders are smoothed up and pressed into
shape with a V-shaped plank drag. The ground be-
tween the borders is dragged down level, and in
irrigating the water is turned into one or two of
these S23aces and is allowed to run till it reaches the
low^er side of the field, when it is cut off and turned
into the next spaces. This is a very practical
method of irrigation and it is much used for quite a
variety of crops. The distance to which the water
can be run across such a field will depend on the
nature of the soil and the amount of fall. With
everything favorable a square forty-acre field can be
irrigated from one head ditch, but in the majority
of cases it is better to have ditches every forty or
sometimes as close as every twenty rods. When the
attempt is made to carry the water too far, it takes so
long as to waste the time of the irrigator, and the land
at the upper end next the ditch will be under water
so long as to injure the crop.

In orchards and gardens, especially when the water
supply is scanty, a system of basin irrigation is often
followed. The land is divided into small areas and
a border is put up on all sides of each area. The
water is turned into the upper area until it has all
the borders will hold. After it has stood long
enough to soak in to the desired depth the border is
cut and the water is allowed to run into the next

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 53

basin, this being repeated until the entire field has
been flooded. It is possible in this way to wet the
land very thoroughly, and it has advantages for
certain purposes. It seems to be a favorite method
with the small Mexican farmers in the Western
states. The flooding of rice lands is managed in
much the same way, except that for this crop the
water is held on the land for a considerable period.

With crops that are grown in rows, what is called
row or furrow irrigation is often practiced. This
requires less water tlian flooding the entire surface.
Sometimes, as is usually the case with sugar cane, the
row is planted in the bottom of a deep furrow that
afterward serves for irrigation. With more deli-
cate plants the row i-s planted on a low ridge and the
space between the rows serves as the irrigation fur-
row. If the rows are far apart, as in orchards and
vineyards, an irrigation furrow is opened near the
row on one or both sides. Furrow irrigation is usu-
ally only applied to permanent plantings of this
kind, to vegetable or truck crops, and to sugar cane.
When water is very scarce and expensive, it is some-
times brought to the ends of the rows in wooden
troughs with holes and plugs so arranged that it can
be run directly into the furrows as needed. This
obviates the loss by seepage in the ditches, but it is,
of course, more expensive. In the tobacco fields in
some parts of Cuba water is pumped from deep wells
and is carried to different parts of the field in iron
pipes, being then distributed to the plants in buckets
by hand. This method is not only expensive but
inefficient.

54 GENEEAL CONSIDERATIONS

All of the above are forms of what is called sur-
face irrigation. They are all open to the objection
that they pack the surface of the soil, leaving it
hard and in a condition to bake badly unless each
irrigation is followed by tillage. Excepting where
the land is very nearly level there will also be loss
from surface washing. These troubles can be obviated
and better results can be obtained by what is known as
subirrigation. In this system the water is distrib-
uted under the surface by means of porous pipes. It
permeates the subsoil and keeps it moist without in-
terfering with the condition of tilth of the surface.
Lines of draintile are sometimes so arranged that
by closing the outlets and flooding them they can
serve for subirrigation during dry weather, and by
opening them again their action as underdrains can be
restored in case of heavy rains. Subirrigation gives
very fine results in greenhouses and on ornamental
grounds where there is no objection to expense, but
it is too costly for ordinary farm operations, and we
must rely on frequent tillage to obviate the bad
effects of surface ajDplications of water. With all
crops that permit it tillage should invariably follow
an irrigation as soon as the land becomes dry enough.
This prevents baking and the formation of a hard
crust; it aerates the soil and, by the formation of a
dust mulch, preserves the moisture and renders future
irrigations necessary at much less frequent intervals.
The greatest temptation to the irrigation farmer is
to rely too much on water and too little on tillage.

The overabundant use of water should always be
avoided, especially in arid regions. Where there is

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 5o

little rainfall to wash out soluble salts, they gradually
accumulate, especially in those places where water
stands and evaporates so that a thick alkaline in-
crustation is often formed on the surface. The
alternate soaking and surface drying of the soil
tends to pump up the soluble salts from the subsoil
and concentrate them near the surface. Even where
the water used is in itself free from alkali, continued
careless irrigation will, in many parts of the West, so
bring the salts to the surface as to prevent the pro-
duction of crops. Thousands of acres of valuable
lands have already been ruined in this way. An
absolute remedy for this trouble is, however, to be
found in proper drainage. A system of under-
drainage, wliich will carry off the surplus water from
below instead of allowing it to evaporate from the
surface, will not only prevent the undue accumula-
tion of salts in the upper layers, but it will serve to
redeem lands that are naturallv too alkaline for cul-
tivation by washing down the alkali and carrying it
off in the drainage water. There are immense areas
of land in the West that are now absolutely worthless
on account of an excess of alkali that could be re-
deemed and made extremely fertile by a combination
of irrio^ation and underdrainaofe. Even without un-
derdrainage the digging of deep surface drains at
such places as will serve to quickly carry off the
surplus irrigation water from the bottom of the fields
instead of allowing it to stand and evaporate in the
low places will do much to obviate what is really a
very grave danger for the irrigation farmer in many
parts of the arid regions. In fact irrigation should

56 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

never be employed in any country without making
full provision in some way for the carrying off of the
surplus water.

Improving the Soil Chemically. — In the previous
paragraphs various means have been discussed for
improving the physical condition of the soil. It
now remains to consider how its chemical condition
may be improved.

Liming. — When soils are lacking in lime, the
transformation of vegetable matter does not proceed
properly and an acid condition of the soil is induced
that is very detrimental to certain crops, especially
to clover and many other of the legumes. Corn and
potatoes, on the other hand, do not mind a slightly
acid soil. In fact it is an advantage for the latter
crop, since it partially prevents the growth of the
scab fungus, and the potatoes are smoother. Whether
or not a given soil will be benefited by the application
of lime can usually be easily determined by mixing
a little of it to a thin paste with water and inserting
bits of blue litmus paper. If after standing a few
minutes the paper turns red or reddish, an acid con-
dition and the need of lime is indicated. As a rule,
sandy lands are more likely to be deficient in lime
than clays. In the case of very stiff, refractor}^ clays,
however, applications of lime are sometimes useful,
even if there is no acid reaction, since the lime tends
to make them more friable and to render the mineral
food elements more soluble and available. Recently
drained muck and swamp lands too are usually sour
and are much benefited by lime. On sandy lands,
where a large amount of vegetation is plowed under as

IMPKOVEMENT OF THE SOIL 57

a green manure, it is often best to apply lime to avoid
inducing an acid condition. On the other hand, the
overapplication of lime is sometimes very injurious.
As is said, it burns the life out of the soil by render-
ing the elements of fertility too quickly and com-
pletely soluble, so that they are leached out and lost.
Some soils, too, it renders more liable to crust and bake
after rains. Lime should never be applied unless there
is clear evidence that it is needed, and good judgment
will be required to determine how much to use, since
this Avill depend entirely on the actual condition of
the field to which it is to be applied. As a rule
when lime is needed, it is best to make one pretty
thorough application and then add no more for four
or five years rather than to add small dressings annu-
ally. It is best, too, to apply it as long as possible in
advance of planting the crop so that it may have
time to lose some of its caustic action and become
more thoroughly incorporated with the soil. Lime
is usually applied in the form of the hydroxide; that
is to say, as slacked lime. This is the best form in
which to use it where it is desired to quickly correct
acidity or for the mellowing of intractable clays.
For the permanent improvement of sandy lands, how-
ever, especially if used in large quantities, the car-
bonate in the form of finely ground limestone or shells
is safer and will give much more permanent results.
Lime, in the form of the sulphate or land plaster, is
often applied with good results, especially on clover.
It should always be remembered, however, that lime
applied in any form acts as an alterative or stimulant
and not as a true food, and that unless active measures

58 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

are taken at the same time for increasing the food
supply its use will tend to give temporarily increased
crops at the expense of permanent fertility. In other
words, as has been so forcibly said, if used alone, it
tends to enrich the fathers, but to impoverish the sons.

Manuring. — This general term is applied to all
those processes by which plant food is added to the
soil for the purpose of maintaining or increasing its
fertility. Some soils are naturally so deep and fer-
tile that they may be cultivated continuously for
many years without diminished productiveness, but
even the richest will in time show signs of exhaustion
if no plant food is returned to them. The problem
of manuring is, therefore, one of the most important
that can engage the attention of the farmer. The
only exception to this statement is to be found in
those few favored localities, like the Nile Valley,
where the overflow from some great river brings
down annually rich deposits from the washings of the
lands near its source.

Stable Manure. — This is one of the most widely
used and important substances for enriching the soil.
It consists of the solid and liquid excrement of
domestic animals mixed with more or less straw or
other litter that has been used as bedding in the
stables. It is more widely useful than any other
fertilizing material and can be used to advantage on
nearly all crops. It not only supplies all three of the
useful chemical elements, — nitrogen, phosphorus,
and potash in some quantity, — but it adds a large
amount of easily fermentable organic matter to the
soil and thus improves its mechanical condition. If

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 59

an abundant supply could always be had at a reason-
able cost, there would be comparatively little need for
other fertilizers. It is only on those farms, however,
where the feeding of live stock is the principal indus-
try that it can be produced in sufficient quantity to
fully supply the need for maintaining fertility. A
considerable amount can, of course, be obtained in
towns and cities, but the expense of transporting it
back to the farms becomes a considerable item, and
the same amount of benefit can often be obtained
more cheaply by other means. In every case, how-
ever, all the stable manure produced on the farm, be it
much or little, should be carefully saved and utilized.
On only too many farms, especially in new countries,
this important matter is grossly neglected, and the
manure is either wasted entirely or it is handled so
carelessly that half of its value is lost. If not carried
at once to the field when taken from the stable, it
should be piled under some rough shed, where it
will be at least partially protected from the rain. If
it is where it will be tramped and compacted by cattle,
or worked over by hogs, so much the better. If large
quantities are thrown out at once, it should be thor-
oughly wet down to avoid a kind of mold known as fire-
fanging. Thin layers of earth spread over the grow-
ing pile from time to time are also useful for absorbing
the ammonia that escapes as fermentation progresses.
Some farmers construct expensive cemented ditches
or cellars in which to store manure, but this is not
necessary. All that is needed is that it be sheltered
from washing rains, and that care be taken to keep
the piles compact and moist enough to prevent fire-

60 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

fanging. Such manure piles should be forked over at
intervals in order to quickly get them into the best
condition.

On grass lands, and sometimes to form a mulch
about orchard trees, manure is applied as a top dress-
ing. This, however, is rather wasteful, as part of the
ammonia is likely to be dissipated in the atmosphere
and a considerable value is likely to be lost by wash-
ing rains. Where possible, it is much better to plow
it into the land. If the manure has been piled so
that it is well rotted, this may be done at any time ;
preferably just in advance of planting the seed.
Large quantities of unrotted manure, however,
plowed into the land at this time are likely to do harm
by rendering the soil too open and causing the crop to
suffer from drought, unless rains are very abundant.
When fresh manure from the stables can be plowed
into the ground long enough in advance of planting,
so that it has time to become partially decomposed,
and the soil has been settled by a few heavy rains, the
results are eminently satisfactor3^ In fact, when
possible, this is the best way to utilize stable manure,
since there is no loss in fermentation and no extra ex-
pense in rehandling. Instead of taking the manure
from the stables daily, if box stalls can be provided
for the animals and there is plenty of material for
bedding, it may be allowed to accumulate in the stalls
until such time as a field is ready for plowing, when
it can be hauled direct to the field. The tramping
of the animals in the stalls keeps it compacted and in
good condition for a long period. Theoretically this
method is more or less objectionable as being unhy-

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 61

gienic for the animals, and it certainly could not be
recommended for dairy cattle ; but for fattening cattle
and horses it has many practical advantages, provided
always that the stables are dry and that enough bed-
ding and other absorbents are used to keep them
from becoming offensive.

Green Manures. — Since on most farms the supply
of stable manure is entirely insufficient to replace the
organic matter that is annually oxydized and de-
stroyed in the soil through the influence of tillage, it
becomes of the utmost importance to find some other
means of supplying this deficiency. The important
role played by decaying organic matter in the soil has
already been touched upon, and it has been stated
that its fertility can in many cases be gauged by the
amount of organic matter whicli it contains. The
problem should be constantly in the mind of every
farmer as to how he can best keep his lands supplied
with this ever-needed ingredient. In Southern coun-
tries, as has also been pointed out, this need is even
greater than at the North, since here those fermenta-
tive changes by which the organic matter is oxydized
and destroyed are going on uninterruptedly throughout
the year. The easiest and cheapest way in which to
supply this much-needed organic material is obviously
to plow in and incorporate with the soil some part at
least of the vegetation that is annually produced on
it. This process is called green manuring, meaning
the manuring with green plants. Its importance in
farm economy cannot be overestimated. Fortunately
at the South, where it is most needed, it is most feasi-
ble and practical, for the long growing season gives

62 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

time for growing one or more crops for sale and at
least one crop every year for enriching the soil.

Any kind of fermentable vegetable matter is useful
when incorporated in the soil. The stalks, straw, or
other unused portions of all crops should be left in
the field to be plowed under. Even unsightly weeds
will have their usefulness if plowed into the land.
Grasses of all kinds are also useful. The richness of
well-rotted sod land is proverbial. Crops of the
small grains like rye or oats or of fodder corn plowed
into the land are also helpful. In the Southern states
cotton and corn land should when possible be seeded
down to winter oats or rye in the fall, since these
crops prevent washing during the heavy winter rains
and when plowed down in the spring add consider-
ably to the fertility of the soil. All such green crops
are beneficial, however, only for the organic matter
which they contain and their consequent effect on the
mechanical and biological condition of the soil. They
add no important chemical elements, since all the ni-
trogen, phosphoric acid, and potash they contain was
taken directly from the soil, and they, therefore, only
return what they have already taken. The marvelous
power has already been mentioned possessed by plants
belonging to the Leguminosoe^ of seizing and fixing
the atmospheric nitrogen through the agency of the
tubercle-forming bacteria that dwell in their roots.
This overshadowingly important fact indicates clearly
that some leguminous crop should if possible always
be chosen for green manuring. A well-grown crop of
clover, cowpeas, velvet beans, or beggar weed, turned
into the soil, adds as much nitrogen as would be con-

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 63

tained in a heavy application of stable manure, and
its effect on the improvement of the soil is fully as
great. In planting one of these crops for soil im-
provement we can well say that we are growing a crop
of stable manure, since its effect on the soil is almost
identical. In one important respect it is, in fact,
markedly superior. In only too many cases stable
manure is the means of introducing the seeds of many
noxious weeds and grasses. Crops of these legumes,
however, occupy the land so closely that they smother
and kill the weeds and are thus a considerable factor
in subduing and eradicating them.

At the North red clover (Tri/oUum pratense') is
the legume almost universally depended on for soil-
improving purposes. It is also an exceedingly valu-
able forage and occu^Dies a prominent place in the
crop rotation adopted by all good farmers. It usually
occupies the land for at least two years. Unfortu-
nately it does not succeed well at the South and need
not be considered in the region for which this work
is especially written.

Crimson clover ( Trifolium iyicarnatuni) is an annual
plant and, therefore, must be resown every year. It
grows best during the cooler part of the year. It is
well adapted to many of the soils of the Southern
states, and where it can be made to succeed it is a
very useful winter cover crop, especially for orchards
and for cotton lands. The young plants are quite
delicate and the land must be put in a condition of
perfect tilth before the planting, in order to obtain a
stand. It can be planted from August to October.
It makes fine hay if cut when in bloom, and the crop

64

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

can be harvested in time to put in a late crop of
cotton. The roots and stubble alone will add
much to the fertility of the soil, but, of course, its

full benefit as a manure is
only obtained when the en-
tire crop is plowed under.
As the clovers are not gener-
ally grown at the South most
Southern soils do not contain
the kind of bacteria that form
tubercles on clover roots. To
succeed with this crop, there-
fore, it is necessary in most
instances to resort to what is
known as soil inoculation, in
order to provide these bac-
teria artificially. Two meth-
ods of soil inoculation are
more or less in practical use.
The first consists in taking a
quantity of soil from a field
where clover of some kind
has already been grown suc-
cessfully and sowing it with
the seed. As much as a ton
of soil per acre should be used
to be sure of securing the
desired result. In the second
method the seeds are wet with
a nutritive solution to which
a pure culture of the desired
bacterium has been added some hours previously.

Crimson Clover.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 66

The infected seed is planted and quickly covered
while still moist. Various methods have been devised
for safely transporting and distributing pure cultures
of these useful organisms, but none of them have as
yet proved fully satisfactory in practice. The one
adopted by the United States Department of Agri-
culture and most in use at the present time consists
in saturating portions of absorbent cotton with fresh
cultures of the bacteria and then quickly drying
them. If the dried cotton is now securely wrapped
to prevent it from again absorbing moisture, the
culture will retain its vitality for a considerable
period of time, and the packets of dried cultures may
be safely shipped through the mails. If, however,
the culture is exposed to alternate moisture and
dryness, it soon dies. For use the bits of cotton
with the dried culture are dropped into a bucket of
water containing a prescribed portion of nutrient
salts. In a few hours the liquid becomes turbid
from the growth of the organisms, and it is now
ready for moistening the seed. These dried cultures
can be obtained commercially from most of the
larger seedsmen, and while their use is often attended
with failure, it is well worth making repeated efforts
to get this and the next-mentioned crop established
in new localities. The effect of a successful inocula-
tion is sometimes little short of miraculous, the
plants growing with the greatest vigor and producing
a crop at the rate of one and a half or two tons of
hay per acre, while on adjoining uninoculated plots
the plants soon turn yellow and stop growing when
only a few inches high. Such an experiment has to

66

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

be seen to be either believed or appreciated. Of
course no such striking result follows inoculation on
soils where clover of any kind has been already
grown and where the soil is consequently supplied
with the clover organism. Crimson clover will not
be likely to succeed in any part of the tropics.

Hairy Vetch.

The hairy vetch QVicia villosa) is another winter-
growing legume that is of great importance for the
Southern states, and it deserves to be much more
widely cultivated. It should be planted in the late
summer or fall, like the crimson clover, but as the seeds
are large and the young plants much more vigorous
it does not require such careful preparation of the

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 67

soil. It produces an even better forage than crimson
clover and as a soil-improving plant it is unexcelled.
The only objection to it is the rather high cost of
seed. When once established on the land it, how-
ever, reseeds itself freely. The seeds lie dormant dur-
ing the summer, but germinate on the approach of cool
weather in the fall. As a cover crop for orchards it is
exceedingly valuable, since it covers the ground and
prevents washing during the winter and furnishes
much valuable fertilizing material, while at the same
time allowing of free cultivation during the summer.
It can also be utilized in corn and cotton fields, but
it is necessary that these crops be planted a little late
in order to allow for the ripening of the vetch seed in
the spring. Soil inoculation is usually necessary with
vetch, since most Southern soils do not contain its
specific organism. Unfortunately the tubercle bac-
teria of vetch and clover are not identical, and the
fact that the soil is inoculated for the one will not
help it to grow the other. The pods of vetch are often
freely attacked by the cotton-boll worm and this has
prevented the profitable production of vetch seed in
the Southern states. It will be seen that crimson
clover and vetch fill much the same part in the farm
economy, each being winter-growing legumes of about
equal value as cover crops, as forage, and for green
manuring. The vetch, however, will thrive under
a wider range of soil conditions and has the great ad-
vantage of reseeding the land. There is no more
rapid and effective method of improving exhausted
Southern lands than by planting vetch in the fall
and following this with corn and cowpeas in the

68 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

summer. The corn crop, together with the pasturage
afforded by the peas in the fall and the vetch in
early spring, will more than repay the phosphate and
labor required. A very few years of this treatment
will restore the poorest, most exhausted fields and
make them as productive as the best virgin lands.

The spring vetch (^Vicia sativd) grows in much the
same way as the hairy vetch. It, too, is a useful plant,
but it does not make as heavy a mass of vegetation as
the other. The vetches are not well adapted to the
tropics.

The cowpea ( Vigna Catjang'^') is, without doubt, the
one most important legume for Southern agricul-
ture. It has often been called the clover of the South,
since it plays the same leading role here that red
clover does at the North. It is a rank-growing an-
nual, completing its growth in about three months.
Being of tropical origin, it delights in hot weather
and does not succeed well durinof the cooler months.
Its short growing season makes it possible to grow
it as a manurial crop at times when the land would
otherwise be unoccupied, as, for instance, after a crop
of winter oats or rye or after an early spring crop
of vegetables. It is most widely used, however, to
plant between the rows of corn at the time of
the last cultivation when the crop is being laid by.
It can in like manner be very profitably used on
cane plantations to sow between the cane as a cover
crop at the beginning of the rainy season. The peas

1 Wight (U. S. Dept. of Agric, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull.
102) shows that most of the varieties of cowpeas should be re-
ferred to Vigna unguiculata rather than to V. Catjang.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL

69

03

o
O

70 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

can be sown broadcast, using from three pecks to
three bushels of seed per acre. It is more usual,
however, to plant in drills about three feet apart.
This only requires about half as much seed and al-
lows of giving one or two cultivations. If supplied
with potash and phosphoric acid, they will make a
rank growth even on very poor lands. The use of a
fertilizer that supplies these elements is often re-
quired to secure the best results. They are very
efficient as nitrogen gatherers and thus serve to build
up and enrich the soil very rapidly. Practically all
soils at the South and in the adjacent tropics are
plentifully supplied with the appropriate tubercle-
forming bacteria for this plant, so that soil inocula-
tion is seldom necessary. There are many varieties
of cowpeas. These differ not only in the color and
size of the seed, but in time of maturity and habit of
growth. The whippoorwill, or speckled pea, matures
very early and has an erect, almost bushlike habit
of growth. It yields a large amount of seed, but
produces less leaves and vines than some of the
others. It can be planted farther north than the
other kinds, maturing well in Kansas, central Illinois,
and Delaware. It is also particularly useful when
the land can only be occupied for a short time, and
from its erect habit of growth it is easily cut and
handled in making hay. The iron pea, unlike the
whippoorwill, produces a large amount of vines and
leaves, but usually ripens a less amount of seed. It
remains green longer than any of the others and is
thousrht to be more resistant to certain diseases. At
the South, wliere the season is long, it is one of the

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 71

best kinds to plant for soil-improving purposes. It
is particularly adapted to conditions in Cuba. The
wonderful pea combines to some extent the quali-
ties of the other two, producing more vines than the
whippoorwill and more seed than the iron. It is a
good general-purpose pea over a wide territory.
Cowpeas will thrive on a great variety of soils, but
do best on well-drained clays or sandy loams. They
are easily injured by standing water and do not, as
a rule, do well on very light shifting sands. On these
lighter soils especially they are subject to two rather
serious diseases. They are attacked by " wilt "
(^Neocosyjiospord)^ a fungous disease that enters the
plant through the roots, and are also subject to the
nematode root knot (Jleteroderd)^ which is so com-
mon a pest in sandy Southern soil. No remedy
for these troubles is known, and it becomes necessary
to abandon the planting of peas on lands badly in-
fested by them. The iron pea, it is claimed, is par-
tially immune to both of these troubles.

It is sometimes a question how best to utilize a crop
of peas. If cut as the first pods are maturing and
properly cured, they make a hay fully equal to the
best clover hay. As with clover most of the curing
should be done in the windrow and shock. The leaves
will fall badly if the hay is allowed to lie too long fully
exposed to the sun. Where enough stock is kept to
eat the hay, this is undoubtedly the best use to which
the cowpea crop can be put, since nearly all of its
manurial value is recovered in the droppings, and its
very considerable food value is also utilized. Even
when the hay is cut and sold, repeated careful experi-

72 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

ments demonstrate that enough nitrogen remains in
the roots, stubble, and fallen leaves to very materially
increase the following crop, whatever it may be, that
occupies the field. If the hay cannot be profitably
utilized, it may be possible to allow the crop to
ripen, gather the pods, and then plow under the vines.
This plan is often followed. The peas and pods
make excellent feed for horses, mules, or hogs, and the
shelled peas have a considerable commercial value as
human food and for seed. The unripe pods, too, may
be picked and eaten like string beans. Farmers
sometimes save the expense of gathering the crop
by turning in the hogs as the peas begin to ripen.
Nowhere will hogs make a more thrifty, rapid growth
than when having the range of a pea field. Even if
it is impossible to utilize the crop in any of the
above ways, the Southern farmer should always plan
to plant every acre of his land, that it is possible, in
cowpeas every year, for in no other way can he build
up its fertility so cheaply and so rapidly. It has
been said that a man is a benefactor who causes two
blades of grass to grow instead of one. If this say-
ing had referred to cowpeas instead, it would have
carried a much o^reater truth.

Velvet Bean (^Mucuna utilis). — This is another
rank-growing, tropical, annual, leguminous vine that is
exceedingly useful as a soil-improving and cover crop
in the far South and in the tropics. It requires
rather a long season of warm weatlier and does not
succeed well much north of central Alabama and
Mississippi. It will flourish on any well-drained
soil, even growing on the lightest sands if they con-

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL

73

tain a sufficient amount of phosphoric acid and potash.
What first brought it into prominence was the fact
that it grew so vigorously on the light, sandy soils
of Florida, wdiere the cowpea failed on account of
the attacks of nematodes. The velvet bean is per-

Velvet Bean, leaf and flowers.

fectly immune to this pest. It has been widely used
in Florida as a cover crop in orange orchards during
the summer rainy season, the usual practice there
being to cultivate during the dry season of winter
and shade the ground with some green crop dur-
ing the summer. The velvet bean seems admirably

74

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

adapted for this purpose, accumulating vast quantities
of nitrogen and leaves an immense deposit of vegetable
matter. It is necessary, however, to constantl}^ keep
it cut away from the trees or it would soon climb up
and smother them. The climbing power of this vine

Velvet Bean, fruits.

is somethino- remarkable. An instance is known to
the writer where beans planted at the foot of a fifty-
foot windmill tower climbed to the top by fall and
had to be cut down to prevent clogging the wheel.
The velvet bean does not produce flowers and fruit
until very late in the fall. In Florida a large crop

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 75

of seed is secured, but they cannot be depended upon
to ripen seed much farther north.

For the latitude where it succeeds the velvet bean
must be considered as a formidable competitor with
the cowpea for first place as a soil-improving crop.
It cannot, however, be used interculturally among
other crops as can the cowpeas, but must occupy the
ground alone. When land can be given up to a soil-
improving crop for from four to five months during
the summer, no other crop will produce such sat-
isfactory results in the way of securing nitrogen,
smothering foul weeds, and adding humus to the soil.
It thus adapts itself perfectly to the needs of winter
truck growers in southern Florida and the tropics and
to use in Cuban tobacco fields, since in Cuba tobacco
is strictly a winter crop and the land, as a rule, lies
idle during the summer.

It is also an invaluable plant in preparing the land
for permanent crops like orchards or sugar cane.

What clover is to agriculture of the North and the
cowpea is to the cotton belt, the velvet bean is des-
tined to be for the tropics, where the need for a
much greater use of soil-improving plants is so
imperative.

Like the cowpea, velvet beans may be sown
broadcast or planted in drills ; in nearly all cases the
latter is preferable since one or two cultivations give
them a chance to get ahead of weeds and grass.
When they once begin to run, no further attention
is needed, since they quickly climb up and by their
weight bend over and drag down any chance weed
that happens to spring up among them. They will

76 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

cover and completely bury, and in this way almost
exterminate, that most dreaded of Southern weeds —
Johnson grass.

When green, velvet bean vines are not at first
particularly relished by stock, but a taste is soon
acquired for them ; the partially ripened pods in the
fall, however, furnish very rich pasturage. The
vines, if cut and cured into hay, are eaten readily and
are very nutritious, but they are so long and tangled
that they are difficult to cut and handle.

It is often found quite difficult to properly plow
under and incorporate with the soil the dense mass
of vegetation produced by a crop of velvet beans.

By first passing a roller over the field, or a log
drag, to flatten them down, a sharp disk plow will
bury them very satisfactorily, and the vines rot
quickly in the ground and in the course of a month
will have so far disappeared as not to interfere with
cultivation. On heavy lands the best results will be
secured by cross plowing after three or four weeks.
On lighter soils this second plowing will not be
needed, and the land can be put in perfect tilth by
the use of a disk harrow. There is considerable
prejudice on the part of some against incorporating
so large a mass of green vegetation with a light,
sandy soil for fear of creating an acid condition ;
this danger is in most cases more fancied than real,
though many people on sandy land prefer to allow
the vines to die and dry out on the surface before
plowing them under ; this will always be the better
plan when the land is not going to be immediately
utilized for planting some crop.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL

77

Florida Beggar Weed (^Desmodium molle~). — This
is an erect-growing annual plant. It is grown quite
extensively during the summer as a cover crop for
orange orchards in Florida. When once established,

Florida Beggar Weed.

it reseeds itself and comes up at the beginning of the
summer rains, even when the land has been thoroughly
cultivated during the winter and spring. It could
also doubtless be utilized as a cover crop in cane
fields. Beggar weed thrives on the thinnest, sandiest
soils as well as on those of better quality. It is an

78 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

efficient nitrogen gatherer, furnishes much nutritious
pasturage, and if planted thick and cut young, it
makes good hay. The stems, however, get hard and
woody with age. It should always be used in
orchards on soils where cowpeas do not thrive, and
for orchard purposes it has the considerable advantage
of reseeding itself. It is sown broadcast, using about
eight quarts per acre. It thrives well in the tropics,
where it is an indigenous weed.

Other Legumes for Green Manuring. — There are
many other leguminous plants that are sometimes used
for green manuring. Of these Japan clover, bur
clover, alfalfa, and the peanut will be discussed under
forage plants. On the rotten limestone prairies
of Alabama and Mississippi sweet clover (^Melilotus
alha) has proved to be the most useful of all legumes.
Its long taproots penetrate the hard subsoil, thus
making it permeable and greatly improving its me-
chanical condition, in addition to adding to its store
of nitrogen. At the North this plant is con-
sidered a pestiferous weed. In some of the West
India islands indigo (^Indigofera anil) has been
more or less used as a green manure. Leguminous
trees of various kinds are usually chosen by coffee
and cacao planters to use as shade trees among their
crops. The trees as well as the herbaceous plants be-
longing to the LeguminoscB produce root tubercles,
and they thus add nitrogen to the soil at the same time
that they shade the trees. This family is very
largely represented in the natural flora of all tropical
countries, the number of species found far exceeding
those of temperate latitudes. Very many of them

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 79

possess habits of growth in a wild state that make
a careful study of their cultural characteristics and
possibilities exceedingly desirable. It is altogether
probable that in the future many more of them
will be utilized for soil-improving purposes than
at present. As has already been pointed out, the
subject of green manuring is of great importance in
the tropics where the stock of vegetable matter in
the soil is so quickly destroyed, but it is here that
the subject has attracted least attention and its pos-
sibilities for good are only beginning to be realized.
Commercial Fertilizers. — While the subject of green
manuring with leguminous crops is of the utmost
importance to Southern agriculture, and while it is
possible by this means alone to keep the soil in good
mechanical condition, and to supply it with a large
amount of nitrogen, it does not add to the total
quantity of potassium and phosphoric acid, those other
equally important food elements. With even the
richest soils these will at length become exhausted,
and it will be necessary to supply them in the form
of commercial or, as they are often called, chemical
fertilizers. Immense quantities of these fertilizers
are sold annually in the South, and in only too many
cases farmers have come to depend on them exclu-
sively as the means of increasing their crops. This
is extremely unwise. In the first place, it is poor
economy. It is always unwise to buy that which
can be produced cheaper at home. In the second
place, soils manured year after year with only com-
mercial fertilizers soon lose their vegetable matter,
become difficult to work, and suffer excessivelv

80 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

from drought. Commercial fertilizers are really
indispensable in modern agriculture and when used
appropriately they are very profitable, but as a gen-
eral rule they should only be used to supplement,
not to replace, stable and green manures. It should
never be forgotten that vegetable matter is always
necessary in order to maintain the soil in a good
mechanical condition and that this is fully as impor-
tant as chemical composition in the production of
crops.

Commercial fertilizers are valuable, generally
speaking, only for the nitrogen, phosphoric acid,
and potash which they contain. If a fertilizer con-
tains all three of these substances, it is said to be
a complete fertilizer. If one or more of them is
lacking, it is called an incomplete fertilizer. Most
farmers make the mistake of valuing fertilizers
according to the price per ton. This is very mis-
leading, and means nothing, unless the price per
ton is considered with reference to composition;
that is, to the number of pounds of each of these
substances that the ton of fertilizer contains. Of
these substances nitrogen is much the most expen-
sive. It usually costs about three times as much
per pound as either of the other two. In different
localities, and in different years, the nitrogen in
fertilizers usually costs from 14 cents to 18 cents
per pound, while the potash and soluble phos-
phoric acid cost from 3 to 6 cents per pound each.
If a fertilizer contains 4 per cent of nitrogen, 8 per
cent of phosphoric acid, and 5 per cent of potash,
each ton will contain 80 pounds of nitrogen, 160

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 81

pounds of phosphoric acicl, and 100 pounds of potash.
If we assume a value of 15 cents per pound for the
nitrogen, and 5 cents for each of the other ingre-
dients, we will have a value as follows : —

80 pounds of nitrogen at 15 cents = $12

160 pounds of soluble phosphoric acid at 5 cents = 8

100 pounds of potash at 5 cents = 5

Total value per ton = $25

It will readily be seen that such a fertilizer would
really be cheaper at $25 than one with 3 per cent of
nitrogen, 6 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 4 per
cent of potash would be at '$20, for the real value
of the latter would only figure out $19. It is usu-
ally a mistake to buy cheap, low-grade fertilizers,
for even if bought at their real value, there is a
larger proportion of inert matter or " filler " on
which to pay freight and to handle in the field.

The valuable ingredients of fertilizers are ob-
tained from many different sources. The nitrogen
may be of either animal, vegetable, or mineral origin.
Nitrate of soda, or, as it is sometimes called, Chile
saltpeter, is found in large deposits in some of the
drier parts of South America. It is used as a fer-
tilizer in great quantities, either alone or combined
with other substances. Being very soluble, and in
a form to be immediately taken up and utilized by
the plant, it acts very quickly, giving almost im-
mediate results, the leaves taking on a darker color,
and the plant showing increased vigor of growth
within a very few days after its application. On
account of its solubility, however, it is easily washed
and leached away by the rain, and as it is expensive

82 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

it should only be applied in small doses, and just at
the time when it will be most useful in the growth
of the plant. It is much used by market gardeners,
and sometimes as a top dressing for lawns and small
grains. Sulphate of ammonia is another mineral
source of nitrogen for fertilizers. It is a by-product
of certain manufacturers. It, too, is very soluble,
but it acts more slowly than nitrate of soda, since,
before becoming available, it must be acted on by
the soil bacteria, and be converted into the form
of a nitrate. It is a valuable source of nitrogen,
especially for heavy clay soils. If used in large
quantities on sandy lands that are deficient in lime,
an acid condition may ultimately be induced that
will be harmful. Dried blood, tankage, and other
slaughterhouse refuse, and fish scrap, the waste
material from the manufacture of fish oil, are the
usual animal sources of nitrogen. They are all
extensively used, and give excellent results with
most crops. All have to undergo fermentation and
nitrification in the soil before becoming available.
Dried blood undergoes the changes very quickly,
but the tankage acts more slowly. This is some-
times an advantage for crops that need to be nour-
ished during a long growing season. Guano, the
dried excrement of sea birds found in certain desert
islands off the Pacific coast of South America, should
also be mentioned in this connection. It has been
much used as a fertilizer and contains considerable
nitrogen. The bat guano, found so abundantly in
caves in many regions, has usually been subject to
leaching by water, and so has lost most of its nitro-

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 83

gen. Occasional deposits are found, however, that
are rich in. this element. Stable manures, night
soils, and other animal excrements, owe their value
as fertilizers largely to the nitrogen which they
contain. Vegetable substances, useful as fertilizers
on account of the nitrogen they contain, are the
residues left from the extraction of various vegetable
oils. Castor-bean pumice and cotton-seed meal are
the two most widely used for this purpose. For
many years cotton seed and cotton-seed meal were
the cheapest sources of nitrogen in the South, but
now they are so extensively used for feeding cattle
that the price rules higher. The immense impor-
tance as a fertilizer of the vegetable nitrogen con-
tained in leguminous plants has already been suffi-
ciently emphasized.

Phosphoric acid as found in fertilizers is always
combined with lime. It is mostly derived from
bones and from certain phosphatic rocks that are
mined very extensively in South Carolina and
Florida. It occurs in three conditions, known com-
mercially as water soluble, citrate soluble, and in-
soluble phosphate. The first two are both supposed
to be immediately available as plant food, and both
are rated at about the same value. The extent to
which the so-called insoluble phosphate becomes dis-
solved in the soil and thus becomes available de-
pends on the fineness to which it is ground and the
amount of vegetable matter in the soil. The
chemical changes taking place in connection with
the fermentation of vegetable matter aid consider-
ably in its solution. The insoluble phosphate from

84 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

bones, too, becomes available more easily than that
from rock phosphates. Sometimes the bone meal is
treated with sulphuric acid to make it all soluble.
It is then called dissolved bone. The rock phos-
phates are nearly always treated with sulphuric acid
before being used. They are then known as acid
phosphates or superphosphates. Bird and bat
guanos all contain considerable quantities of phos-
phoric acid. The bat guanos in particular usu-
ally owe most of their value to this substance.
Thomas slag, a by-product of certain iron furnaces,
is considerably used in England and Europe as a
source of phosphoric acid. Hard-wood ashes also
contain a considerable percentage.

Potash for fertilizing purposes also comes from
hard-wood ashes, but it is usually derived from cer-
tain potash salts that are extensively mined in
Germany. Kainit, one of these salts in its crude
state, is very largely used in the manufacture of low-
grade fertilizers. It contains considerable quantities
of common salt and other impurities and so is ob-
jectionable for tobacco and some other crops. The
muriate of potash prepared from these crude salts is
usually the cheapest form in which to apply potash,
especially at interior points where high freight rates
increase the comparative cost of the crude salts. It
is useful for corn, cotton, potatoes, and all ordinary
crops; but it cannot be used for tobacco, since chlorine
in any form ruins the burning quality of the leaf,
and it is claimed by some investigators that it
should not be used for sugar cane as it is thought to
increase the per cent of glucose and other impurities.

IMPKOVEMENT OF THE SOIL 85

There is also some prejudice against using it with
fruits and vegetables. In the highest grades of
fertilizers, therefore, the sulphate of potash is usually
employed altliough it is slightly more expensive
than the muriate. Some growers of cigar tobacco
go even farther and only use the still more expen-
sive carbonate.

Commercial fertilizers are usually rather caustic,
and if improperly used they may do much harm.
Many kinds of seed will fail to germinate or the
young plantlets will be killed if planted in direct
contact with commercial fertilizers. Usually the
best way to apply them is to open a furrow where
the row is going to be, and scatter them in and
cover from one to two weeks in advance of planting
the seed. If more than four hundred or five
hundred pounds per acre are used, the fertilizer
should be mixed Avith the soil before covering by
running a small shovel plow in the bottom of the
furrow. If more than eight hundred or a thou-
sand pounds per acre is used, only a part should be
put in the furrow and the balance should be broad-
casted and harrowed in. Where large quantities of
very soluble fertilizers are used or where a crop
has a very long growing season, it may be best to
divide the amount and make two or three applica-
tions at considerable intervals. In most cases, how-
ever, this extra expense would not be justified and
all should be applied in advance of planting. Some
seeds like corn are quite resistant, and small quan-
tities of fertilizer may be sown in the drill with the
seed with safety. There are many seed drills in the

86 GENEKAL CONSIDEKATIONS

market with fertilizer attachments that can be used
to plant and fertilize at the same operation. This
is a considerable saving of labor. Various machines
for drilling in fertilizers alone are also on the
market. Where it is scattered by hand, a tin horn-
shaped tube to deliver it in the bottom of the furrow
is a great convenience, as it saves stooping and pre-
vents it from being blown about by the wind and
wasted. In fertilizing orchard trees it may be
broadcasted about the tree and hoed or harrowed
in, always taking care to scatter it evenly as far or a
little farther than the branches extend ; or if the
trees are small, a furrow may be opened on each
side of the row in which to scatter the fertilizer,
which can then be covered with the plow.

It is always a matter of great practical importance
to determine what kind and what amount of fertili-
zer to apply on any given soil and crop. Theoreti-
cally a chemical analysis of the soil should show in
what elements it was deficient, and thus enable one to
judge in what proportions to blend the different plant
foods and what quantities of them to apply. Prac-
tically, however, this is seldom a safe guide. A chem-
ical analysis may give some useful hints as to the
probable needs of the soil, but the mechanical condi-
tion and the available water supply have such a
powerful effect on plant growth that nothing short
of practical trials continued for a term of years can
give any real knowledge as to the needs of a given
soil. Every intelligent farmer must, to a considerable
extent, be an experimenter. Experience thus gained
in one locality can, however, be utilized in others

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 87

where the soil and climatic conditions are similar.
Soil surveys, by means of which the different soil
areas can be carefully mapped, are thus of great use
in determining the proper use of fertilizers. The
farmer can tell much, too, by closely observing his
crops, as to their need for the different food elements.
If the growth is slow and the leaves are small and
yellow, it is an indication of the lack of nitrogen unless
this condition has been caused by excessive drought.
This element if present abundantly tends to induce a
rank growth and gives a dark green color to the leaves.
If, on the other hand, the leaves are dark and the
growth rank while but little fruit or grain is pro-
duced, the lack of phosphoric acid is indicated. The
phosphates promote, fruitfulness and early maturity.
Potash, on the other hand, tends to promote vigor
and prolong the growing period. It is also supposed
to give firmness and higher flavor to fruits, and in
many cases it has a marked influence in promoting
the health of plants and warding off disease. In a
soil that is rich in nitrogen and phosphoric acid but
deficient in potash the crop will start well early in
the season, but it will be likely to show weakness
later. The foliage is liable to become spotted and
diseased, and the grain or fruit will be poor and
light. Cases sometimes occur where soils are only
deficient in some one or two of these elements, but
in the great majority of cases all three will be found
lacking, and a complete fertilizer will be required.

Rotation of Crops. — The whole subject of soil
improvement, especially improvement by the use
of green manures, is intimately connected with a

88 GENERAL CONSlDEKATiONS

proper rotation of crops. It is, with few exceptions,
extremely unwise to devote any given piece of land
continuously to the same crop. Each crop draws
on the food elements in the soil in different propor-
tions, and where only one crop is planted the ten-
dency is to exhaust the soil unequally. If this were
the only difficulty, it would be easily overcome by
the proper selection of fertilizers, but there are many
others. Some crops, like cotton, require absolutely
clean cultivation throughout the season. This, as
has been previously pointed out, tends to the rapid
exhaustion of vegetable matter. Other broadcast
crops like the small grains cannot be cultivated at
all, and if planted continuously the land becomes
very foul with noxious weeds. Some crops occupy
the land so continuously that they do not give time
for the growing of leguminous catch crops for green
manuring. The most imperative reason for crop
rotation is, however, its usefulness in checking the
ravages of diseases and insects. When the land is
planted continuously to any given crop for a term of
years, it makes ideally favorable conditions for the
rapid multiplication of the diseases and insects pe-
culiar to that crop. There are many instances in
which, owing to continuous cropping, the land has
become so infested with disease that the cultivation
of the crop has had to be entirely abandoned. The
bacterial blight of tomatoes and potatoes and the
Fusarium wilt of watermelons and cotton may be
mentioned as instances of Southern diseases that
often become very destructive when these crops are
grown continuously. Some investigators have re-

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 89

cently claimed to have proof that the exudations given
off in the soil by the roots of certain plants are inju-
rious to succeeding crops of the same kind. This
would be an added reason for crop rotation. The
regions where continuous planting is mostly prac-
ticed are those that are dependent on a single crop.
One-crop farming is always dangerous, not only from
its bad effect on the land, but for economic and busi-
ness reasons as well. If a farmer grows but one
crop, he is liable to lose his whole year's work
through some unfavorable turn of the season, and if
he succeeds in making a good crop, his returns from
it will depend entirely on the course of the market
for this one staple. Diversified farming is much safer.
A season that is bad for one crop may be favorable
for another, and it is seldom that the prices for
all farm crops are unprofitable in any one year.

Just what crop rotation to adopt and how closely
to follow it are questions that will have to be
answered differently for different localities and al-
most for every farm. It must differ, not only with
the locality, but with the kind of business in which
the farmer is engaged. The stock raiser must adopt
one rotation, the grain grower another, the cotton
farmer another, and the truckman still another, if
indeed the rotation does not lead a man to become a
stock raiser as well as a grain or cotton grower.
The general adoption in the cotton belt of a rotation
that would necessitate the keeping of more live stock
would be of untold economic benefit besides its great
effect in preserving soil fertility. The following has
been suggested as a suitable rotation for upland cot-

90 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

ton fields: first year, cotton; second year, corn with
cowpeas planted between the rows, the field to serve
as pasture after the corn is gathered; third year, win-
ter oats or rye, to serve as winter pasture and to be
cut for forage in the spring and be followed by
cowpeas either for hay or to be pastured; fourth
year, cotton. The general adoption of this or some
similar rotation would so enrich the land and in-
crease the yield of cotton per acre that the average
farm would yield fully as much cotton per year as
at present and the immense sums paid annually by
the cotton states for beef, butter, bacon, hams, and
lard would be saved. Whatever rotation is adopted,
the main points to keep in mind are to see to it that
leguminous crops of some kind be included as often
as possible, tliat crops requiring clean cultivation
be interspersed with those that cover and shade the
soil, and that so far as possible deep-rooted plants
alternate with shallow-rooted ones, and above all that
plants liable to the attack of the same insects and
diseases do not follow each other on the same land.
With crops that occupy the land continuously for a
term of years, like orchards or, in the tropics, sugar
cane, rotation in the sense in which it is used with
annual crops cannot be practiced. In these cases
much of the advantao^e of rotation can be secured
by alternating clean cultivation with the growth of
leguminous cover crops. In the case of sugar cane
the land, too, should always be planted to velvet
beans or some similar rank-gfrowinof lecfume for a
year or two, whenever it is necessary to plow up old
fields before they are again replanted to cane.

the growth of the plant 91

The Growth of the Plant

The above discussion of soil improvement must
be considered in connection with a brief considera-
tion of how plants grow. The study of the life
processes of plants is the subject-matter of that most
interesting and important science, vegetable physi-
ology. A knowledge of its principles is of funda-
mental importance for the farmer, since agriculture
is after all only the practical application of vegeta-
ble physiology and soil physics. At this place only
the barest outlines of the facts connected with the
growth of plants can be attempted.

Within each seed is wrapped up a tiny rudimen-
tary plantlet called the embryo. This consists of
one or more seed leaves, the cotyledons, a minute
bud or growing point called the plumule, and the
radicle or rudimentary rootlet. There is also a
greater or less amount of rich food material that has
been stored either in the thickened seed leaves or in
an enveloping layer called the endosperm. It is this
stored food material that gives many seeds such great
value as food for men and animals. Under favor-
able conditions of heat and moisture the young
plantlet begins to grow. The seeds swell, the seed
coats are ruptured, and the young plant emerges.
This process is called germination. While it is in
progress, the stored food material becomes soluble
and is used to nourish the young plantlet as it
pushes its first leaves up into tlie light and the ad-
vancing root tip is burrowing even more rapidly into
the soil. If this rootlet is carefully examined, it will
be seen that for a considerable space just behind the

92 GENEKAL CONSIDERATIONS

extreme root tip it is covered with what looks like a
delicate down or a weft of mold. On magnification
this down is seen to consist of immense numbers of
short delicate root hairs. These are the organs for
absorbing water, together with the small amounts of
mineral salts that the soil water always holds in
solution. They are pressed close to the soil parti-
cles and so are in immediate contact with the films
of water that, as we have previously seen, cling to
each of these particles. After a few days or weeks
the oldest of these root hairs die, but others are con-
stantly forming near the younger root tips during
all the period when the plant is in active growth.
Although each single root hair is so small as to be
invisible to the naked eye, their aggregate number
is so great that their combined surface usually con-
siderably exceeds the entire leaf surface of the plant.
The growing of root hairs for absorbing the films of
moisture that cling to the soil particles is thus seen
to be the chief function of the roots of agricultural
plants. Incidentally they also serve as holdfasts
for anchoring the plant firmly in the soil and pre-
venting its being blown away by the wind. In some
special cases, as with the turnip and sweet potato,
roots also serve as storage organs for holding re-
serve food supplies. This is always the case with
these crops in which the root is the part having com-
mercial value. All that has been written, therefore,
about the soil and methods for its preparation for crops
and its improvement is simply to insure that it be in
proper condition for the roots to ramify freely and de-
velop root hairs abundantly ; and that the films of soil

THE GROWTH OF THE PLANT 93

moisture be present in sufficient quantity and that they
contain enough of dissolved nutrient salts to provide
an abundant supply of mineral food elements for the
growing plants.

The principal function of the stem is to act as a
framework on which to hang the leaves and display
them properly to the action of air and sunlight. It
also serves as a reservoir of moisture and its vessels
and tissues provide for the transmission of the water
and mineral salts absorbed by the roots to the leaves
in which it is elaborated into plant food. It also
serves for the distribution of the prepared food from
the leaves to nourish all parts of the plant. In some
cases, too, stems like roots become swollen and serve
as special reserve food storehouses.

The leaves are the laboratories where the crude
mineral food elements are combined with the car-
bonic acid of the air and so elaborated that they can
be utilized for the nutrition and growth of the plant
cells. It is this power to utilize mineral elements as
food that chiefly serves to distinguish plants from
animals. All green-leaved plants can do this, but
animals must depend for food on materials that have
already been elaborated by plants. In almost all
other respects their life processes are identical.
Every living cell, whether of plant or animal, must
have proteids and carbohydrates for food and must
breathe or absorb oxygen and give off carbonic acid
as the result of those chemical changes from which
its vital energy is derived. The plant can make its
proteids and carbohydrates, the animal cannot.
Carbonic-acid gas always exists in the atmosphere.

94 GENEKAL CONSIDEKATIONS

It is supplied as the result of combustion, of fermen-
tation and putrefaction, and from the respiration of
plants and animals. The process by which it is
taken up and used as food by green plants is known
as photosynthesis. This is accomplished by the
agency of chlorophyll, the green coloring matter of
the leaves, when this is acted on by strong light.
During this process carbonic acid is absorbed and
a considerable quantity of oxygen is liberated, thus
masking and reversing the ordinary process of respi-
ration. At night or when in artificial darkness res-
piration continues and photosynthesis ceases, so that
then green leaves behave like other living tissues and
absorb oxygen and give off carbonic acid. Since
light then plays so important a part in the nutrition
of plants, we can readily see that the leaves are
special organs for exposing green chlorophyll-bearing
tissue to the action of light. This fact has an im-
portant practical bearing on methods of cultivation.
Plants that are crowded too closely together can
never grow as large or develop as rapidly as those
that have sufficient space in which to unfold their
leaves. Different kinds of plants vary widely in the
amount of light which they require in order to attain
their best development. Some are adapted to the
dim half light of deep forests and cannot endure
the full strong sunlight. Others are adapted to the
open, and thrive best where the light and heat are
strongest. The agriculturist in the tropics in par-
ticular must know the requirements of his different
plants as to light, and must regulate his practices
accordingly.

THE GROWTH OF THE PLANT 95

Another important function of the leaves is that
of throwing off surplus moisture by transpiration.
As this moisture which was derived from the soil
through the agency of the root hairs is given off in
the form of vapor, all of its dissolved mineral salts
are left behind in the leaves, where they are com-
bined with the carbohydrates produced by photosyn-
thesis to form the complex food substances required
for the nourishment of the plant cells. The throw-
ing off of water during transpiration causes the
leaves to also act as pumping engines and induces
the constant upward movement of the crude sap.
In moving trees or plants when in leaf this pumping
action of the leaves must not be forgotten and the
leaf surface must be greatly reduced by pruning.
Otherwise the plant will wither and die from want
of water before new root hairs can be formed with
which to absorb it. Deciduous trees should always
be moved when out of leaf. Even then the top
should be heavily pruned to avoid too great a dis-
play of leaf surface in the early spring before the
new root system has had time to develop.

In some special cases, as with the cabbage, leaves
may become so altered as to serve as receptacles for
storage of reserve food materials.

Roots, stem, and leaves are all organs that are
concerned in the growth of the individual plant, but
the chief office of the flowers is the reproduction of
new individuals in order to secure the perpetuation
of the species. Flowers present many variations in
form, structure, size, and color. In most cases, how-
ever, there are four sets of organs. The outer, called

96 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

collectively the calyx, are for protection. They are
usually green in color like the leaves; they serve to
wraj) up and protect the other organs while they
are young. The next set, called the corolla, are for
display. They also serve to protect the more im-
portant organs within, but their chief function
seems to be to attract insects. The central essential
organs which are so carefully wrapped up by the calyx
and corolla also are of two kinds, the stamens and
pistils. The stamens produce a considerable quan-
tity of a yellowish powder called the pollen. This
represents the male element. At the top of the
pistil is a moist sticky surface called the stigma.
When a pollen grain falls on this, it adheres to it
and begins to grow, sending out a slender micro-
scopic tube which penetrates the tissues of the pistil,
finally reaching the enlarged base called the ovary,
where the egg cell or female cell is located. The
nucleus of the pollen grain passes down through the
tube, enters the egg cell, and unites with its nucleus,
— thus effecting fecundation. The fecundated egg
cell now begins to divide and grows into the rudi-
mentary plantlet called the embryo. This with its
surrounding supply of reserve food material and
its various protective coatings constitutes the seed
which, when planted under favorable conditions, will
germinate and grow into a new plant like the one
from which it sprung.

It seems to be almost a universal rule in nature
that the young will be more vigorous when the male
and female cells from which they spring are not too
closely related. We therefore find some kinds of

INSECTS AND DISEASES 97

plants where the pistils are borne on one individual
and the stamens on another. In order to produce
seed it is necessary for the pollen to be conveyed in
some manner from one plant to the other. There
are other cases where the stamens are in separate
flowers, but borne on different parts of the same plant.
Even, as is usually the case when both occur in the
same flower, there are many contrivances to prevent
the pistils from being pollinated from the same
flower. All of these cases require what is known as
cross pollination; that is, the carrjdng of pollen by
some means from one flower to another. There are
some plants, however, where the flowers are normally
self-pollinated. Even in these cases cross pollina-
tion undoubtedly often accidentally occurs. Some
plants produce pollen in immense quantity and de-
pend on the wind for carrying it from one plant to
the other. This is a wasteful method and unduly
taxes the energy of the plant in the production of
useless pollen. The great majority of plants depend
on insects of one kind or another to carry pollen
from flower to flower. The manifold devices that
have been evolved for securing insect pollina-
tion constitute one of the most marvelous wonders
of the vegetable world, and this interrelation be-
tween plants and insects furnishes a most interesting
and important field for study.

Insects and Diseases

Cultivated plants of all kinds are liable to be at-
tacked by insects, and they are, like animals, subject
to various diseases. The study of the diseases of

98 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

plants is the province of vegetable pathology. This
is one of the youngest of the great group of biological
sciences, since most of our knowledge of plant diseases
and their remedies has been gained during the last
twenty -five years. It lias, however, the greatest pos-
sible practical importance for the farmer, for by the
practice of its teachings he can often save his crops
from enormous losses. Economic entomology is some-
times considered as being distinct from vegetable pa-
thology, but it is really only a branch of that impor-
tant subject. In a general work of this kind it is
impossible to give more than the barest outlines of
pathology, and the reader is referred to special works
on this subject for a more comprehensive treatment.

Plant diseases may be divided into three general
groups : environmental diseases, functional diseases,
and diseases caused by parasites. In the first group
are placed all those morbid conditions caused by un-
congenial soils, lack or excess of water, or bad climatic
or atmospheric conditions. Here, too, would be
classed accidental mechanical injuries of all kinds.
The only possible remedies for diseases of this class
consist in improving the environment or preventing
the injuries. If the soil is too wet, it can be drained ;
if too dry, it can be irrigated ; if too poor, it can be
fertilized. Atmospheric and climatic difficulties are
more difficult to avoid, but even here something can
be done by planting shelter belts, or giving artificial
protection by fires, tents, sheds, etc. The wise farmer
will, however, study his surroundings and only plant
the kinds of crops to which they are best adapted.

The term " functional disease" is applied to a class

INSECTS AND DISEASES 99

of obscure disorders in which the life processes of the
plant are disturbed, and the organs fail to perform
their proper functions without any apparent external
causes for the abnormal conditions. These diseases
are as yet poorly understood, and they have not been
sufficiently studied ; but so far as is known they are
connected with the improper, either excessive or in-
sufficient, secretion of enzymes. These are powerful
chemical ferments that are secreted by many cells. It
is by their aid that the reserve food stored in so many
different parts of plants is made soluble and available
for growth and that many of the other life processes
are carried forward. The digestive fluids of animals
also contain enzymes. When these powerful com-
pounds are produced for any reason at the wrong
time or in the wrong quantity, serious complications
follow. Peach yellows and the mosaic disease of
tobacco may be mentioned as well-known examples
of functional diseases. So far, unfortunately, no
remedies are known for this class of troubles, and
they must still be classed as incurable.

Insect injuries of all kinds are here grouped under
the head of diseases caused by parasites, for while
some of the losses caused by insects are not, strictly
speaking, diseases at all but only mechanical injuries,
these grade so imperceptibly into those that cause
derangement of function or abnormal growth of
tissue that it is impossible to draw a line between
them. Parasitic diseases may be classified according
to the nature of the damage caused, according to the
part of the plant attacked, or, as is more often done,
according to the nature of the parasite. Plant parasites

100 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

may be either animals or other plants. Plants that
are parasitic on and cause diseases of our cultivated
plants are to be found among the bacteria, the slime
molds, the fungi, and in a few cases even among
other flowering plants. In warm moist countries
damage is also sometimes caused by epiphytes. These
are air plants that do not enter the tissues of the
plants on which they grew, but they cause trouble by
crowding and keeping out light and air. Epiphytes
are found among the algse, the lichens, the mosses and
liverworts, and among flowering plants. Animals
causing injury to plants are principally found among
the nematode worms, the mites, and the insects. Slugs
and snails which belong to the molusca are also
troublesome, but their injuries, like those caused by
the grazing of the higher herbivorous animals, are
to be classed as mechanical injuries rather than as
diseases.

Remedial measures against plant diseases may be
grouped under hygienic measures, including the
destruction of sources of contagion and rotation of
crops ; soil treatment ; seed treatment ; topical ap-
plications to the plant itself ; and the propagation
and selection of immune varieties.

Bacterial diseases are exceedingly common and
difficult to combat. Pear blight, the bacterial blight
of potatoes, tomatoes, etc., the black rot of cabbage,
and the bud rot of the cocoanut may be mentioned
as typical examples. Hygienic measures, especially
the destruction of diseased plants or parts of plants,
and rotation for the annual crops, are as a rule the
only remedies, and these are far from satisfactory.

) J •>
1 ) '

INSECTS AND DISEASES '. >': \'^'j -lOl

>

Sprays or other topical applications are useless. The
most promising work for the future lies in the
selection of resistant or partially immune varieties
and strains.

Slime molds cause but few diseases. The ones
best known are the club foot of cabbages and turnips
and the crown gall of peaches and other fruit trees.
Heavy applications of lime to the soil have been
shown to be an almost complete preventive for the
first of these diseases, but no remedy is known for
the crown gall.

By far the larger number of vegetable plant para-
sites are to be found among the fungi. They cause all
such well-known diseases as smuts, rusts, cankers,
leaf spots, anthracnoses, scabs, mildews, molds,
and root rots. The nature of the treatment depends
largely on the part of the plant attacked. The super-
ficial powdery mildews can be killed with sulphur.
Most parasitic fungi, however, penetrate within the
tissues of the host plant. Those that reach the
plant from above ground can usually be prevented
by keeping the plant coated with fungicidal spra3^s
like Bordeaux mixture and thus preventing infection.
Once within the plant tissue the parasite is safe and
cannot be reached by applications. Sprays are thus
preventive, not curative, an important distinction
that should never be lost sight of. If the contagion
reaches the plant from the ground through the roots, it
cannot be prevented by spraying. In these cases soil
treatment is sometimes available, but reliance must
mainly be had on rotation of crops. Many smuts may
be prevented by treating the seed. Relief from fungous

102 GEN:^JiAL CONSIDERATIONS

diseases is sometimes possible through the finding of
immune varieties or through better cultural methods.

The dodders and broom rapes are among the best-
known parasitic flowering plants. They are usually
pests of minor importance and like other weeds
should be eradicated by preventing the forming of
seed.

Nematode worms are minute microscopic animals,
some of which are parasitic on plants. The worst
damage is done by one that causes gall-like swellings
on the roots of many of our cultivated plants. They
are very troublesome on many sandy soils in the South-
ern states and other warm countries, and they are
also a serious pest in greenhouses. Here they may
be destroyed by thoroughly sterilizing the soil with
live steam before placing it in pots or trenches. In
the fields nematodes can only be combated by care-
ful crop rotation.

The mites are minute animals related to the spi-
ders. Only a comparatively few kinds of them are
troublesome, but they include such well-known pests
as the various red spiders and the rust mite of the
orange. Applications of sulphur are usually the most
effective remedy for mites. It may be applied as a
powder by means of the so-called powder gun, or it
may be suspended in water with a little flour paste
to make it stick and be applied as a spray.

By far the greatest number of animal plant pests
belong to the insects. An immense variety of species
prey on our cultivated plants in countless numbers and
do damage of a great many different kinds. For prac-
tical purposes, however, they may all be considered

INSECTS AND DISEASES 103

under three groups : burrowing insects, biting insects,
and sucking insects. No general rule can be given for
the treatment of burrowing insects. Each one must
be carefully studied by itself to see at what stage of
its life history it can be most successfully attacked.
Often the eggs are laid on the surface of their food plant,
and the young feed for a short time superficially
before beginning to burrow. In such cases they may
be killed by arsenical sprays like other biting insects.
In other cases it is possible to prevent the depositing
of eggs by various protective measures. The one
almost universal remedy for biting insects is to poison
them by spraying their food plants with some arseni-
cal compound. Sucking insects have mouth parts
arranged for piercing the epidermis of the food plant
and sucking out the elaborated sap. They are much
more difficult to reach than most biting insects since
they cannot be killed by arsenical poisons. It is nec-
essary to employ what are known as contact poisons ;
that is, some substance that will kill the insects by
simply coming in contact with it. The principal
contact poisons are kerosene, whale-oil soap, resin mix-
ture, tobacco extract, and pyrethrum powder. The
first three are much the strongest and most effective,
but they have to be used with great care or they will
injure the plants. Tobacco extract is only used for
very soft-bodied insects like plant lice. Pyre thrum
powder is safe and will not injure the most delicate
plant. When fresh it is quite effective, but it soon
loses its strength, and the commercial article is often
unsatisfactory. In greenhouses fumigation with
tobacco smoke is more effective than spraying with

104 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

tobacco extract, and a standard remedy for scale in-
sects on fruit trees is to cover them with a tent and
fumigate with hydrocyanic-acid gas.

Spraying for insects and fungi has now become so
important a part of the best farm practice in the
production of many crops that the subject demands
a little fuller consideration even in a work of this
kind. Spray pumps for applying insecticides and
fungicides are now on the market in almost every
conceivable form and size, from the little hand atom-
izer with a reservoir holding a quart or less to
powerful machines with pumps run by gasoline
engines and tanks holding hundreds of gallons.
Spraying is now a recognized necessity in the pro-
duction of nearly all tree fruits and of many vege-
tables. It is almost universally used for potatoes, but
is too expensive to be employed for most other ordi-
nary farm crops. Tobacco and cotton growers usu-
ally apply insecticides in the form of a powder.
The substances mostly used for spraying are, first,
the arsenic compounds, Paris green, London purple,
white arsenic, and arsenate of lead. These are the
recognized remedies for biting insects. Second, the
contact poisons used for sucking insects: kerosene,
either as the mechanical mixture with water or the
emulsion, whale-oil soap solution, resin-lime mixture,
and tobacco extract. Third, various copper com-
pounds used as fungicides. The most important by
far is Bordeaux mixture. Paris green is often
added to Bordeaux mixture, thus affording protec-
tion from the biting insects and fungi by the one
spraying. Fourth, sulphur in suspension or potas-

INSECTS AND DISEASES

105

Knapsack Spray Pump.

Barrel Spray Pump,

Autoiuatic Spray Pump.

106 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

slum sulphide in solution as a remedy against mites
and powdery mildews. Formulas for these different
sprays are as follows: —

Paris Green. — Use 4 ounces to 50 gallons of water or
of Bordeaux mixture. Keep constantly agitated. Two
pounds of flour boiled to a paste may be added to the
water when used alone. Limewater used with Paris
green prevents burning of foliage. To apply as powder,
mix with 20 to 30 parts of flour, slacked lime, or finely
sifted wood ashes.

London Purple. — Use the same as Paris green. Its
composition is variable and its use not always satisfac-
tory.

Arsenite of Lime. — Boil 1 pound of white arsenic in
4 quarts of water. Use this to slack 2 pounds good quick-
lime. Add water to make 2 gallons as stock mixture.
Por use add 1 quart to each barrel of water or Bordeaux
mixture.

Arsenate of Lead. — Add 1 to 2 pounds to 50 gallons of
water or Bordeaux. It burns foliage less than Paris green.

Kerosene Emulsion. — Boil i pound laundry soap in 1
gallon soft water. While hot, add 2 gallons kerosene and
churn violently 5 to 10 minutes. Dilute with 4 to 20
parts of water before using. (Strong emulsions are for
scale insects in winter.)

Kerosene in Mechanical Mixture. — Use special pump.
Set to throw 5 per cent to 25 per cent of kerosene.

Crude Petroleum. — Use same as kerosene.

Whale-oil Soap. — Use 12 to 15 pounds of the potash
soap for each 50 gallons of water.

Resin Mixture. — Boil 20 pounds resin, 5 pounds caustic
soda, and 3 pints fish oil with 20 gallons of water for at
least 3 hours. Add hot water to make 50 gallons. Use
in winter. For use on foliage dilute to 150 gallons.

MARKETING PRODUCTS 107

Sulphur-lime Mixture. — Mix 18 pounds flowers of sul-
phur with 50 gallons boiling water. Slowly add 21
pounds quicklime. Boil 30 to 50 minutes.

Tobacco Extract. — Cover a quantity of tobacco stems
with boiling water and allow to stand 5 hours. Dilute
with 4 parts of water. Or use 1 pint commercial " Rose
Leaf " tobacco extract to from 10 to 20 parts of water.

Sulphur. — Use as a powder ; or add 3 to 5 pounds to
50 gallons of water containing 2 pounds of flour boiled to
a paste and apply as a spray. Agitate thoroughly.

Potassium Sulphide. — Two to three pounds potassium
sulphide, water 50 gallons. Use at once.

Bordeaux Mixture. — Dissolve 6 pounds of copper sul-
phate in 25 gallons of water. (This is best done by sus-
pending it in a coarse sack near the top of the water.) In
another barrel slack 6 pounds of quicklime and dilute to
25 gallons. Pour the lime wash slowly into the copper-
sulphate solution and stir well. Use at once. For
peaches use only 2 pounds copper sulphate.

Ammoniacal Copper Carbonate. — Dissolve 5 ounces cop-
per carbonate in 3 pints of strong ammonia (26° Beaume)
that has been diluted with 8 parts of water. Add water,
50 gallons. Use in place of Bordeaux when staining by
the latter is objectionable.

In all spraying operations success will clepencl on
the thoroughness with which the work is done, and
on the judgment with which the work is timed.
As most sprays are preventive rather than cura-
tive it is usually necessary to begin the work before
any sign of the trouble appears.

Marketing Products

It is not only necessary to grow good crops, but
thev must be sold. The successful farmer must be a

108 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

good business man as well as a good agriculturist.
Farm crops are produced for use at home or on the
farm ; for sale in the market of the home town that
can be reached direct by the farmer's wagon ; for
shipment to some distant market requiring the use of
railroad or water transportation ; or for export to
some foreign market.

It should be the first duty of everj^ farmer to see
that his home table is always abundantly supplied
with all the food products that can be produced in
his neighborhood. No one is so favorably situated
for living well as the farmer. With only slight ad-
ditional effort and expense he can always have the
best and freshest of fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk,
and butter. Those who live in towns know how ex-
pensive it is to keep their tables supplied with these
products and how difficult or often impossible it is to
get them in really fresh appetizing condition. Yet
how many farmers there are who fail to avail them-
selves of this, which is one of their greatest privileges,
but spend their hard-earned money for buying from the
groceries inferior foods that have been shipped in from
some neighboring city market. Such a condition is
almost unbelievable, but it is so common as to be the
rule rather than the exception. It will be a great
day for the average health and prosperity of the
country when every farmer realizes that the crops
consumed on his home table are the most profitable
ones he can grow and when each takes a pride in
seeing how near he can come to "living at home."
Other crops that are consumed on the farm are, of
course, mostly the grain and forage fed to animals.

MARKETING PRODUCTS 109

This is marketed later in the form of eggs, milk, or
meat. Animal husbandry is a very important branch
of agriculture, but its bearings will be discussed under
another heading.

Crops grown for the home market are usually sold
direct to the consumer, or at most only pass through
the hands of the local grocer as a middleman. This is
a very simple and on many accounts a very desirable
business arrangement. The farmer can consult the
needs and tastes of his customers and by supplying
their wants he can be reasonably sure of fair prices
for his products regardless of the fluctuation in the
great market centers. By careful attention to grow-
ing his crops well and preparing them for market
attractively he can soon make a local reputation for
his goods that will always secure a ready sale, and he
has the great advantage of being able to grow and
sell a diversity of crops. The man who grows only
one or two market crops runs greater risks of loss
from an unfavorable season or from the fluctuations
of the market than the one who has a number of dif-
ferent crops. Weather conditions that injure one may
benefit others, and it is seldom indeed that prices for
all farm products are disastrously low at the same
time. With perishable products the grower for the
home market has the further advantage of being able
to sell them when fresh and in the best condition, and
he is not liable to the heavy losses due to deterioration
in transit so often met by those who ship such crops
to a distance. It is indeed remarkable how often
the advantages of a home market are overlooked and
in how many cases small towns and rural communities

110 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

are poorly supplied with the very things that might
be produced in the neighborhood in the greatest
abundance.

With crops grown for distant shipment a distinc-
tion must be made between what are called staple
farm products and those, like fruits and vegetables,
that are of a perishable nature. The former crops,
like wheat, corn, cotton, etc., are usually sold at the
nearest shipping point either to local speculators or
to representatives of the great commercial interests
at prices fixed from day to day by their value in the
great world's markets and by the transportation
charges necessary to reach these markets. The price
received depends but little on the efforts of the
farmer and is only too often manipulated by the com-
mercial interests so that it shall be abnormally low at
the season that the crop is being marketed followed
by a marked rise as soon as the bulk of the crop has
passed out of the hands of the producers and before
it passes to the consumers. This constantly tempts
the grain and cotton farmer to turn speculator and to
hold his crop for a rise in value.

Perishable crops, too, are often sold direct by the
farmer to produce merchants or local speculators.
Sales of such products at the point of production are
probably slowly increasing, but the risks attending
the handling and storing of such products are so
great that a very large part of the fruit and vege-
tables produced are shipped at the farmer's risk, and
are sold for his account on commission. This system
leaves the farmer entirely at the mercy of unscrupu-
lous commission men and, unfortunately, there are

MARKETING PRODUCTS 111

some of this kind, as well as many honest ones, and
it has many other manifest disadvantages. The very
fact, however, that so large a proportion of the im-
mense volume of produce business is still done on
this basis shows that there must be other weighty
points in its favor. There can be no question but
that, as a general rule, it is much better and safer for
the farmer to accept a fair, reasonable price for his prod-
uce at home rather than to take the risk of shipping
it on commission ; yet this very element of risk seems
to be an attraction, and it is often much more diffi-
cult for produce merchants to buy their supplies in
the country than to buy them from the commission
men after shipment. The principal reason, however,
why direct buying has not become more general, is
the great difficulty of securing goods of a known and
uniform quality. The staple products are all graded
and sold by sample, so that the quality of any given
lot is pretty accurately known. This is not possible
with fruits and vegetables, where the quality and
value of the same lot may vary so widely from day to
day. The best remedy so far devised to meet this
condition lies in the formation of shipping associa-
tions and the establishment of cooperative packing
houses, where all tlie produce of a neighborhood can
be brought in, and be assorted and packed uniformly.
Each packing house of this kind handles enough
produce so that its goods become known on the
market, and this is a great advantage either in
making direct sales or in selling on commission.

To successfully carry on a large business in the
growing and shipping of perishable fruits and vege-

112 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

tables requires a rare combination of abilities. Be-
sides exceptional skill as an agriculturist in the
production of the crops and the usual commercial
ability required in the transaction of any large busi-
ness, one requires to have a wide knowledge of
market conditions and requirements in different
parts of the country, and to be a close student of
transportation problems. He must also have the
ability to impress his views on the transportation
companies. None of the modern improvements in
transporting perishable goods have come on the ini-
tiative of the transportation companies. Fast fruit
trains, ventilated cars, and finally the vast system
of refrigerator transportation, all have come on the
insistent demand of clear-sighted farmers who real-
ized how much the growth and extension of their
business depended on obtaining improved transporta-
tion facilities.

The shipping of agricultural products to foreign
countries is mostly in the hands of the large com-
mercial interests, and is but little done by the farm-
ers themselves. It therefore need not be discussed
here. No matter what market crops are intended
for, the fact should never be lost sight of that suc-
cess will depend quite as much on the care and skill
with which the marketing is done as on the ability
to produce large crops.

Farm Policy and Management

In this age of specialization it has come to pass
that there are many kinds of farms and many
methods of farming. One of the first and most im-

FARM POLICY AND MANAGEMENT 113

portant questions that confronts the agriculturist is
to decide what kind of a farmer he wants to be and
what kinds of farming will give best results under
his special local conditions. In making his decision
he must consult, not only his own preferences and
abilities and his available capital, but the nature of
his soil and climate and particularly the character
and needs of his available markets and his transpor-
tation facilities. A certain amount of specialization
is undoubtedly desirable. The man who undertakes
to grow too many crops will succeed with none of
them. There are many cases, too, where either on
account of special skill and knowledge or peculiarly
favorable local conditions a farmer's wisest course is
to confine himself exclusively to some one or two
specialties. In general, however, diversified farming
is safer and more profitable and lends itself much
more readily to a proper rotation of crops and the
preservation of the fertility of the land. The all-
wheat, all-corn, or all-cotton farmer is seldom per-
manently prosperous and he inevitably leaves an
inheritance of depleted acres to his successors.

The average farmer should first and foremost see
to it that he produces at home, so far as possible,
everything that is to be consumed on the farm.
Second, he should study the possibilities of his local
market carefully and seek as far as possible to
supply it. The man who produces the bulk of his
own supplies and sells enough produce to his neigh-
bors to furnish his other necessities is assured of
success no matter wliat the state of the market for
the great staples. It is true that it takes more care

114 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

and trouble on the part of the farmer and his family
to do a retail business of this kind than to dispose of
a grain or cotton crop to some larger dealer, but the
result will usually amply repay the extra effort.
Many farmers are, of course, so located that they
cannot take advantage of local markets, but neglected
opportunities of this kind are to be found on every
hand. Extensive observation in many regions gives
convincing proof that very few towns and cities
have a really adequate home supply of those prod-
ucts that could be easily produced in the neighbor-
hood. The abandoned farms in New England bear
eloquent testimony to the shiftlessness and incom-
petence of their owners. It is true tliey could no
longer produce hay and grain in competition with
the richer level lands of the West, but the country
has a dense manufacturing population and there is
not one of these abandoned places that is not in easy
reach of some prosperous town which is compelled
to draw the bulk of its food supplies from the great
markets of New York and Boston. The lands
within a hundred miles of New York City are nearly
all excellently adapted to small fruits, but it is a
notorious fact that when the local season comes on
berries are scarcer and higher in that market than
when they are being brought from the Carolinas and
from Delaware and Maryland. On account of their
favorable soil and climatic conditions, which permit of
the cultivation of many temperate as well as of all
tropical products, the farmers of Cuba are in a posi-
tion to produce a very unusually large variety of
crops. As a matter of fact they devote themselves

FARM POLICY AND MANAGEMENT 115

SO exclusively to sugar cane and tobacco that the
towns are very poorly supplied with even the com-
monest fruits and vegetables, and immense quantities
of such food products as corn, beans, rice, and pota-
toes are annually imported.

It is usually only those farmers who are located
near the large centers of population that can find a
local market for all of their produce, and it becomes
necessary for them to devote at least a part of their
energies to the production of some staple to be sold
in the great markets. The nature of this staple
must depend largely on transportation facilities.
Those farmers who are distant from railroad or
water transportation must depend on live stock
which can carry itself to some shipping point, or on
products like coffee or tobacco that are valuable
enough in proportion to their weight to stand ex-
pensive transportation by wagon or pack train. In
most of the more inaccessible regions the live-stock
industry is the only available kind of agriculture.
The importance of live stock is, however, not con-
fined to such out-of-the-way places. On every farm
there are unsalable products of various kinds that
can best be utilized by feeding to live stock. Thus
half the feeding value of a crop of corn is in the
leaves and stalks. This is lost if only the ears are
gathered and sold. The straw from small grain and
the seed of cotton are useful stock foods, and so with
many other products. Whenever possible, enough
live stock should be kept on every farm to utilize
all products that would otherwise be wasted. An-
other very obvious advantage from keeping live

116 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

stock is the production of a home supply of manure.
When cattle or other domestic animals are properly
handled, we get good value for the food consumed
in the milk or meat produced, and we also get back
at least three fourths of the fertilizer value of the
food in the form of manure. Many farmers are con-
tent to buy and feed cattle when the advance price at
which they can be sold no more than pays for the
food consumed as they consider that the value of the
manure secured constitutes a good profit. This
feature of stock raising should be carefully con-
sidered in connection with what has been previ-
ously said in regard to the raising of leguminous
crops for soil improvement as part of a crop rota-
tion. The best possible use to make of a leguminous
crop is to feed it to live stock. The legumes make
rich feed since they contain so large a per cent of
nitrogen, and when the crop is properly saved and
fed the farmer gets a full return for its food value,
and in the manure saved he has nearly its full fer-
tilizer value as well. The average Southern farmer
will make no mistake if, after setting aside sufficient
land for gardens and orchards for supplying his own
table and selling to his less provident neighbors, he
shall divide his other fields in such a way as to
secure in his rotation at least two crops of cowpeas
or other legume every three years and shall keep
enough hogs and cattle to consume the legumes and
other waste products. The amount of corn, cotton,
or other staple crop sold will, in a series of years,
from the improved condition of his soil, be fully
as great as if all his land had been devoted con-

FARM POLICY AND MANAGEMENT 117

tinuously to his one staple crop. He will have in
addition the profits derived from his live stock and
the greatly increased value of his lands.

The production of fruits and vegetables for distant
shipment is a highly specialized line of agriculture
and as a rule should only be embarked in by those
having some special knowledge of or aptitude for
the business. In this industry proper transportation
facilities are the very first desideratum. Suitable
soil and climatic conditions must also be carefullv
considered as well as an available supply of labor.
For many reasons it is usually better for one who
contemplates beginning in the fruit or vegetable
business to go to some point where it is already
successfully established. A beginner in a new region
will encounter many difficulties that would be already
solved for him at these recognized centers of the
industry.

PART II

THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL

CROPS

Sugar Cane {Saccliarum officinarum L.)

This giant among the grasses is supposed to be a
native of southern Asia, but it is now one of the
most important economic crops of tropical and sub-
tropical countries in all parts of the world. Formerly
it was practically the only source for the world's
sugar supply since the amounts made from maple sap,
from sorghum, and the sugar palm have always been
so small as to be negligible. Of recent years, however,
the sugar beet has been so improved by seed selection
and better methods of cultivation that it has become
a formidable competitor, and to-day it furnishes fully
half the sugar that finds its way to the world's markets.
The history of the beet-sugar industry is very instruc-
tive, since it illustrates so forcibly the immense im-
provement that may be made in agricultural methods as
the result of persistent scientific study. A hundred
years ago beets contained about five per cent of sugar.
To-day the best strains of seed yield fifteen per cent
to twenty per cent, and the tonnage obtained per
acre has also been considerably increased. This is
no chance result, but it has come from steady and per-
sistent effort in plant breeding and in methods of

118

SUGAR CANE 119

cultivation and the use of fertilizers. Improvements
in manufacture have also kept pace with these im-
provements in production, and the business is now one
of the best examples of a scientifically conducted agri-
cultural industry. Sugar beets can be grown in many
parts of the region that it is intended to cover by this
volume, but since it is not yet a recognized South-
ern industry, no discussion of the question will be
undertaken.

While these great improvements have been going on
with beets, methods of cultivating sugar cane have in
most countries practically stood still. The greater part
of the world's supply is still produced by the methods
in vogue a hundred years ago. Signs of progress are,
however, not wanting. In certain countries, par-
ticularly Louisiana, Hawaii, and Australia, cultural
methods have been revolutionized with the result of
markedly increasing the yield and lessening the cost
of production. These changes in method have largely
been due to the initiative of the agricultural experi-
ment stations which have been established in these
countries. In Java, too, where mucli good scientific
work has been done, there has been notable progress
along many lines ; but owing to the high price of
land and the abundance of cheap labor, cultivation
there is still done by hand implements. In the other
countries mentioned hand labor has been almost
completely superseded except in the harvesting of
the cane, with the usual result of greatly decreasing
the cost of production.

Chief Uses. — Sugar cane is, of course, principally
used for the production of sugar, with molasses, rum,

120 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

and alcohol as by-products. In some regions where
cane is only produced on a small scale the juice
is mostly converted into table syrup instead of
being boiled down enough to make sugar. With
the old method of open-kettle manufacture much of
the molasses was also used for the table, but with the
modern vacuum-pan methods the sugar is extracted
so much more completely that the resulting molasses
is used only for stock food or for distillation.
Sugar cane is also used as a forage. It is well liked
by cattle, horses, and hogs. Doubtless cane could
profitably be used much more widely for feeding
purposes than it is at present. The yield of forage
per acre is larger than that afforded by any other
crop.

Climatic Conditions. — Cane thrives in all parts of
the tropics where there is sufficient rainfall or where
it can be irrigated. It is not confined to strictly
tropical countries, but can be grown with greater or
less success as far north as central Alabama and
Mississippi. Cane would grow vigorously much
farther north than this, but the seasons are not
long enough for it to mature properly and gain its
full sweetness, and there would be much difficulty
in keeping the seed canes over winter. In fact in
practice the northern limit of its cultivation is
largely determined by the possibility of wintering
the seed cane. The distribution of the rainfall is a
very important matter in successful cane growing.
Abundant moisture is needed througliout the entire
growing season in order to secure heavy yields, but
dry weather in which to mature and harvest the

SUGAR CANE 121

crop is equally essential. The best climate for cane
is one where the rainy season lasts uninterruptedly
for six or eight months and is then followed by a
well-marked dry season for the remainder of the
year. Continuous rainy weather gives no chance
for the ripening and harvesting of the cane.

Soils. — Moist, heavy, rich soils are considered the
best for cane, and its commerical cultivation is usu-
ally confined to lands of this character. Surface
drainage is, however, essential, and low-lying lands
with a retentive subsoil must be thoroughly ditched.
As a matter of fact cane will grow splendidly on
light sandy soils if moisture conditions are right, but
such soils are very soon exhausted and require heavy
applications of fertilizers. The poor, sandy pine
woodlands of southern Mississippi, Alabama, and
Georgia yield enormous crops by cane when " cow-
penned " or otherwise heavily enriclied. It is, how-
ever, only grown in these regions on a small scale
for syrup making. In Louisiana and Texas com-
mercial cane planting is mostly confined to the rich
alluvial river lands. Here drainage is a prime ne-
cessity and much expensive ditching has to be done.
Special methods of cultivation, too, have been devised
to meet these soil conditions. In Hawaii the soils
are mostly lighter in character and are largely of
volcanic origin. Most of the larger estates are
located in regions of insufficient rainfall, where it is
necessary to employ irrigation. This, of course, pro-
foundly affects methods of cultivation. In Cuba
three distinct types of cane soils may be recognized.
First, the red lands; these are heavy, tenacious soils.

122 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

but they have a jointed structure that allows the
rains to pass down very readily. They have no
subsoil, but extend downward unaltered to the bed
rock, which consists of a cavernous coralline lime-
stone with many underground channels through
which the water is quickly carried away, thus afford-
ing perfect underdrainage. These soils are admir-
able during the rainy season, but suffer somewhat
during the dry season. In Cuba these seasons are
usually quite well marked, the summer being wet
and the winter dry. Second are the heavy black
soils overlying a white, calcareous, chalklike sub-
soil. These lands are usually undulating or even
hilly, so that surface drainage is good and no ditch-
ing is required except in occasional low places.
Third are the heavy, black, level soils underlaid by a
retentive clay subsoil. These are very productive
when properly handled, but would all be improved by
additional ditching. The cane lands in the other
West India islands and in Mexico and Central
America are of various kinds, but so far as their
cultural requirements are concerned they are compar-
able to some one or the other of the ones mentioned
above.

Methods of Cultivation; Louisiana. — The methods
of cultivation on the best Louisiana plantations may
be briefly summarized as follows. It must be remem-
bered that here the two chief aims are to get rid of
surplus water and to secure the early maturity of
the crop. A three-year rotation is usually practiced,
two years in cane and one year in corn and cowpeas.
After the second crop of cane is harvested the land

SUGAR CANE 123

is plowed and is planted to corn very early in the
spring. At the last cultivation of the corn, cowpeas
are broadcasted at the rate of one to tliree bushels
per acre. After the corn is gathered these produce
an immense mass of vegetation which together with
the corn stalks are plowed under with a disk plow dur-
ing the latter part of summer. In about four weeks
the vines will have rotted enough so that the land
can be bedded. This is done with a large two-horse
turning plow, and the beds or ridges are thrown
up about six to seven feet apart. These beds are
crossed by quarter drains at sufficiently frequent in-
tervals, which lead into the larger ditches and these
in turn into large drainage canals, so that any exces-
sive rainfall is quickly carried away. Planting be-
gins about the first of October or as soon as the seed
cane is sufficiently mature to insure good germina-
tion. Planting furrows are opened in the top of the
ridges with a double moldboard plow, but this fur-
row should not be quite as deep as the water furrow
between the rows. Two rows of seed cane are laid
in the bottom of this furrow, which is then filled in
five or six inches deep by means of the disk cultiva-
tor. It is covered thus deeply to protect the seed
cane from freezing during the winter. The cane is
planted full length as it is found to keep better than
when cut in short pieces. About four tons of seed
cane are required per acre. Planting is usually in-
terrupted at the beginning of the grinding season in
November. On most plantations it is necessary to
make spring plantings also. For this purpose seed
cane must be carried over winter by the process

124 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

known as windrowing. The cane cut from two rows
is carefully piled in the water furrow between them
in such a way that the stalks of one armful are
completely covered by the tops of the next. When
the windrow is completed, only a continuous row of
tops and leaves is visible. Furrows are now thrown
from either side with large plows and the work of
completely covering with dirt is finished with hoes.
In severe winters the windrowed cane is sometimes
damaged so that a larger quantity of seed will be
required to secure a stand. With the first warm
days of spring the dirt is thrown from the sides of
the beds with the plow and the greater part of the
earth which covers the cane is scraped off with
hoes. This lets in the warmth of the sun and pro-
motes early germination. Fertilizer is now scat-
tered in the side furrows and as soon as germination
is completed the dirt is thrown back with a turning
plow and the water furrows are cleaned out with the
double moldboard plow. The subsequent cultiva-
tion is all done with disk cultivators, which throw
still more dirt to the rows, and with the Magnolia or
some other similar form of cultivator for the water
furrows. No hoeing is needed after the first scrap-
ing of the dirt from the seed canes. In fact even
this is sometimes done with a special implement de-
vised for the purpose. When the cane tops begin to
meet between the rows, it is " laid by," by again
cleaning the water furrows with the double mold-
board and opening up the quarter drains, which
should be six inches deeper than the bottom of the
water furrows. After the harvest the land is left

SUGAR CANE 125

covered with a great accumulation of trash, consist-
ing of the cane tops and leaves. This is burned
over at the first suitable opportunity in order to kill
the cane borer, but more particularly in order to
prevent it from clogging the drains and water fur-
rows and thus keeping the land too wet and cold
during the winter. This is recognized as a great
waste of fertility since so much vegetable matter is
destroyed that ought to be reincorporated with the
soil. Under these special conditions, however, its
advantages are found to considerably outweigh its
very obvious disadvantages. It must be remem-
bered that in this short rotation an abundant supply
of vegetable matter is returned to the soil every three
years with the ■ corn stalks and pea vines. The
burning, too, clears the ground for the subsequent
cultivation of the stubble cane. In the early spring
an implement known as a stubble digger is passed
over the rows to loosen up the ground between the
stubbles. If the upper buds of the stubble have been
injured by the winter, another implement, known as
the stubble shaver, may first be passed over the row
to cut off these injured tops below the surface of the
ground. As soon as the stubbles begin to sprout the
rows are barred off, fertilized, rebedded, and culti-
vated exactly like the plant cane.

The fertilizers used in Louisiana for cane are
largely the phosphates though nitrogenous manures
are also employed. Potash does not seem to be
needed. This is probably to be explained by the
well-known fact that the phosphates tend to hasten
maturity, a point so important for Louisiana, while

126 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

potash has the contrary effect of prolonging the
period of vigorous growth.

Most unfortunately for the sugar-cane industry
the harvesting as yet has to be done by hand. This
requires a much larger force of laborers than the culti-
vation, and at the present time constitutes the most
difficult problem that confronts the cane grower.
A successful mechanical harvester is a great desider-
atum. The great weight of the crop to be handled
and the f.^.ct that it is usually badly tangled by
storms are serious obstacles to be overcome, but the
worst difficulty is that judgment has to be used as
to the height at which to top the cane in order not to
waste it on the one hand by cutting too low or by
cutting too high to include immature tops which
carry impurities that prevent the crystallization of
the sugar. Whether these difficulties can ever be
successfully solved remains for the future to decide.
A successful machine for cutting cane alread}^ exists
and it is sometimes employed in windrowing, but
ordinarily it is not found to have much advantage
over hand cutting. There are now several fairly suc-
cessful devices for loading cane into carts or wagons,
after it is thrown in piles by the cutters and others
for transferrino" it from carts to railroad cars and
from the cars to the conveyor at the mill. It is
thus seen that cutting and stripping are practically
the only hand work remaining in the Louisiana cane
fields.

Methods of Cultivation: Hawaiian Islands. — Cli-
matic and soil conditions are exceedingly variable in
different parts of the Hawaiian Islands, and cultural

SUGAR CANE 127

methods must be correspondingly varied. On the
moist windward sides of the islands, where there is
abundant rainfall, the methods employed are essen-
tially those of Louisiana except that the planting
ridges are omitted, since the soils are permeable, but
the earth is worked toward the row during cultiva-
tion. One row only of seed cane is used and rows
are spaced five to six and a half feet apart. In
the dry regions on the leeward side, where most of
the more important plantations are located, irrigation
is needed. This is supplied in some cases from
natural streams and in others by pumping. Great
attention is given to the proper preparation of the
land. Where the nature of the soil will permit, it is
broken two or even three feet deep with powerful
steam plows and it is very thoroughly pulverized.
Planting furrows five feet apart and twenty to
twenty-five inches deep are made with large double
moldboard plows. The bottom of this furrow is
pulverized by a subsoil plow or some special pulver-
izing implement. Usually the tops of the cane only
are used for seed. A single line is placed in the
bottom of the furrow, a light irrigation is given, and
the seed cane is covered with two or three inches of
dry earth by hoes. No general cultivation is at-
tempted nor is it needed in this deeply prepared soil
that does not become compacted by heavy rains.
After each irrigation a light fresh coating of dry
dirt is added with hoes to check evaporation. After
the harvest the trash is burned as in Louisiana. On
many plantations the earth is now plowed toward
the stubble with turning plows, and the subsequent

128 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

irrigation is applied in the water furrow. As a rule
only one or at most two crops of stubble cane are
harvested, after which the field is plowed up and again
replanted. The chief feature of the Hawaiian culti-
vation is the immense amount of commercial ferti-
lizer used. Practically no cane is planted without it,
even on virgin lands, the quantity applied running
from six hundred to as high as fifteen hundred pounds
per acre. Complete fertilizers are usually employed,
and two or even three applications are made during
the year. The exact formula used and the method of
application varies considerably on the different planta-
tions, but the tendency is to employ a large per cent
of potash. No such necessity exists here for forcing
early maturity as is found in Louisiana. The largest
yields of sugar known in any part of the world are
obtained on these highly fertilized, irrigated planta-
tions. They reach more than sixty tons of cane per
acre with a sugar production of over eight tons.

Methods of Cultivation: Cuba. — At present Cuba
is passing through a transition period in regard to
methods of cane cultivation. Formerly cane was
planted exclusively on new lands. The forest was
cut down, fire was applied to the tangled mass of vege-
tation, and pieces of cane were planted among the
blackened logs and stumps by simply thrusting them
into holes made by crowbars. No preparation of the
land was attempted and no cultivation was given or
required. Sprouts and vines which sprung up were
cut down occasionally with the hoe or machete. The
soil was originally so fertile and the climate so con-
genial to cane production that even with this crude

SUGAR CANE 129

method immense crops of cane were produced for
many successive years without the necessity of re-
planting. After the cane was harvested the trash
was allowed to lie on the ground as a mulch and this
was a powerful aid in keeping down weeds and grasses.
Such as did appear were chopped out occasionally by
the hoe. Such fields continued to yield annual crops
of cane without replanting for fifteen or twenty or on
very rich lands even for thirty or forty years. There
are still forest lands in eastern Cuba where this same
system is being followed with the greatest success.
In the older sugar districts, however, the forests have
long since disappeared and the lands have been plowed
and replanted many times. Continued cropping with-
out the use of restorative measures has had its inevi-
table result. Crops have gradually grown smaller
and fields have required replanting at constantly
shorter intervals till finally they have been abandoned
or used for pasturage. Every old sugar mill is sur-
rounded by thousands of acres of such half-abandoned
lands that only require the application of reasonable
agricultural methods to again become profitably pro-
ductive. In the gradual change from the old condi-
tion to that which exists at the present time various
methods of cultivation have been proposed and more or
less extensively followed. None have proved entirely
satisfactory and the planters strongly feel the need
for improvement. The plan in most general use is as
follows : The ground is plowed and cross plowed
with large turning plows drawn by three or four yoke
of oxen. One man is required to hold the plow, an-
other to drive the oxen, and usually a boy to lead the

K

130 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

front yoke. Such an outfit plows but one third to one
half an acre a day, which makes the work very expen-
sive. Usually harrowing is not attempted. Plant-
ing furrows are opened with the double moldboard
plow and two short pieces of cane are dropped side by
side at intervals of about three feet. Tlie cane is
covered with hoes. Planting is done either in the
fall or spring, but fall planting is considered most
profitable. During the first season cultivation is given
with small plows or with Planet cultivators and with
the hoe. After cutting the first crop the field is
treated like new land. The trash remains as a mulch,
but as the fields are now thoroughly infested with
rank-growing grasses this is not sufficient to keep the
land clear. No plowing is attempted on account of
the trash, but the ground is all hoed over about three
times in the course of the season. This is a heavy
expense and still it does not prevent the grass from se-
riously injuring the cane. The land in these old fields,
too, becomes very hard and compact and after a few
years the cane roots suffer from want of aeration. It
is no wonder, therefore, that these old land fields re-
quire replanting so much quicker than new land
where the soil is left loose and open by innumerable
decaying tree roots. This sj-stem gives fairly good
results for the first crop or so-called plant cane, though
it could be improved by the better preparation of the
land, the introduction of a leguminous crop before
planting, and the intelligent use of commercial ferti-
lizers. It fails badly with the successive crops of
stubble cane and thus sacrifices the chief benefit to be
derived from Cuba's unusually favorable soil and

SUGAR CANE 131

climate, that of the production of many crops without
the expense of replanting. Some planters advocate
giving more space, and plant in hills six feet apart
each way, as is usually done on the new lands. They
then cultivate both ways the first season. Cane
suckers or tillers so much during this long growing
season that this plan secures a full crop on strong
lands, but it has little or no advantage so far as the
subsequent crops are concerned. In fact since a less
portion of the land is occupied by cane there is a
larger surface to be cleared by the hoe. Dr. Zayas,
a well-known Havana physician, has for some years
advocated a much wider planting, usually eight by
twelve feet, and the continued use of cultivators
drawn by animals.' His writings contain many half
truths, but his system has not proved a commercial
success.

The system recently advocated by the Cuban ex-
periment station, while it has not yet stood the test
of long-continued use, promises to solve satisfactorily
the question of the continued production of profitable
stubble crops. It is as follows : Plow the land in-
tended for fall cane in the winter or spring. Plant
to velvet beans in April or May. Plow these under
with a disk plow in August and September. Harrow
two or three times Avith the disk harrow. In October
open deep planting furrows with the sulky double
moldboard ploAV, spacing them about seven feet
apart. Scatter tankage and potash or some similar
complete fertilizer carrying about equal parts of
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the bottom of
the furrow at the rate of five hundred pounds per acre.

132 THE CHIEF SOUTPIERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

This is best done with a two-horse fertilizer drill. A
small cultivator shovel attached at the rear of the drill
will serve to mix the fertilizer in the bottom of the
furrow. Now drop a continuous row of seed cane in
the bottom of the furrow. It is best to select plant
cane or vigorous-growing stubble for seed. Using
that from old, worn-out stubble fields is unadvisable,
as it will make a weaker, less satisfactory growth.
Cover with the disk cultivator, setting the gangs to
throw more or less dirt according to the condition of
moisture. If the ground is moist, germination will
be prompter if the cane is not covered more than two
or three inches. If it is dry, it is necessary to cover
six or eight inches deep to prevent the drying of the
seed canes. In from one to two weeks, or just as
the first shoots are peeping through the ground,
harrow the field thoroughly with the smoothing
harrow, running lengthwise of the rows. This will
kill any small weeds that may be starting and will
freshen the surface of the soil and greatly aid
germination. When the young plants are well
up so that they show from one end of the row to the
other, begin cultivating with the ordinar}^ two-horse
riding corn cultivator, of course straddling the row
so as to cultivate both sides at once. The seven-foot
rows are so wide that there will be a strip in the
middle not reached by the cultivator. This can be
finished with an ordinary walking cultivator of the
Planet Jr. type, or the narrow cultivator blades may be
removed from the regular cultivator and eight-inch
cutaway sweeps be bolted on instead. These will have
a wide enough cut to meet in the center and as thus

SUGAR CANE 133

rigged the same implement makes a good middle cul-
tivator. Cultivation should be repeated throughout
the winter as often as is needed to keep down all weeds
and maintain a dust mulch. Before spring the
growth of the cane will be so great that the row can
no longer be straddled and the middles only can be
cultivated. In April or the first of May sow cowpeas
broadcast in the middles, cover them with the culti-
vator, and the work is finished. Up to this point
the plan does not differ materially from the ordinary
system except that the use of the riding corn cultivator
which works so close to the row makes it possible to
almost completely dispense with the expensive hoe.
It is only the few weeds and bunches of grass that
come up directly in the row among the cane that
have to be cut with the hoe or better still be pulled
by hand. The line of cultivation thus outlined will
leave the land practically level. This is right for
the red lands since they have natural underdrainage,
but in the wetter black lands it should be modified
by using disk cultivators which ridge up the row as
in Louisiana.

As soon as the cane is cut, take an ordinary horse
hayrake and drive so as to cross the cane rows, rak-
ing the trash from one middle and dumping it in the
next one. This quickly and cheaply clears half the
ground so that it can be plowed and cultivated, and it
provides a double mulch of trash for the other half
which makes it so thick and heavy that practically
no grass or weeds can come through, and these mid-
dles will require no further attention for the season.
Now plow the cleared middles with a two-horse

134 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

turning plow, throwing the dirt away from the cane.
Run the last furrow up as close to the cane stubble
as possible. You will not hurt the roots. They all
died when the cane was cut, and new ones will form
as the new shoots of cane begin to grow. If ferti-
lizer is needed, it can now be applied in this open
furrow next the cane. On most lands, however, it
will only be necessary to use fertilizers every third
or fourth year. Do not leave the furrow next the
cane open any longer than is necessary, but work
the dirt back with the cultivator, using some imple-
ment that will throw a little dirt back over the
stubble. Keep these alternate middles well culti-
vated until the beginning of the rainy season and
then sow them down to cowpeas. This will be
found much cheaper than the ordinary plan of go-
ing over all the surface of the ground two or three
times with hoes, and it leaves the stubble cane in
even better cultural condition than the plant cane,
for one side of each row is thorougldy cultivated,
while the other side is protected by a heavy mulch
of trash, that serves perfectly to retain moisture.
The next year, of course, the middles are reversed so
that all the soil is thoroughly aerated, and pulverized
every two years. And yet only half of it is exposed
•to the depleting influence of tillage, while all the
trash is retained on the land and is ultimately in-
corporated with it to add to its supply of humus, a
substance so necessary for successful tropical agri-
culture. Another great advantage of this system of
promptly raking the trash and plowing alternate mid-
dles is that each such plowed strip makes an efficient

SUGAR CANE 135

fire break, and by properly spacing the early cuttings
much can be done to safeguard the cane fields from
fire, which is an enemy more dreaded than any other
by the Cuban planter. As stated before, this sys-
tem has not as yet been tested for a long term of
years, but it is giving most excellent results, not
only in decreasing cost but in increasing production,
and it promises to do much to prolong the produc-
tive life of the cane fields. It is the only system of
cane cultivation that has ever satisfactorily solved
the troublesome question of the proper and economi-
cal disposition of the trash ; and it seems to promise
that Cuba will continue to be in the future, as it
long was in the past, the country of cheajDCst sugar
production.

Methods of Cultivation: Other American Coun-
tries. — The sugar business is an old established
industry in most of the other tropical American
countries. In all of them, however, the tendency is
to cling too closely to old methods of hand labor.
Even in Porto Rico, where the business is now
largely in the hands of American capitalists, work-
men may be seen laboriously opening deep holes for
planting cane with the hoe, and this, too, on lands
that are perfectly adapted to the use of the best im-
plements. The same dependence on the hoe or ma-
cliete is to be found in all of these other countries.
This is not so much due to lack of knowledge on the
part of the owners as it is to the supposed difficulty
of teaching the native laborers the use of improved
implements. This, it must be admitted, is often a
difficult task; but that it is not impossible is shown

136 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

by the results on those plantations where it has been
most faithfully and intelligently tried, and nothing
is more certain than that those countries where the
owners fail to teach their laborers this added effi-
ciency will be inevitably forced out of the sugar busi-
ness by the irresistible competition of those who
succeed in so teaching them.

Botanical Features and Varieties. — The flowers
of sugar cane are produced in a long showy terminal
panicle, somewhat as in the various sorghums. The
flowers are perfect, and yet but few seeds are ordi-
narily produced. In subtropical regions cane seldom
flowers, and never produces seeds. It is propagated
entirely from the buds which are produced at every
joint on the stalk. The stalks are either laid down
and covered with earth, or the tops are cut off and
stuck in the ground as cuttings. In recent years,
however, especially in some of the British West In-
dian colonies, much attention has been given to
planting the seed of sugar cane for the purpose of
originating new varieties, hoping in this way to find
some with a greater sugar content, or a greater
resistance to disease than those now in general
cultivation. Many thousands of seedling canes have
been produced in Barbados and Demerara, and
among them a few have been selected that seem
quite superior, and are being planted on a consider-
able scale. The great majority of the seedlings are,
however, inferior to the parent varieties.

Many quite distinct varieties exist in different
parts of the world, and the problem of collecting
them and testing them under local conditions is

SUGAR CANE 137

everywhere receiving the attention of experimenters.
Great confusion exists in regard to the names of these
varieties, since the same kind has often received dif-
ferent names in the various countries to which it has
been introduced. This active comparative study of
varieties, and the production of so many new ones,
will, it is hoped, soon lead to an improvement in the
average sugar content, as has been done in so marked
a way by similar work with the sugar beet. Mean-
while it is interesting to note that the industrious
Dutch investigators in Java have recently conclu-
sively demonstrated the complete practicability of
largely and permanently increasing the sugar con-
tent by the chemical selection of the best strains
found in existing varieties. The practical impor-
tance of this discovery is greatly enhanced by the
fact that increased richness in the juice seems to be
correlated with large size and vigor in the cane.
This fact seems to have been proven by long-con-
tinued and extensive breeding experiments. If it
shall be confirmed by further experimentation in
other countries, it will prove a discovery of the
utmost practical importance, since by simply per-
sistently selecting the most vigorous, heaviest canes
for planting, year after year, we will not only de-
velop a strain yielding a greater tonnage, but one
yielding a considerably richer juice as well. The
importance of a careful selection of seed cane is a
question that has been grossly neglected in most cane-
growing countries.

Diseases and Insects. — The cane borer (^Diatrea
saceharalis Fabr.) is a lepidopterous larva that is

138 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

rather widely distributed in cane-growing countries.
It bores into the stalks, forming irregular galleries.
It also attacks corn and some of the other large
grasses. When sufficiently abundant, it is capable
of doing serious injury, but for the most part it
seems to be kept in control by natural enemies.
The principal remedy, when one is needed, consists
in burning the trash as soon as the cane is harvested.

A mealy-bug is frequently found abundantly on
sugar cane. It lurks under the loosely fitting leaf
sheaths, and undoubtedly causes considerable in-
jury from sucking the juice. It has not, however,
attracted much attention, and no remedial measures
have been proposed.

One of the army worms QHeliophila umpuncta
Haworth) sometimes causes damage in Cuba by
eating the leaves from the young canes. It is not
often very troublesome, and no remedies have been
tried. Dusting with Paris green and the use of
poisoned baits, as for cutworms, could be resorted
to if necessary.

The sugar-cane leaf hopper (^Perhinsiella saeeTia-
ricida Kirkaldy) was accidentally introduced into
the Hawaiian Islands some years ago from Australia,
with some varieties of seed canes that were brought
in for experimental purposes. Being free from the
presence of the native insect enemies that have
always kept it under control in Australia, it multi-
plied with great I'apidity, and for a time tlireatened
serious injury to the sugar industry. The experi-
ment-station entomologists, however, succeeded in
importing successfully some of its Australian insect

SUGAR CANE 139

parasites. They, in turn, are now multiplying"
rapidly, and it seems probable that they will succeed
in checking the increase of the leaf hoppers.

In Barbados and some of the other Lesser Antilles
much loss has been occasioned by a root rot of the
cane caused by a minute parasitic mushroom QMaras-
mius saccliari Wakker). What is supposed to be
the same disease has also recently been reported
from Hawaii. Some of the new seedling varieties
of cane seem to have considerable immunity to this
disease and their use is recommended for these in-
fected regions.

In Cuba the Marasmius disease has not been
detected, but a similar root rot is caused by an
undescribed species of Peniophora. This fungus is
normally a saprophite that forms mats of white
mycelium in the old leaf sheaths near the ground
and on the old dead stubble. Under some conditions,
however, it invades the living tissues, killing the
base of the stalks and the roots. It has not attracted
much attention and no remedies have been tried, but
it occurs very abundantly and is doubtless one of
the principal causes for the dying out of the old cane
fields.

A bacterial top rot of the cane also occurs in
Cuba. Whether it is the same as the one that has
been studied in Java has not been determined. It
involves the soft tissues surrounding the terminal
bud, which it soon kills, thus causing the death and
drying up of the whole cane. It occurs very com-
monly in old fields that are in bad condition. It is
known locally as the " drying " of the cane and it

140 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

annually causes very considerable losses. It is
usually the determining factor that necessitates the
plowing up and replanting of the old fields. For-
tunately vigorous, rapidly growing canes have great
powers of resistance to this disease and are very
seldom attacked. The intelligent use of fertilizers
and cultivation may be depended on as an absolute
specific for it.

The rind disease Q3Ielanco7iium saccliari Wakker)
is everywhere present in cane fields. It is easily
recognized by the black horn-shaped masses of spores
that protrude from little pustules under the cortex
and conspicuously roughen and blacken the infected
areas. The fungus is normally a saprophite, living
on the dead cane tissues, and it cannot unaided
penetrate the epidermis of the health}^ cane. When-
ever this is wounded, however, by any cause, it is able
to gain an entrance, and it often causes great damage
in connection with or as a secondary effect from
some of the insects and diseases mentioned above.
This is particularly true of the leaf-hopper injuries in
Hawaii and the top-rot disease in Cuba. Canes
infested by the latter are quickly invaded by the
rind disease also.

The dreaded Surah disease of Java has not yet
been found in America. The greatest care should
be observed in importing canes from the East for
experimental purposes lest this or other serious
pests be imported with them. This danger is well
illustrated by the case of the leaf hopper in Hawaii.
In fact it is so great that the transportation of cane
from one country to another should be strictly pro-

THE GRAINS 141

hibited by law except when it is done by properly
accredited government experiment stations, where all
possible precautions can be taken and where the
growing cane can be constantly under the observa-
tion of experts.

The Grains
Corn (^Zea 3Iays L.)

For the region that it is intended to cover by this
work, corn must be regarded, taking everything into
consideration, as the one most important crop, not-
withstanding the fact that the corn belt proper is
not included in our limits. Few cultivated plants
have as wide a range of distribution and few equal it
in the number of uses to which it is put in the world's
industries and in local utility on the farm. It is the
greatest gift that the new world has given to the old.
Although a native of warm climates it can be grown
successfully as far north as southern Canada and in
fact in practically all temperate and tropical regions
where there is sufficient rainfall for three or four
months in the year. Very dry air prevents proper
pollination, so that it does not succeed well as a rule
in regions entirely dependent on irrigation.

Climate and Soil. — Corn requires a period of
at least three months of continued warm weather
with warm nights and frequent though not excessive
rains. It will grow on almost any well-drained soil
that can be put in good mechanical condition. It
thrives best on deep loamy soils that contain a mixture
of both sand and clay combined with a large amount

142 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

of vegetable matter. Well-drained alluvial soils along
streams and the rich black prairies of the middle West
are exactly suited to its requirements. No crop
responds more readily to the use of fertilizers and
improved methods of preparation and cultivation, and
on the other hand none will endure more abuse and
neglect without inviting absolute failure.

Manuring. — Corn is a gross feeder and can
utilize manurial substances in almost any form. An
abundance of vegetable matter is a necessity for the
production of maximum crops. Of the three elements
usually bought in fertilizers, nitrogen is doubtless
the most important and it is the one that is usually
soonest exhausted under continued cropping. In the
South, however, with the system of cultivation de-
tailed below, this need never be purchased, but can
be grown on the ground by means of a leguminous
cover crop. This is one of the greatest advantages
coming from the longer growing season at the South.
The vigorous growth of the stalk depends very
largely on the presence of sufficient nitrogen.

Phosphoric acid is, however, almost equally impor-
tant, for without it there will be a scanty production
of grain. This cannot be produced on the farm, but
must be purchased. In most parts of the South it
can be secured cheapest in the form of acid phosphate,
which is a ground phosphatic rock that has been
treated with sulphuric acid to make it more soluble.
The use of two hundred to three hundred pounds per
acre of this substance will prove profitable on nearly
all Southern corn lands that have been long in culti-
vation. On the pine lands it is indispensable from

THE GRAINS 143

the first, since these soils are exceedingly deficient in
phosphoric acid.

The need for potash is in most cases less evident.
Most Southern soils contain enough of this substance
for the present need of the corn crop and it should
only be applied when the need for it has been dem-
onstrated by actual experiment. For corn the mu-
riate of potash will answer as well as the more
expensive sulphate.

Corn endures a certain amount of acidity in the
soil with very little harm. It is seldom, therefore,
that liming is necessary for this crop.

Methods of Planting and Cultivating. — In the
Northern corn belt planting is mostly done with two-
horse check-row planters. These implements drop
two rows at a time, and by an ingenious device the
hills are so spaced that they will row in both direc-
tions, thus allowing cross cultivation. The distance
between hills is usually about three and a half feet,
though this varies in different localities. Before
planting, the ground is plowed and thoroughly har-
rowed. If the land was in corn the season previous,
an implement known as a stalk cutter is run in ad-
vance of plowing, which cuts the stalks up in short sec-
tions so that they will not interfere with plows and
cultivators. As soon as the corn is above ground or
even earlier, if there has been a rain to pack the sur-
face, a smoothing harrow is passed over the field with
the teeth set at a considerable angle, so that they may
not tear out the young plants. These, being slightly
below the surface in the planter furroAv, are seldom
injured, but the surface of the ground is stirred and

144 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

mellowed and young weeds are destroyed. As soon
as the corn is five or six inches high the use of the
two-horse cultivator is begun. This straddles the
row, cultivating both sides at once. The cultiva-
tors are now kept running constantly, first in one
direction and then in the other, until the corn is so
high that it can be no longer straddled without in-
jury. By this time it shades the ground so completely
that no further work is necessary. This system is
perfectly applicable in the South, and all lands that
have good drainage, and yet that are level enough to
admit of cultivation in both directions without danger
of loss from washing, might well be planted in this
way. Cowpeas, at the rate of three to six pecks per
acre, should, however, be broadcasted among the corn,
just in advance of the last cultivation, or a continuous
row may be planted in each middle with a one-horse
cotton or corn planter.

On very wet lands like the Louisiana sugar lands
it is necessary to plant the corn on elevated beds, as
has been described for sugar-cane planting. This
does not admit of cross cultivation and the two-row
planter cannot be used. It is usual to give rather
more space between the rows, usually four and a half
to five feet, and to plant with a one-row planter ar-
ranged to drop one to two seeds every twelve to
eighteen inches. This gives almost as many stalks
per acre, and the greater width between the rows
allows a better opportunity for the growth of the
cowpeas. On such lands peas should be broadcasted,
as they will not thrive if planted in the water furrow.

On most of the Southern uplands the surface is so

THE GRAINS 145

rolling that terracing or circling the rows (planting
on contour lines) is necessary to avoid serious loss
from washing. This, of course, also makes cross cul-
tivation and the use of the check-row planter impos-
sible. On these light hill lands it is also found best
to space the rows about five feet apart, but to drill in
the cowpeas in a single row in the middles. This
makes it possible to cultivate once or twice after the
peas are planted, which is a great advantage, since
maintaining a dust mulch as late in the season as
possible is of the utmost importance on these lands,
which otherwise suffer so quickly from short periods
of drought.

A Lister Corn Planter.

In the drier regions west of the Mississippi River
the system of listing corn, that is, of planting it in
the bottom of deep water furrows, has come to be
widely adopted. This is exactly the reverse of the
Louisiana system, where it is planted on top of the
beds. The land is either first broken flat with a
common plow and then planting furrows opened with
the double moldboard plow or, if the soil is of friable
texture, the planting furrows are opened between the
old rows without previous plowing. Lister .planters

146 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

are now in use that open the furrow and plant the
seed at one operation. Special narrow cultivators
have also been devised that work in the sides of these
deep lister furrows, gradually filling them as the
plant grows, so that when laid by, the land is left
nearly level. This system is excellent for the special
conditions where it has been developed and it might
be profitably used n^uch more widely, especially in
tropical countries during the dry season. It would
be admirably adapted to such soils as the Cuban red
lands that have such remarkable natural drainage.

Not so many years ago corn was all planted by
hand. The farmer opened a shallow furrow with
the plow, girls and small boys dropjDcd the seed,
and it was covered with hoes. When the grass and
weeds got high enough to be in danger of hiding the
row, it was " barred off " by running a one-horse
turning plow with the bar to the row, thus piling up
the dirt in the middles. The row was next cleared
with the hoe, and two or three weeks later it was " laid
by " by plowing the dirt back to the row and ridging
it up as much as possible. This w^ould now be consid-
ered barbarous treatment, and it is no longer seen
except in some modified form on rough new stump
lands where no other method is possible, and yet such
is the natural vigor and bounty of the corn plant that
our fathers and grandfathers usually contrived to
keep full corn cribs before check-row planters and
two-horse cultivators were even dreamed of. The once
almost universal custom of '' barring off " the young
corn is now considered under ordinary circumstances
to be quite harmful, since it unduly exposes the soil

THE GRAINS 147

near the roots of the plant to the drying action of
wind and sun. There are times, however, when a
newly planted field has been deluged by long-continued
cold rains, that this old treatment is clearly indicated
as the best means of warming and drying the soil.
The furrows should be filled, however, as soon as this
purpose has been accomplished.

Harvesting. — In the corn belt proper on those
farms where this is the principal money crop it is
usually only the grain which is utilized, the stalks
and leaves being allowed to go to waste in the field.
When the corn is fully dry, wagons are driven into
the field ; the ears are husked by hand as they stand
on the stalks and are thrown in the wagon. When
this is full, it is driven to the cribs where the ears
are temporarily stored or direct to the corn sheller.
When shelled, the corn is shipped in bulk to eleva-
tors, where it is stored, or it may be sacked for retail
shipment.

In the South corn is usually only grown as a sub-
sidiary crop for home use in the feeding of animals.
Since the stalks and leaves if properly harvested
contain, roughly speaking, as much stock food as the
ears, it becomes a matter of considerable importance
to see that they are properly utilized. It is a com-
mon practice in many parts of the South to strip the
leaves from the stalks at the time that the corn is
beginning to harden. These " blades," as they are
called, are tied in bundles and, when dry, are carefully
housed and make most excellent feed for horses and
mules. They are a great resource for the small
farmer of the South. Stripping the blades requires

148 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

a considerable amount of expensive hand labor, and
careful experiments show that the practice reduces
the yield of grain from two to three bushels per acre.
Sometimes also the tops above the ear are cut and
shocked until dry. The Northern practice of cutting
and shocking the entire stalk, afterwards shucking
out the ears and utilizing the stover as fodder for
cattle, is but little practiced at the South. This is
perhaps partly on account of the heavy winter rains
which injure the shocked corn and fodder, but the
falls at the South are usually dry enough so that a
large amount of the crop could be utilized in this
manner. The silo for preserving green corn fodder
is but little used at the South.

All of these methods, however, require a consider-
able amount of laborious and expensive hand labor.
With the perfection of modern machinery it is now
possible to avoid this and to handle a corn crop very
economically and so as to secure from it the fullest
possible food value. The crop is allowed to get a
little more mature than is usual for cutting and
shocking. It is then cut with a corn harvester which
ties the stalks in small bundles. These are set up
into shocks to cure, and when thoroughly dry they
are hauled to the barn and are run through a shredder.
This machine slits the stalks up lengthwise into thin
shreds, in which condition the entire stalk is readily
eaten by cattle. At the same time the ear is snapped
off by the machine and is husked and shelled, the
cobs coming out of one opening and the shelled grain
at another. This almost entirely does away with
hand labor in harvesting and storing the corn crop.

THE GRAINS 149

and it makes the entire plant, with the exception of
the cob, immediately available for stock food.

Chief Uses. — The chief use of corn is unquestion-
ably as food for domestic animals and, as we have
just seen, the entire plant may be utilized in this
way. The grain is also an important article of
human food. It is used in the arts for the manu-
facture of starch, of glucose, of oil, and in the prepa-
ration of fermented and distilled liquors.

Botanical Features and Varieties. — Corn, like sugar
cane, belongs to the great grass family. It bears
staminate flowers on a terminal panicle called tlie
tassel, while the pistillate flowers are borne in one
or more compact axillary spikes called ears, each of
which is covered with a number of closely appressed
bracts, the husks. The corn silk consists of the
greatly elongated stigmas, one of which runs down
to each kernel. The pollen from the tassel falls on
these hairlike stigmas and the pollen tube grows
down to and fecundates the egg cell located in the
immature grain.

The number of recognized varieties is very great,
but they may be grouped under a comparatively few
races. The principal of these are the dent corns,
the flint corns, the sweet corns, the flour corns, or
horse-tooth corns as they are sometimes called, and
the pop corns. The dent corns are by far the most
important and constitute the great bulk of the corn
of commerce. There are many varieties, white,
yellow, or red in color. The most typical varieties
have white grain and white cobs. The flint corns, as
a rule, have a shorter growing season than the dent

150 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

varieties, and hence can be grown somewhat farther
north. They are extensively grown in New England
and Canada. Some of the varieties are also very
hardy under tropical conditions. The ordinary dent
corns fail entirely when planted in Cuba, but the
native corn, which is a j^ellow flint variety, thrives
and yields fair crops. The flint corns are usually
yellow, though white and bluish varieties also occur.
The flour or horse-tooth corns are mostly grown in the
uplands of Mexico. They have very large soft white
kernels that are easily beaten into meal in the rude
native mortars. They are grown somewhat in the
Southern states, especially for fodder, but they have
little commercial importance. Coming from the
Mexican uplands, they thrive no better in Cuba than
the Northern dent corns. The sweet corns so univer-
sally planted at the North for table use and for can-
ning are comparatively little known at the South.
They can be grown successfully in all parts of the
Southern states and should be much more widely
planted, as they are so superior for the table. The
fodder, too, is greatly relished by cattle and horses.
Unfortunately they cannot be grown in Cuba. The
pop corns are of comparatively little importance and
yet they can hardly be omitted from the household
resources.

During recent years notable progress has been
made in improving varieties of corn. Not only have
strains been developed that give largely increased
yields, but very notable success has been achieved in
selecting strains that are especially adapted for
different purposes. It has been demonstrated that

THE GRAINS 151

by careful selection it is perfectly possible to secure
strains in which the kernels run much higher than
the average in either starch, protein, or oil, thus
adapting the grain much better to the different
purposes for which it is used. For starch, glucose,
and distilled liquors a higli starch content is de-
sirable. For feeding purposes a high protein con-
tent is best, and for the manufacture of corn oil a
high oil content is, of course, desired. We are
only just beginning to realize how plastic most of
our more familiar farm crops are and how possible it
is to greatly improve them in almost any desired
direction simply by careful attention to the selection
of the seed.

Diseases and Insects. — Corn is subject to a con-
siderable number of diseases, but the smut is the
only one of suihcient importance to be considered
here. The unsightly black spore masses of this fun-
gus are familiar objects in every cornfield. It may
attack almost any part of the plant, but it is usually
found involving the ears and it is only here that any
serious damage is done. The number of smutted
ears varies greatly in different fields and in different
seasons, but it seldom exceeds two or three per cent.
Even this small percentage represents in the aggre-
gate an enormous loss. Corn smut cannot be con-
trolled by treating the seed, as is the case with the
various smuts of the small grains. The only known
remedy is to hand pick and destroy the young
pustules before they burst and scatter the multitude
of black dustlike s^Dores. Even this will not prove
an entire preventive, since these spores are so light

152 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

that they can easily be carried long distances by the
wind.

The number of insects seriously attacking corn is
very great, so many, in fact, that a full discussion
of them cannot be attempted in a general work of
this kind. The reader is referred to the comprehen-
sive work on corn insects recently issued by Pro-
fessor S. A. Forbs, entomologist of the Illinois
Experiment Station.

Rice (Oryza sativa Linn.)

In the Oriental countries rice occupies the same
commanding agricultural position that wheat and
corn do with us. It has long been grown to some
extent in certain parts of South Carolina and Louisi-
ana. During recent years it has come to be very
largely planted on the low plains of western Louisi-
ana and eastern Texas. It is also grown in a small
Avay in all parts of tropical America, but aside from
the regions just mentioned its cultivation has not
received the attention which the importance of the
crop deserves.

Rice is very largely used in the Southern states,
and especially in Cuba and the other West India
islands. Large areas of lands suitable for its cul-
ture are to be found in these islands, but so little
attention is paid to this crop that by far the greater
part of the rice consumed is imported.

Chief Uses. — The chief use of rice is for human
food. In preparing the grain for market two by-
products are secured, known as rice bran and rice

THE GRAINS 153

polish ; these are extensively used for feeding hogs
and cattle.

Upland rice, a variety adapted to dry soils, is
grown on a small scale for local use throughout the
Gulf states. This is often cut before fully mature,
and is bundled and cured the same as oats. It is
fully equal to sheaf oats for feeding horses. No
other food puts them in better condition or gives
them a glossier coat.

Climate and Soil. — Rice is a cro^) of warm coun-
tries, although there are varieties that are grown
successfully in northern Japan. The crop requires
abundance of heat and moisture. Most of the kinds
require irrigation. The plant is semiaquatic and
will endure flooding for considerable periods. The
best rice soils are rather stiff clay, containing plenty
of vegetable matter. Reclaimed swamps and marshes
are usually adapted to rice. The upland kind before
mentioned will grow on any soil suitable for corn or
cotton.

Manuring. — As a rule but little attention is paid
to manuring rice lands. Applications of phosphoric
acid would, however, in many cases be profitable,
owing to the increased yield of grain.

The small farmers of the pine-wood regions of
the South usually plant their upland rice on cow-
penned land.

Methods of Planting and Cultivation. — In Eastern
countries rice is planted in seed beds, and the young
plants, when several inches high, are transplanted
to the freshly irrigated fields, laborers often wading
to their knees in performing the operation. This

154 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

method would be far too costly with our high-priced
Western labor.

The rapid extension of rice growing in Texas and
Louisiana has been due to the discovery that on these
soils it is possible to plant and harvest rice by
machinery in exactly the same way that wheat and
other small grains are handled at the North. Fields
are arranged with a system of dikes and ditches so
that they may be flooded at will. The land is plowed
and harrowed the same as for any other grain crop,
and seed planted with a grain drill.

If the ground is moist enough to insure germination,
no irrigation is given until the plants are several
inches high ; then the fields are flooded and the water
allowed to remain long enough to kill the young
weeds and grass. The water is then drawn off and
applied again at intervals as needed. As the grain
matures the fields are thoroughly drained in order
to admit of the use of self-binders for harvesting
the crop.

The grain is thrashed in the same manner as wheat
or oats, but as the chaff adheres very closely to the
kernel, this rough rice, or paddy ^ has to go through a
milling process before being ready for market.

The upland rice, grown in small quantities by so
many Southern farmers, is not irrigated and conse-
quently must be cultivated two or three times in
order to keep down grass and weeds. It is usually
planted in drills about twenty to twenty-four inches
apart, which is sufficient space to allow for cultivation
with a single shovel plow.

Botanical Features and Varieties. — Rice like the

THE GRAINS 155

other grains belongs to the great grass family. The
seeds are borne in a terminal panicle in much the
same manner as oats. Comparatively few varieties
have been grown in the United States, but in Jaj)an
and other Eastern countries a great number are rec-
ognized. The Honduras rice, formerly so largely
grown in Louisiana and Texas, had a soft kernel
which broke badly in milling, thus occasioning con-
siderable loss. Through the efforts of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture a superior kind has been
imported from Japan, which has a grain hard enough
to resist the milling machinery, and the loss from
broken grains is thus avoided.

Diseases and Insects. — So far rice has been com-
paratively free from troubles of this kind. A few
years ago a rice smut was imported into South Caro-
lina from Japan, but has only been locally trouble-
some. Such other troubles as occur have attracted
but little attention and have not been exhaustively
studied.

Oats (Avena saliva Linn.)

Oats are grown with more or less success in all
parts of the Southern states, and can even be grown,
as a winter crop, on some soils in Cuba. They do
best at the South when planted in the fall, although
they are occasionally injured by exceptionally severe
winters. Fall-planted oats may be pastured through-
out the winter, when the ground is not too soft, and
will still make a fair crop of grain, though yields at
the South are never as large as at the North. In fact
they are usually planted quite as much for the pas-

156 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

turage they afford as for the grain. Oats have been
quite widely recommended as forming a part in a
well-considered rotation for the upland cotton farmer.
The rotation generally suggested is cotton followed
by corn with cowpeas between the rows ; these are
plowed under in the fall and the land is immediately
seeded to oats. After the oats are harvested cow-
peas are again planted, to be followed by the cotton
the next spring. The variety known as Texas rust-
proof oats is most widely planted at the South, and
the turf or grazing oat is also popular.

Rye (Secale cereale Linn.)

Eye is considerably sown at the South for winter
grazing, for winter cover crops in orchards, and
other similar purposes. Best results are usually ob-
tained with home-grown seed. There are certain
strains which have been long grown in the South
that give better results than Northern seed. In
Cuba much better results were had with Florida seed
than with that grown even as far north as Georgia.
Rye is a crop of minor importance at the South, and
should perhaps be included among the forages rather
than the grains. The practice of planting it for a
winter cover is to be commended, since it is quite
effective in preserving the soil from the damage
caused by the heavy rains. When plowed under in
the spring, it rots quickly and serves to add a cer-
tain amount of much-needed humus to the soil.

Millets and Sorghums

A number of kinds of millets are widely grown as
subsidiary crops in the Southern states. They also

THE GRAINS 157

should be classed as forage plants, since, as a rule,
they are utilized fully as much for green forage as
for the grain.

German millet (^Setaria Italica G-ermanica) is soAvn
as a hay crop in tlie more northerly portions of the
Southern states ; it is seldom seen in the lighter soils
of the Gulf region.

The pearl millet QPennisetiiyyi tyijlioideuni) is often
planted in small patches for use as a soiling crop.
When cut, this suckers from the roots and yields
successive cuttings.

A number of different sorghums are considerably
grown in all parts of the South and also in Cuba and
other tropical countries. In the drier regions of the
Southwest they replace corn, and constitute the
principal grain and forage crops.

The sorghums are usually grown in drills, three or
four feet apart, and are given much the same culti-
vation as corn. Sometimes, however, the seed is sown
broadcast and the crop is cut and harvested like hay.
Some varieties sucker from the roots when cut and
thus give two or more crops from a single planting.

The sorghums may be roughly divided into two
classes, the saccharine and non-saccharine. Besides
their use as a forage, the stalks of the former yield a
sweet juice which is used for making a table syrup in
those regions where sugar cane cannot be successfully
grown. Persistent efforts were formerly made to
manufacture sugar from sorghum ; the juice con-
tains sufficient sucrose, but also contains impurities
which prevent free crystallization, and these attempts
have not been commercially successful.

158 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

The early amber and early orange are two of the
best of the saccharine varieties. The non-saccharine
sorghums are usually grown as grain crops, though
they are also used as green forage. Milo maize and
Kaffir corn are two of the best varieties. They are
now extensively grown in the dry regions of the
Southwest, on lands that were formerly considered
only fit for grazing purposes. The yield of grain is
quite large, and it proves to be nearly equal to corn
for feeding all kinds of domestic animals. It is
especially valuable for poultry.

Pasture and Forage Crops

A much larger number of pasture and forage
plants are available at the South than are familiar to
the Northern farmer. This, together with the mild
climate and long grazing season, makes this region, as
a whole, particularly well adapted to the raising of
cattle and other domestic animals. Curiously enough,
however, there are few parts of the South where
this industry has received the attention which it
merits. Trainloads of beef, butter, cheese, lard,
and bacon are constantly moving southward from
the North and West to supply people who could
raise these commodities cheaper than those from
whom they buy them.

For the enterprising stockman almost all parts
of the South present an inviting field. Among
the many available forage and pasture plants only
the most important will be briefly noted.

Crab Grass (^Panicum sanguinale) . — This grass
springs up as a weed in cultivated fields ; in fact, it is

PASTURE AND FORAGE CROPS

159

one of the worst weeds that the Southern farmer has
to contend with.
At the same time
it is one of the most
valuable grasses
for hay and pas-
ture. When corn
or other similar
crops are laid by in
most parts of the
South, this grass
quickly springs up
and occupies the
land for the re-
mainder of the sea-
son. If the corn
is cut and shocked,
the crab grass can,
a little later, be
cut for hay. It
cures easily, and if
cut before over-
ripe and properly
cured, it makes a
hay of which stock
of all kinds are
very fond, and
which seems to be
nearly or quite
equal to timothy
in feeding value.
It is greatly relished by stock when fresh, and it is a

Crab Grass.

160 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

common practice to utilize the cornfields for fall
pasturage.

Bermuda Grass {Qynodon DactyloTi). — This is pre-
eminently the best Southern grass for permanent pas-
tures. It thrives on all kinds of soil and stands the
closest grazing without injury. It is very nutritious

and is greatly relished by stock of
all kinds. An acre of Bermuda
grass on good land in any of the
Gulf states will, on account of the
longer growing season, furnish
more pasturage than the best acre
in the famous bluegrass regions
of Kentucky. The one drawback
to its more general use is that it
is very difficult to exterminate
and becomes a serious pest when
the land is brought under culti-
vation.

It is practically the only suit-
able grass in the South for lawns,
as it covers the ground quickly,
and if well enriched and kept
closely clipped will make a beautiful sod in a very
few months' time. On thin lands it does not grow
tall enough to yield profitable cuttings for hay, but
on rich lands it will yield a ton or more of very
nutritious hay at each cutting, and can be cut as
many as three times in the course of the season.

Bermuda grass occurs in all the West India
Islands and in the other American tropics. Its
value as a pasture grass in those regions has been

Bermuda Grass.

PASTURE AND FORAGE CROPS

161

largely overlooked, owing to the ranker growing
Guinea and Para grasses, which are there so abun-
dant. Bermuda grass is sometimes grown from seed,
but the vitality of the seed is not always good, and
a stand is often hard to secure in this way. It is a
much more certain method to plant bits of sod.
These small pieces are dropped into every other fur-
row, when the land is plowed. After plowing the
land is smoothed with the harrow, and unless the
weather is unusually dry a perfect stand will be se-
cured. The tufts of grass which spring from these
pieces of sod soon spread and completely cover the
ground.

Johnson Grass (^Sorghum Halepense). — This coarse-
growing grass was introduced into the South many
years ago as a forage plant. It
has proved to be a pernicious
weed. It spreads by fleshy
underground stems, which can-
not be killed by any ordinary
cultivation and which are easily
carried to different parts of the
field by plows and cultivators.
It grows so rapidly that it
quickly smothers crojDS, and
when present in a field neces-
sitates double the usual amount
of cultivation.

There are large areas in cen-
tral Alabama and Mississippi
where cotton growing has been
given up on account of the presence of this pest. It is

Johnson Grass.

M

162 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

SO troublesome and dangerous a plant that its planting
for forage is never justifiable. Those planters who,
however, are unfortunate enough to have it find
that it makes a fairly good though coarse hay, and

f the abandoned fields before men-
tioned have been converted into
hay farms. The yield of hay is
large at each cutting, and it gives
a number of cuttings in the
season.

As a pasture grass it is not
desirable. Cattle and horses do
not relish it when green, but
learn to eat it in the absence of
better grasses. It does not stand
tramping well and if heavily pas-
tured will soon run out, though
unfortunately it can never be
exterminated in this way. On
plowing the field it springs up
again, as strong and rank as ever.
This grass occurs as a great
pest in most tropical countries.
Guinea Grass (^Panicum maxi-
mum^.— This is the best of the
tropical forage grasses. It grows
as rapidly and is as rank and
coarse as Johnson grass, but is
very nutritious, and stock of all kinds eat it
greedily. It requires a rich and rather heavy but
well-drained soil. Under these favorable condi-
tions it grows six or eight feet high and yields an

Guinea Grass.

PASTURE AND FORAGE CROPS

163

enormous quantity of forage. It forms large stools
or tussocks, and stands grazing perfectly. The
famous grazing lands of central and eastern Cuba
and western Jamaica are largely set to this grass.
It grows much more rapidly during the rainy season,
but furnishes considerable pasturage throughout the
year. It is estimated that from one and a half to
two acres of good Guinea grass pasture will support
an animal the year round. Guinea grass does not
stand much freezing, so in the United States it can
only be grown in Florida and along the Gulf coast.
It is propagated either by seed or by sets made by
division of the large stools.

When the land is required for cultivated crops, its
manner of growth makes plowing f-^j
difficult ; but when the sod is
once turned over it soon dies and
gives no further trouble.

Para Grass (^Panieum molle). —
This grass is also known as Paral,
Parana, Panama, and various
other local names. It is a native
of South America, but is now
found widely distributed. It
equals or exceeds Guinea grass
in rapidity of growth, but instead
of growing in stools sends out
long, half-prostrate stems that
root at the joints, forming a
dense, tangled mass, with free,
erect ends which reach a height Para Grass,

of four to six feet. It grows in moister land

164 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

than Guinea grass, and will endure submergence for
quite long periods. It is eaten greedily by stock and
yields an immense amount of pasturage, especially
on wet, swampy lands. When the land is plowed,
each buried stalk grows, sending up new shoots from
the joints like a gigantic quack grass. This makes
it very difficult to subdue, though it can be killed by
repeated plowing during dry weather. It was intro-
duced into Cuba as a pasture grass, but has become a
great scourge in the cane fields, especially on the low,
black lands. Like Guinea grass it does not endure
cold.

Water Grass (^Paspalum dilataturri). — This is a
native of the Southern states. It forms clumps,

/)^ usually in creek bottoms and
other wet places, but will
grow well on any ordinary
farm land. It is much rel-
ished by live stock and fur-
nishes a large amount of
pasturage for a very long
season.

It grows tall enough to
make a large yield when
cut for hay. It is one of the
most valuable of the native
Southern grasses, and de-
serves to be much more
widely planted. It is some-
Water Grass, times difficult to secure
good seed, as it is often attacked by a fungus.
Carpet Grass (^Paspalum compressum) . — This

PASTURE AND FOKAGE CROPS 165

also is a native of the Soutiiern states, where it is
mostly confined to moist, sandy lands. It is a low
creeping grass which forms a dense sod when heavily
pastured. Carpet grass and Bermuda grass are the
only two grasses that serve for permanent pastures
on light, sandy soils in the Gulf states. It seeds
freely, but is seldom or never planted, coming in of
its own accord where land is so heavily pastured as
to kill out other vegetation. It stays green through-
out the winter and furnishes grazing for twelve
months in the year. It does not grow high enough
to cut for hay.

Mexican Clover (^RicTiardsonia scahra). — This plant
has no right to the name of clover ; it is an annual
weed of cultivated fields, belonging to the Madder
family, the Ruhiacece. It is a native of tropical
America, but is now widely introduced throughout the
Gulf states. Like crab grass it comes up in the fields
after the crops are laid by and affords good grazing
or yields a heavy cutting of nutritious hay. It is
usually found only on light, sandy soils.

Japan Clover QLespedeza striata). — This plant
was introduced into the Southern states during the
Civil War, presumably in forage. It is now abun-
dant throughout the South, and extends as far north
as southern Illinois. It is a low-growing, prostrate
annual, coming up late in the spring along roadsides
and in pastures and waste places. It is eagerly eaten
by live stock, and for two or three months furnishes
abundance of nutritious pasturage even on lands too
poor and dry to support the ordinary pasture grasses.
On richer lands it grows to a height of one to two

166 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

feet and is often cut for hay. While not a true
clover, it is a closely related legume and its roots sup-
port a great number of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria,

making it a useful
plant for soil renova-
tion, especially on the
old, gullied, abandoned
hillside farms of the
South. It usually
comes in spontane-
ously in such localities,
but if not, the seed can
be obtained
in the market
and may be
planted the
same as clo-
ver seed. After lying for a
few years in Lespedeza pas-
ture, these worn-out fields
may again be brought into
profitable cultivation by a
liberal use of fertilizers and
the frequent planting of
cowpeas.
/ ""i^c*^ v^.^^.v... Burr Clover (^Medicago

macalata). — This is another legume that comes up
spontaneously in some parts of the South. It is an
annual which germinates in the fall, growing
slowly throughout the winter and maturing early
in the spring. It thus affords pasturage at a time
when the ordinary grasses are dormant. It grows

Japan Clover.

PASTURE AND FORAGE CROPS 167

well on closely grazed Bermuda sod ; this com-
bination will give good grazing every month of the
year.

The germ causing tubercles on the roots of this
plant does not occur in all Southern soils ; but if the
rough, uncleaned seed is used, no other soil inocu-
lation will be necessary, since in gathering the
seed the curious twisted pods are raked up off the
ground and the dust that adheres to them usually
carries a sufficient number of these germs to serve
for inoculating the field.

This plant is closely related to alfalfa and supports
the same root-tubercle germ. When it is desired to
sow alfalfa in the Southern states, it is wise to select
land upon which the burr clover grows or else to
first plant the land to burr clover, using the un-
cleaned seed.

Alfalfa (^Medicago sativa). — This mainstay of the
agriculture of the West is seldom planted at the South
and only seems to succeed in certain restricted locali-
ties. Where it can be grown it should be more
widely planted as it is a most valuable plant for hay
and pasturage. It is a perennial and when once
established lasts for a number of years.

Lands should be very thoroughly prepared for
sowing alfalfa as it is often rather difficult to secure a
stand. One of the chief reasons of failure with this
crop at the South is the fact that most Southern
soils do not contain the alfalfa tubercle germ, so that
soil inoculation in some form is necessary. As has
been stated, one of the easiest methods for doing
this is to first plant the land to burr clover,

168 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

using the uncleaned seed. Alfalfa is an efficient
nitrogen gatherer, and old fields of it when plowed are

noted for their richness
and productiveness. The
plant, however, being a
perennial and rather diffi-
cult to establish, is usually
planted for hay and pas-
turage rather than for soil-
improving purposes.

The seed resembles that
of clover and it is sown
broadcast and lightly har-
rowed in.

Peanuts (^Arachis hypo-
gced). — In certain parts of
the South the peanut is
cultivated as a commercial
crop ; in this connection,
however, it will be consid-
ered chiefly as a forage
plant.

In those regions where
the cornfields are utilized
for hog pasturage in the
fall, it is a common practice
to plant a row of peanuts
between the corn rows, in-
stead of cowpeas. The peanut, being also a legume,
is quite efficient as a nitrogen gatherer. The suc-
culent tops make excellent pasturage for animals of
all kinds, and the nuts, which the hogs dig for them-

Alialia.

PASTURE AND FORAGE CROPS

169

selves, are one of the best known feeds for growing
pigs. Older hogs will also fatten on them rapidly,
and although the meat is very sweet and fine in
flavor it shrinks somewhat in cooking, and the lard is
soft and oily ; it is, therefore, best to finish off peanut-
fed pigs with a few weeks on corn. The peanut

'I'm , ,,,. ^ „ -J. - ^ .

iV|f'iio'ijr,.n'i'.'iiii^w^'i^v;ij^fnr''" ' ' '"
Peanut.

usually grown for commercial purpose has a trailing,
prostrate growth, but the small Spanish peanut
grows erect and the tops are much more available for
forage, as it can even be cut for hay ; the nuts, too,
fill better on average soils than the larger running
kinds and, everything considered, it is the most

170 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

satisfactoiy variety to be planted for forage purposes.

It grows well on any land suitable for corn or cotton.

Crimson clover, vetch, cowpeas, velvet beans, and

beggar weed have been already discussed under the

head of green manures. They also constitute the

most important of all Southern forage crops. The

cowpea is at present much more widely planted and

utilized as a forage than any of the others. Where

it thrives, it is unequalled ; but on light, sandy soils,

when it is attacked by wilt and nematodes, it becomes

necessary to substitute either beggar weed or velvet

beans. The combination of cowpeas and corn in

summer, followed by vetch in winter, has already

been mentioned as a rapid means of improving the

soil. For the stockman and general farmer it has

the added advantage of furnishing a maximum amount

of the most nutritious forage. It is a combination

that is most heartily recommended for all parts of

the cotton belt.

Fiber Plants

There are a large number of fiber plants that could
be grown successfully in the Southern states and the
American tropics. Only two, however, are now
planted widely enough to require special treatment
here. Hemp is locally important in certain regions
in Kentucky, and there are some otliers such as ramie
and Sansevieria that are grown occasionally in a
small experimental way.

Ramie culture would quickly become an important
industry if a successful decorticating machine should
be invented. Many attempts in this direction have
been made, but so far without success. The plant

FIBER PLANTS

171

grows readily on any strong soil in the Gulf states
or the tropics. It is a perennial and yields several
cuttings of stalks during the season. The fiber is a

Ramie.

very beautiful one, making a fabric midway between
silk and linen in quality.

Immense quantities of jute and other cheap fibers
are imported for making bagging. Some of the
tropical malvaceous weeds yield a fiber that would be
very suitable for this purpose, and there seems no rea-
son why an important industry should not be built
up in growing these on a large scale and preparing
the fiber for the market.

172 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Cotton (^Crossypium sp.')

For a large part of the region which this book is
intended to cover, cotton is the one preeminently
important commercial crop. Its preeminence, in fact,
has long been so great as to be a misfortune, for it
has been planted so exclusively as to prevent the
production of home-grown food supplies and to make
a carefully thought out crop rotation impossible.
Theoretically, cotton should not be an exhaustive
crop to the soil, especially where the seed or cotton-
seed meal is returned as a fertilizer. It requires,
however, clean cultivation throughout the summer,
and the average cotton field is left bare and un-
protected from the washing and leaching of the heavy-
winter rainfall of the cotton belt. The existing system
of planting cotton after cotton, year after year, can
only end in impoverishing the richest and deepest
soils. On the thin, hillside lands so characteristic of
large areas in the cotton states, this impoverishment
comes very quickly. Countless thousands of acres
of these hill lands have been cleared, cultivated to
cotton for a few years, until worn and gullied, and
then have been abandoned. These abandoned gullied
fields give the whole region a most desolate and unin-
viting appearance to the passing traveler, and this fact
has doubtless done much to prevent Northern immigra-
tion and to retard the agricultural development of this
region, which really presents so many magnificent
agricultural possibilities. Thanks largely to the per-
sistent efforts of the Southern experiment stations,
the possibilities of mixed husbandry and of better
agricultural methods are becoming somewhat widely

a

o

FIBER PLANTS 173

appreciated, and the next few decades will doubtless
witness a complete revolution in the farming methods
of the South. This does not mean that cotton will
not continue to be the chief export money crop, or
that the Southern states will lose their proud position
as the foremost cotton-producing region of the world.
When each Southern farm shall be so managed that
all the grain, pork, fruits, and vegetables consumed
on the place are grown at home, and when enough
cattle and hogs are bred to consume all the forage
that it is possible to produce in a properly planned
rotation, only about a third of the area will be
planted each year in cotton. The resulting reduction
in acreage will be more than compensated for by the
much greater fertility of the soil, and the total yield
will be greater, not less, than it is at present. That
this is no idle theory has been proved many times
over by the experience in recent years of those pro-
gressive planters who have been the first to adopt
the teachings of modern agriculture.

Ever since the days of the Civil War, when the
price of cotton was so abnormally high, persistent
efforts have been made by England and other Euro-
pean manufacturing countries to encourage the plant-
ing of cotton in other countries. So far, however, no
other region has been found which can really compete
with the southern part of the United States. Con-
siderable quantities of cotton are grown in Egypt and
India, and a very small quantity is now being pro-
duced in the British West Indies. Attempts are also
being made in various parts of Africa. At the time
of the Civil War and again in recent years plantings

174 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

have been made in Cuba, but never with any perma-
nent success. It seems that in the future, as in the
past, the bulk of the world's supply will continue to
come from the great Southern cotton belt.

Climate and Soil. — Cotton is preeminently a plant
of warm climates. It grows slowly and feebly as
long as the nights are cool in the spring and only at-
tains its most rapid growth when the thermometer
reaches 90°, or above, at midday, and does not fall
below 70° at night. It roots very deeply and hence
it can endure drought well, especially if given good
surface cultivation. Excessive rains are always in-
jurious, and especially so late in the season when the
bolls begin to open. In the cotton states April and
May are quite warm and are usually comparatively
dry. Abundant showers, as a rule, occur during
midsummer, and dry weather is expected in the
fall. This makes ideal weather for the cotton crop.
When, however, cold rains continue late in the spring,
or when, as sometimes happens, the fall is wet, the crop
is likely to be seriously injured.

Cotton will grow well on a great variety of soils, but
there must be good drainage, as standing water about
the roots is quickly fatal to it. On very rich river-
bottom soils there is a tendency to grow large stalks
at the expense of fruit. The ideal cotton soil is a rich
sandy loam; heavy, stiff clay is not desirable, though
clay loams give very good results.

Fertilizers. — Commercial fertilizers are now used
extensively for cotton on all old, thin uplands. Com-
plete fertilizers are usually employed, but the exact
formula varies somewhat widely in different localities.

FIBER PLANTS 175

In fact the cotton grower must be his own judge as
to the fertilizer requirements of his soil. If the plants
grow tall and rank, and do not fruit sufficiently, use
less nitrogen and more phosphoric acid ; if on the other
hand the stalk is short and feeble, though attempting
to fruit heavily, more nitrogen is needed ; if the leaves
spot and fall prematurely, use more potash. Potash
and nitrogen both tend to prolong the active growing
season, while phosphoric acid tends to shorten it and
to promote the early maturity of the crop. The char-
acter of the fertilizer required will depend, too, very
largely upon the kind of farming that is being done.
If cotton is grown after cotton, year after year, with
no change or rotation, it will soon become necessary
to add heavier and heavier doses of expensive nitro-
gen ; while if mixed farming is followed with a rota-
tion that includes cowpeas, as often as every other
year, it will be necessary to purchase little or no nitro-
gen, though phosphoric acid and potash may still be
needed in small quantities.

Methods of Planting and Cultivating. — Cotton is
almost universally planted on raised beds or ridges.
On the lighter soils, where cotton follows cotton, no
fresh breaking is done in advance of planting. In
the early spring a furrow is run between the old
cotton rows with a single-shovel plow, fertilizer is
deposited in the bottom of this furrow, the workman
usually dropping it through a large tin horn, to pre-
vent the wind from scattering it; it is now covered
by throwing in a furrow from each side Avith a turn-
ing plow, thus forming the bed, or ridge, in the space
occupied by the water furrow the year before. In

176 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

the hill lands, where the cotton rows are so generally
made to follow the contour Imes, the following of the
old rows is always strictly adhered to, since it requires
a considerable amount of time and trouble to properly
lay off the rows in a new field. When planting time
arrives, which is somewhere from the first to the
last of April, according to the latitude, the beds are
freshened up by passing a plank drag or some similar
device over them, and a one-horse planter is driven
along the top of the ridge, planting the seed in a
continuous row, or drill. When the young plants are
about three inches high, the first cultivation is given.
In the hills, where the contour-line system is followed,
the implement used for cultivating is almost univer-
sally the heel sweep (see page 34). This is held
at such an angle that one wing of the sweep scrapes
the surface of the ridge, upon which the cotton is
growing. It is usually run about an inch below the
surface, and throws a little dirt toward the plant,
thus leaving a beneficial dust mulch ; and it is very
effective in killing young grass and weeds. An ex-
pert plowman will run one of these implements so
that the end of the sweep will almost touch the plant,
thus obviating the use of the hoe. It, however, works
only one side of the row, requiring two trips to each
row. On level land, where the rows can be laid
straight, a regular two-horse corn cultivator can be
used to great advantage in the cotton field, for as they
work both sides of the row only one trip is required.
On level lands, too, disk cultivators can be very
economically used for throwing up the beds on which
to plant. After the first cultivation, when the plants

FIBER PLANTS 177

are four to six inches high, they are chopped to a
stand with the hoe, usually from one to three stalks
being left to a hill. The distance between the hills
varies considerably according to the richness of the
land. On poor, thin lands they are usually left
about a foot apart, and on very ricli land they are
often as much as three feet apart. Cotton should be
given clean cultivation during the entire growing
season. A cultivator or sweep should be passed
through the rows often enough to keep down all weeds
and grass, and to break the crust and leave a dust
mulch after every rain. It may be necessary to go
through the fields two or three times with a hoe, but
if the cultivation has been properly done, there will
be but little work left for the hoes.

Harvesting. — Cotton picking usually begins early
in August, and lasts through November or even
later. This work has all to be done by hand and is
the most laborious and expensive part of the cotton
business. Many attempts have been made to con-
struct mechanical cotton pickers, but so far none of
them have been successful. It is the question of
picking that limits the possible production of cotton
in any given region. When the cotton is picked, it
is hauled direct to the gin or to some temporary
storehouse. After ginning to remove the seeds
the lint is packed in bales weighing four hundred or
five hundred pounds. It is pressed very closely in
these bales, but when being prepared for distant
shipment, the bales are further subjected to heavy
hydraulic pressure which reduces them to about a
fourth their former bulk.

N

178 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Cotton is mostly sold by the farmers to local
buyers ; each town of any size in the cotton belt
being a cotton market.

Uses. — Cotton is, of course, grown for the lint or
fiber which surrounds the seeds. This fiber is more
universally useful than any other. Formerly no
other part of the plant was utilized, the seed being
allowed to go to waste at the gins. Now the manu-
facture of oil from the seed has become a very im-
portant business and the sale of the seeds adds an
item of much profit to the crop. The cake left after
pressing the oil from the seed is ground into a meal
which furnishes a rich food for cattle and is also ex-
tensively used as a fertilizer.

Its high feeding and manurial value is due to the
large percentage of nitrogen which it contains. A
good grade of meal will analyze about seven per
cent nitrogen. As a feed it is used exclusively for
cattle. Horses do not relish it, and it is unsafe to
feed it to hogs. Fed in small rations of from one
to three pounds per day, in connection with pastur-
age, corn stover, or other coarse forage, it forms an
excellent maintenance ration for work cattle and
young steers. To fattening steers, it may be fed in
much larger quantities, but if this heavy feeding is
continued for more than three months, injurious re-
sults are likely to follow. When used judiciously, it
is a most useful food for milch cows. It stimulates
the flow of milk and, what is an important quality
for Southern butter makers, it gives a butter fat
with a markedly higher melting point than that pro-
duced by other feeds. Heavy feeding with cotton-

FIBER PLANTS 179

seed meal is thought to injure the flavor of the butter,
but with moderate feeding no such result is noticed,
the only effect being to make the butter stand up
and handle better in the warm Southern climate.

Cotton-seed oil is applied to many uses. Com-
bined with tallow it is largely used in adulterating
lard; it may also be used in the pure state as a sub-
stitute for lard in cooking, and much of it when re-
fined is converted into salad oil.

Botanical Features: Varieties. — The many kinds
of cotton grown in the United States may all be
grouped under two species: the upland cottons all
belonging to Gossypiiim hirsutum^ and the Sea Island
cotton to G-ossypium Barhadense.

The seeds of the upland cotton are densely clothed,
underneath the fiber, with a coating of short greenish
hairs, and the flowers are white or light cream color
wdien they first open, turning pinkish as they wither.

The Sea Island cotton has smooth, black seeds
and the freshly opened flowers are bright yellow.

The perennial, so-called tree cotton of tropical
America belongs to a species closely related to the
Sea Island cotton. It is frequently seen planted
about dwellings, but is of no commercial importance.

There are many varieties of upland cotton in cul-
tivation. These can be placed in two principal
groups : the cluster cottons and the long-limbed, big-
boiled cottons. Varieties of the first class are usu-
ally earlier in maturing and are the only ones
planted in the more northerly part of the cotton belt.
The big-boiled cottons do best, as a rule, on the
moister, richer lands.

180 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

The upland cottons are quite plastic and variable,
so that improved strains are readily secured by at-
tention to seed selection. Some of these better
strains now almost equal the Sea Island cotton in
length of fiber, and command a considerable pre-
mium over the common grades in the market. Sea
Island cotton is much less extensively cultivated,
and but few named varieties have been developed.
It has been found possible, however, to greatly im-
prove it by seed selection, and many of the more
prominent planters have special strains of their own
growing. The phenomenal success obtained by ex-
perts from the Department of Agriculture in select-
ing a strain of Sea Island cotton that is resistant to
the terrible wilt disease is one of the most striking
examples of the w^onderf ul possibilities that may be
secured by care in selecting the seed of our cultivated
crops.

Diseases and Insects. — The insects attacking
cotton have been very thoroughly studied by the
entomologists of the United States Department of
Agriculture, and are fully discussed in their various
publications. The three most important are the boll
weevil, the boll worm, and the caterpillar. Of these
the boll weevil is by far the most destructive, and
threatens seriously to curtail production. This in-
sect is a native of Mexico, Central America, and
Cuba. It finally crossed the Rio Grande into Texas,
and for a number of years has been spreading
steadily northward and eastward, until it now
seems certain that it will eventually occupy the
entire cotton belt of the Southern states. So far

FIBER PLANTS 181

it has not been found in Jamaica, Porto Rico, or the
smaller West Indies. The female beetle deposits
her eggs in the soft young bolls or in the flower
buds ; the young grub developing within the tissues
of the plant is protected from the application of
insecticides, and no practicable remedy has been
found for destroying this terrible pest. The insect
passes the winter in its adult stage and within the
boundaries of the United States comparatively few
of them are able to persist until the season for the
flowering of cotton. The first brood, therefore, does
little damage ; they multiply rapidly, however, so
that in all infested regions the later, so-called top
crop is almost completely destroyed. By taking ad-
vantage of these facts, cultural methods have been
devised by means of which it is still possible to pro-
duce a fair crop, notwithstanding the presence of the
weevil. The earliest maturing varieties are selected,
seed is planted as early as possible, and fertilizers
are applied and cultivation given with the view of
hastening the ripening of the crop in every possible
way. After the first pickings have been secured, or
as soon as the majority of the young bolls are seen
to be infested, the entire crop is promptly plowed
under, without attempting to harvest the later
pickings. Great pains should be taken to destroy
absolutely every cotton plant in order to prevent the
maturing of the late brood of beetles. Profitable
crops are now being secured in even the worst
infested regions, although the yields obtained are
necessarily smaller than when it was possible to con-
tinue picking throughout the season. Success with

182 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

these new methods requires the selection of the earli-
est possible strains of cotton, and of those which tend
to heavy flowering early in the season. The use of
a large percentage of phosphoric acid in the fertilizer
employed is also important, since this substance
tends to promote heavy fruiting and early ripening.
Heavy applications of nitrogen and potash, on the
contrary, have a tendency to prolong the growing
season and to retard the setting of the crop. Ex-
periments in Cuba have shown that even under
tropical conditions it may be possible to grow cotton
in spite of the presence of the boll weevil, by treating
it strictly as an annual crop, and promptly destroy-
ing the plants at the end of the picking season,
provided that the precaution is always taken of
destroying all of the half -wild native cotton through-
out a considerable surrounding area.

The boll worm is closely related to the cutworms.
The young larvte bore into the bolls, and, after feed-
ing for a time, emerge and enter fresh bolls, the same
larva thus destroying several bolls in a few weeks.
Besides cotton, these insects bore into green toma-
toes in the same manner, being a very destructive
enemy of this crop in all parts of the South. The
boll worm is also the familiar corn worm so fre-
quently found entering the ends of the ears of green
corn. While these three are its usual food plants, it
is not confined to them, as it is occasionally found
boring into various other fruits and pods. Owing
to its habit of feeding so largely on the interior
tissue, this insect is very difficult to combat by the
use of insecticides ; in fact, no effective remedy has

FIBER PLANTS 183

been devised for it. The losses that it occasions
reach large figures each season. It has been found
to slightly prefer corn to cotton, and a small measure
of protection may be secured by planting occasional
rows of corn through the cotton field. During the
period when the corn is in silk, the worms will be
attracted by it instead of by the cotton.

The cotton caterpillar is also related to the cut-
worms and the army worm. In habit it is much like
the latter. In certain seasons it suddenly appears in
immense numbers, and if allowed to go unchecked,
will, in a very few days, entirely defoliate even the
largest cotton fields. When this insect first appeared,
it created great alarm, and for some years caused
enormous losses to the cotton industry. However,
it was soon found to be easily controlled by the use
of Paris green, so now the loss from it is small.
The Paris green is usually applied in the form of
powder. A quantity is placed in each of two thin
muslin bags, which are tied on the ends of a short
pole, that is the length of the distance between the
rows of cotton ; this pole is then placed across the
saddle in front of a man on a mule, who rides up
and down between the rows, the jolting of the mule
sifting enough of the Paris green through the muslin
to poison the leaves effectively and economically.
It is only in occasional years that this insect ap-
pears in sufficient numbers to attract attention. A
serious outbreak can be quickly subdued by the
above simple remedy.

The diseases of cotton were first seriously studied
by Professor G. F. Atkinson, while connected with the

184 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Alabama Experiment Station. The literature of the
subject will be found in the bulletins of that institution
and in the publications on plant pathology issued by
the Department of Agriculture.

Only the more important of them will be considered
here.

The term " rust " or " blight " is applied to a widely
occurring diseased condition of cotton, the most con-
spicuous feature of which is the spotting and prema-
ture falling of the leaves. These spotted leaves are
found to be infested by any of three or four different
species of fungi. These are all, however, what are
known as facultative parasites ; that is, they are only
able to invade leaves that have been weakened by
some other cause, and cannot, like the true rusts,
attack them when growing vigorously. The disease
is an obscure one and its exact nature has not yet
been satisfactorily determined. It is usually worse
on thin, sandy lands, and is especially serious when
periods of excessive rainfall are followed by a sharp
drought. It may, however, be induced by any un-
favorable conditions that suddenly arrest growth.
The facts seem to be that while leaves are young
and thrifty they have the power of repelling the
attacks of these fungi, but as they approach maturity
or have their vitality suddenly checked they are no
longer able to do so. With the development of the
fungi the leaves soon turn yellow and fall off, thus
preventing the maturity of all the later part of the
crop. In badly rusted fields the yield will be reduced
to a half or a fourth of the normal. That this
disease is primarily connected with the nutrition of

FIBER PLANTS 185

the plant is shown by the fact that richer places in
the field, as for instance old fence rows, always show
a considerable immunity, and further that the disease
can be quite effectively controlled by incorporating
more vegetable matter in the soil and by applying pot-
ash. On many soils the application of from a hundred
to two hundred pounds of kainitper acre will act almost
as a specific. Tlie excessive use of phosphoric acid
without potash greatly increases the injury. On land
subject to rust the disease can be quite perfectly con-
trolled by following a rotation like that suggested on
page 145, which shall provide for at least one crop of
cowpeas between cotton crops, and by the use of fer-
tilizers rich in potash. In other words, the appearance
of rust is a sure indication of soil exhaustion.

Cotton wilt (^Neoeosmospora) or Frenching, as it is
sometimes called, is due to the growth of a fungus
within the tissues of the stem and roots. Affected
plants soon become somewhat dwarfed and the leaves
assume an unnatural aspect, sometimes being streaked
with yellow or brown. Usually after a time the
whole plant suddenly wilts and in a few days dies.
When only a part of the stalk is affected, the plant
may linger throughout the season and even produce a
partial crop. The fungus develops principally along
the ducts in the vascular bundles, where its presence
can be detected by the brown staining of the bun-
dles, which is easily seen when cutting off the diseased
stem. The sudden wilting occurs when the fungus
develops so rapidly as to plug these ducts and thus
prevent the upward flow of sap from the roots. This
funofus is able to live over in the soil from one season

186 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

to the next and when it once makes its appearance in
the field, the diseased area continues to spread from
year to year until finally the culture of cotton has
to be abandoned.

The disease occurs in many parts of the cotton belt,
but has been most destructive in the famous Sea
Island cotton region along the coast of Georgia and
South Carolina. At one time it seriously threatened
to prevent the culture of this crop on many of the
lands best suited to it. Officials of the Department
of Agriculture were detailed to study the disease,
and they observed occasional plants in the infected
areas that remained healthy and vigorous through-
out the season. Seed was saved from these plants
and in the course of a few years a resistant race
was developed, by selection, which possessed almost
complete immunity from this disease. Strains of re-
sistant upland cotton have also been found, so that it
is now possible to grow full crops of cotton on lands
that are thoroughly infested by the wilt fungus.
This is one of the most striking instances of the
possibility of overcoming a serious plant disease
by the selection and breeding of immune races.
Fungi that are microscopically indistinguishable from
the one causing cotton wilt produce similar diseases
in cowpeas, watermelons, and various other crops.
It seems to be a fact, however, that the disease is not
usually communicable from one of these crops to an-
other. No methods have been discovered for treat-
ing these wilts by topical applications.

Another disease known as root rot (^Ozoyiium') causes
the wilting of cotton in certain portions of Texas. It

FIBER PLANTS 18T

is caused by a fungus which attacks the outside of the
roots, enveloping them in a web of yellowish fibers.
The same fungus attacks a large number of other
plants; no effective remedy has yet been found and
cultivation of cotton has been practically abandoned
on infected areas. ^

A disease known as anthracnose (^CoUetotrieuTn)
is common in nearly all parts of the cotton belt.
This fungus causes small sunken s23ots, usually sur-
rounded by a reddish brow^n border. It often ap-
pears on the young seed leaves, when they first
emerge from the ground; it also develops on the
stem, and is found with other fungi on the leaves of
plants affected with rust, but the principal injury it
causes is to the bolls. If the young bolls are badly
affected, they fail to open properly, but often crack
prematurely, thus causing the rotting of the immature
contents. The disease is usually worse on rich lands
and in wet seasons, which cause a rank, sappy growth.
No practical remedy is known.

Cotton bolls are also often destroyed by a bacterial
disease known as boll rot. Like the anthracnose
this is worse in wet seasons, and on rich, moist lands.
This disease has not been fully studied, but is prob-
ably conveyed from boll to boll by the puncture of
insects. The only remedial measure is to plant at
sufficient distance to allow for a free circulation of

1 While the above lines were in press a paper has appeared
(U. S. Dept. Agric, Bureau of PI. Ind., Bull. 102 : .30-42) on " The
Control of Texas Root-Rot of Cotton," by Shear & Mills. As the
result of recent experiments the authors advise very deep fall
plowing of infected lands and also a strict rotation with grass or
grain crops.

188 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

air, thus securing the prompt drying of the bolls,
when wet from rain or dew.

Another serious trouble of the cotton planter is
the shedding of the young bolls, thus causing the
plant to fail to set a sufficient crop. This shedding
is not due to insects or fungi, but seems to be caused
by some derangement of nutrition. It may occur if
the weather is either too wet or too dry; but is
more frequently caused by a period of sharp drought
following abundant rains that have caused the plants
to take on a rapid growth. No remedy is known
except to give such cultivation as will avoid, so far
as is possible, sudden checks in the development of
the plants.

Sisal (^Agave sps.^

This plant furnishes a strong, coarse fiber that is
largely used in the manufacture of rope, binder twine,
and other cordage. For these purposes it is excelled
in importance only by the Manila hemp, which is
produced by a species of banana, grown in the Phil-
ippine Islands. Sisal, or heniquen, as it is often called,
is grown very extensively on the Yucatan peninsula
in Mexico, and is also planted to some extent in the
Bahamas and at certain points in northern Cuba.
To succeed best, the plant requires a dry, rocky, lime-
stone soil. It does not withstand frost, so can be
grown only in tropical regions. While the plant
grows well on deeper, richer land, it is too pulpy in
such situations and yields a smaller percentage of
fiber. Commercial plantings are entirely confined to

■Ji

FIBER PLANTS 189

regions where the soil is too thin and rocky to pro-
duce other crops. No fertilizers are used for sisal.
The plants when growing thriftily throw up numer-
ous suckers from the roots. These are used for
starting new plantations. Bulbels are also produced
in immense numbers on the flowering stalks. These
are sometimes used for planting, but require from
one to two years longer to reach maturity. The
ground selected for sisal is usually too rocky to ad-
mit of plowing, and is, therefore, cleared of brush
with a machete, and the dry grass and brush is burned.
Small holes are now chopped in the soil at a distance
of from seven to nine feet and a sucker planted in
each hole. No great pains is required in planting,
except to see that enough earth or stone is piled
around the sucker to hold it erect. Subsequent cul-
tivation consists simply in chopping down grass and
weeds with hoe or machete as often as may be neces-
sary to prevent them from smothering the plants.
From three to five years are required before the
plants gain sufficient size to admit of harvesting.
After this time one or two of the large, fleshy, lower
leaves may be cut each month, and as the plant con-
tinues to yield for a number of years, the total
amount of fiber produced is considerable. With the
price that has prevailed since the Spanish-American
War this industry has been very profitable. The
leaves are taken to a pulping machine which sepa-
rates the fiber. This is dried and then baled for
market.

The kind usually found in the Bahamas differs
somewhat from that of Yucatan and is considered to

190 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

be a distinct species. They are about equal as fiber
producers, but the Yucatan variety lasts longer be-
fore flowering, so that fields do not require replant-
ing as often. These plants, like all the other Agaves,
or so-called century plants, produce only a rosette of
stiff, fleshy leaves for a number of years, the number
differing with the species, when a gigantic flower
stalk appears, and after flowering the plant dies.
Other fiber-yielding species of the same group occur
in Mexico, also in Cuba, and other of the West In-
dies, but none have so far proved of much commer-
cial importance.

But little attention has been paid to the diseases
and insects of sisal. Plants are sometimes infested
by mealy bugs, and they are also attacked by a
fungus which causes an anthracnose, or pitlike
spotting of the leaves; no remedies are used for
either trouble.

Tobacco {Nicotiana Tahacuni)

Tobacco is a plant of great importance to Southern
agriculture. While grown under a rather wide range
of conditions, its cultivation is usually restricted to
certain well-defined areas, where the farmers have
become accustomed to the methods of handling this
exacting and sensitive crop.

The different classes of tobacco have different re-
quirements as to soil and climate. The heavy plug to-
baccoes require a rich, rather heavy clay loam ; while
to produce the best types of cigar tobacco, a light,
sandy soil is necessary. Bright plug and smoking

TOBACCO 191

tobaccoes, being intermediate in quality, require in-
termediate grades of soil ; but in every case the soil
must be in the best possible state of tilth, and if not
abundantly supplied with all the elements of fertility,
these must be freely added in the form of fertilizers
and manures. Tobacco soils should contain much
humus. The crop is a very exhausting one, and
even the richest soils soon become depleted of this
important substance, unless active measures are taken
to maintain fertility. This can be done by the free
use of stable manure supplemented by the addition
of some form of phosphoric acid and of potash.
This latter substance is especially necessary in the
cultivation of cigar and smoking tobaccoes, since the
burning quality as well as the flavor, or aroma, is
largely dependent upon its presence. Tobacco draws
very heavily upon the supply of potash in the soil, and
it is of great importance to guard carefully against its
exhaustion.

In the application of potash to tobacco land
special care must be taken to exclude all forms of
this material that contain chlorine, as this substance,
when present, even in small quantities, spoils the
burning quality. The muriate of potash and crude
salts, like kainit, should, therefore, never be used.
The high-grade sulphate is the form in which potash
is most often applied to tobacco, but the carbonate,
though slightly more expensive, is preferred by some
when the highest type of cigar tobacco is desired.
Stable manure, although so useful, is usually unduly
expensive in Southern countries, even when it can
be obtained at all. The long growing season at the

192 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

South, however, usually will permit of the growing
of some leguminous crop while the land is not occu-
pied by the tobacco, and when this can be done, it
can safely be substituted for the more expensive
stable manure. This is especially true in Cuba and
Porto Rico, where tobacco is a winter crop and the
land lies idle throughout the rainy summer season.
When the tobacco growers of these regions shall all
have learned to plant their harvested tobacco fields
in the spring to velvet beans, the rank growth of
these vines during the summer will furnish an im-
mense amount of nitrogenous vegetable matter to
be plowed under in the fall, and the results will be
a great economy over the methods of manuring now
in vogue. Tobacco only requires a short growing
season, and therefore thrives under a great variety
of climatic conditions. It requires less water than
many other crops. Frequent showers are an advan-
tage during the earl}^ period of growth, but dry
weather is to be preferred as the plants approach
maturity and during the time of harvesting and cur-
ing. Where water is available for irrigation, the dry
winter months of Cuba and Porto Rico furnish ideal
weather conditions for its growth.

The best formula for tobacco fertilizers will natu-
rally differ with different soil conditions, but one
containing two parts of j^lio^^pli^i'ic acid and two
parts potash for each part of nitrogen will be well
adapted to average conditions.

Planting and Cultivation. — Tobacco is always sown
in seed beds, and the young plants are transplanted to
the field when of sufficient size. Seed-bed problems

TOBACCO 193

are among the most important for the tobacco grower,
this being especially true in tropical countries. The
primitive method of making seed beds, and one that
is still very largely in use, is to clear a space in the
forest, burn the brush where it lies, and after slightly
stirring the soil with a hoe to incorporate the coating
of ashes, the seed is scattered broadcast. At the
North a low frame is usually built around the bed
and covered with cloth to protect the young plants
from cold. The advantages of this method are that
strong, fresh soil is secured for the young plants, and
all seeds of weeds which might otherwise overshadow
the tiny tobacco plants have been destroyed by fire.
More important still, however, is the fact that the fire
has also served to sterilize the soil by killing the myce-
lium of the various damping-off fungi, by which it is
so often infested. This is a matter of the utmost
importance at the South, where seed beds are started
during warm weather. When damp, rainy weather
follows the sowing of seed beds in Cuba and Porto
Rico, immense losses are occasioned by the damping
off of the young plantlets. The trouble is not so
serious at the North, where seed is sown in the cool
weather of the spring; but whenever it is found neces-
sary to make seed beds on old land, some method for
sterilizing the soil should be adopted. This may be
accomplished by piling on brush and burning it, the
same as in the woods, by applying live steam through
perforated pipes, or by the free use of boiling water.
Chemical sterilization is also practicable. Thoroughly
spraying the surface of the soil, both before and after
sowing, with Bordeaux mixture, gives a considerable
o

194 THE CHIEF SOL^HERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

protection from this trouble. Applications of forma-
lin to the soil before sowing also prove effective, but
the expense is too great to make it a feasible rem-
edy. Soils are now quite widely sterilized for green-
house purposes by the use of live steam, and where
steam boilers are at hand this is probably the most
efficient system of soil sterilization.

When the young plants are from four to six inches
high, they are ready to move to the field. The ground
should have been plowed, cross plowed, and thor-
oughly harrowed in order to put it in the most per-
fect condition of tilth possible. Light furrows are
now opened for the rows, and if commercial fertilizer
is used, a portion at least is scattered in the furrows.
The distance between the rows will depend upon the
type of tobacco to be grown. For cigar tobacco three
feet or even less is usual; but the heavier kinds re-
quire a greater distance. The young plants are now
planted by hand or with a dibble in the bottom of
these furrows, the cigar types being one foot or less
apart and double the distance for the heavier ones.
Mechanical planters drawn by horses are also in use
in some sections. Young tobacco plants, if pulled
from the seed beds in proper condition, are very
resistant, and if the soil is at all moist they will not
require watering when transplanted; but in very
dry weatlier watering is essential. Plants are likely
to wilt badly at first, but in two or three days, when
new rootlets have been formed, will stand erect and
soon begin to grow rapidly. As soon as this wilting
is past, the first cultivation should be given, in
order to fill in the planting furrow. From this time

TOBACCO 195

on cultivation should be frequent until such time as
the plants get large enough to practically shade the
ground. In Cuba this cultivation is all done with
the hoe, but this is unduly expensive. Any of the one-
horse cultivators with numerous small teeth can be
used successfully in young tobacco. As the plants
get older a heel sweep, so much used by the cotton
planters, is preferable, as the long, narrow wing will
stir the ground under the leaves without breaking
them. When the tobacco reaches a certain height,
depending upon the kind and the richness of the soil,
it is topped by pinching out the terminal bud in order
to prevent its seeding and to give an increased de-
velopment to the leaves. Suckers will now start in
the axils of the leaves, and it is necessary to go over
the field every few days to remove them, thus con-
fining the growth to the leaves already formed on
the stem.

It has been found that growing the plants in par-
tial shade profoundly affects the character of the leaf,
making it thinner and also freer from gum resins
and nicotine. The plants, too, grow taller and the
leaves are larger, making them more useful for cigar
wrappers. In Cuba rows of bananas are often planted
in the tobacco fields to furnish shade and act as wind-
breaks. The practice of covering tobacco fields
with cheese cloth to give shade and thus secure leaves
of greater value for wrappers originated in Connect-
icut, but is now more employed in Cuba and Porto
Rico. The cloth, which is specially woven for the
purpose with strong threads and wide meshes, is
stretched over wires that are supported by posts high

196 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

enough to admit of horse cultivation. The sides as
well as the top are covered, thus giving protection from
winds and incidentally excluding insects. Notwith-
standing the expense involved, this method often proves
highly profitable, owing to the high prices obtained
for superior wrappers; but there is always danger, es-
pecially on light soils and in cloudy weather, that the
shading may be overdone, in which case the leaf will
be too thin and papery and will lack the elasticity
necessary for a good wrapper. Shade-grown tobacco
never develops the full aroma of that produced in
the open air.

Harvesting. — When the leaves are fully grown,
one accustomed to tobacco will note a slight change
of color, which indicates the approach of maturity.
It requires experience and good judgment to know
just when to cut tobacco, as the quality of the crop
depends to a considerable degree upon the exact stage
of ripeness at which it is harvested. Just prior to
the change of color, before alluded to, the glandular
hairs which cover the surface of the leaves are very
active in secreting an essential oil that accumulates
in little globules at their tips. Later this dries to
a small resinous mass, so that tobacco which has be-
come too ripe is less aromatic, stiffer, and more brittle
upon curing.

Three different methods of cutting tobacco are
employed. In some places the entire plant is cut at
the ground, carried in, and hung on poles or laths
in the curing barns. In Cuba the usual custom is to
cut the stem into short pieces in such a way that two
leaves are left on each piece; these are then hung on

^v

TOBACCO 197

the poles. With the best grades of high-priced
tobacco it is now more usual to harvest the leaves
singly and string them for curing by passing a
needle tlirough the thick midrib. As the lower
leaves always mature first, this plan enables the
planter to make two or three cuttings and harvest
each leaf in the best condition of ripeness, and thus
gives a greater uniformity in the product. Cigar
tobaccoes are generally allowed to cure naturally
without the use of heat. With some of the plug
tobaccoes artificial heat is usually employed in the
curing barns. In either case great care and consider-
able experience is required during the curing pro-
cess. Tobacco barns are generally so built that they
may be either closed tightly or given free ventilation
according to the state of the weather and condition
of the contents. The curing of tobacco depends
upon the action of internal ferments, called enzymes,
such as are concerned in the ripening of fruit and in
producing the autumn coloration of forest leaves.
Drying must not proceed too rapidly or these enzymes
do not have time to do tlieir work, and instead of the
rich attractive brown the tobacco will turn to a dirty
green. That this change of color is due to activities
taking place within the living cells of the leaf may
be conclusively shown by crushing the cells over
certain areas; as when a name is written heavily on
the leaf with a pencil, such injured areas remain green
upon drying, and the name appears in green letters
upon the brown background of the leaf. A rather
moist air should be maintained in the tobacco house
during the first few days of curing, in order to

198 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

allow time for these fermentative changes. Later
more ventilation mnst be given, especially if the
weather is damp; otherwise there will be great
danger of mold, which will seriously injure the leaf.
After the tobacco has become thoroughly dry it is
taken down from the poles and tied in small bundles
called hands. A damp day is selected for this work,
so that it can be done without breaking the leaves.
These hands are banked together in a pile and are
carefully covered to induce a further fermentation.
If not damp enough, it is slightly sprinkled. The
temperature of the pile is carefully watched, and
before it gets hot enough to cause injury the pile is
torn down and rebuilt in such a way that the hands
which were on the outside are now placed in the
center. The extent to which the fermentation is
carried depends upon the character of the tobacco,
and like the cutting and curing, requires careful and
experienced oversight. After the fermentation to-
bacco is carefully sorted into different grades, when
it is ready for bailing and shipping.

Botanical Features. — Botanically, tobacco belongs
to the great family of the Solanaeeoe^ which gives us
such other well-known economic plants as the potato,
tomato, Qgg plant, and pepper. Tobacco flowers are
adapted for self-pollination, and this has an important
practical bearing upon the question of seed selection.
When a plant of a particularly desirable type appears
in a field, if an ordinary paper bag is slipped over the
inflorescence just before the first flowers open, it will
exclude all foreign pollen, and the seed produced
will be the pure progeny of the one desirable plant.

TOBACCO 199

Tobacco comes very true to type, and a single plant
yields such a large quantity of seed that it is easy, "
with a little care, to secure a sufficient supply from
the best plants. A considerable number of varieties
of tobacco are in cultivation that are adapted to the
different purposes for which it is grown; but all of
them can easily be much improved by a little care
in seed selection.

Diseases and Insects. — Tobacco is attacked by a
number of diseases and insects, only a few of which
can be discussed. The damping-off fungus (^Rhizoc-
tonia) that causes such heavy losses in the seed beds,
especially in the tropics, has already been referred
to, and several methods of combating it suggested.
This must be considered as one of the most serious
diseases of the crop, and much more study is needed
to determine the best way of controlling it under
different conditions. The flea-beetle (^Epetrix) is
also quite frequently injurious in the seed beds,
biting small holes on the under side of the leaves.
This insect is repelled to a considerable extent by
applications of Bordeaux mixture. Spraying the
young plantlets with Bordeaux as a preventive for
the damping-off fungus will also serve to largely
obviate trouble from this pest. For the flea-beetle
it is best, however, to add Paris green to the spray.
It is probable that applications of Bordeaux mixture
to tobacco seed beds w^ill always more than pay their
cost in the increased vigor of the plants secured, even
when no serious outbreak of damping off occurs.
When the plants are set in the field, they are liable to
be destroyed by various cutworms and other related

200 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

larvae. Baiting the field in advance of planting
with a poisoned bran mash is the best remedy for
these insects. It is best to sweeten the mash with
a little molasses, which will also make it more
adhesive. It should be scattered in the field at least
a week before planting.

The well-known large green tobacco worm, which is
the larva of a Sphinx moth (^Protoparee)^ is a widely
destructive tobacco enemy. It may be controlled
either by hand picking or by dusting with Paris
green. In the tropics Paris green is also largely
used for insects of the climbing cutworm type.

Several fungous leaf-spot diseases of tobacco are
known, but as a rule they are not seriously trouble-
some, and little attempt has been made to treat them.
Bordeaux mixture would be the natural remedy, but
its use is not permissible as it adheres so long that its
presence on the leaf would be objectionable. Bacte-
rial root rot of tobacco has appeared in certain local-
ities, but so far it has been rather local and as yet
no efficient remedy can be suggested.

An obscure disease of tobacco that is not of para-
sitic origin occurs quite frequently and is widely
distributed. Tlie plant becomes somewhat dwarfed,
the leaves are wrinkled, and streaked and spotted
with yellow; it is known under various names, but
the term " mosaic disease " is the one usually applied,
on account of the peculiar coloring of the leaves. The
disease seems to be entirely functional and is due
to the improper secretion of some enzyme. This
trouble seems to be induced by anything which
strongly shocks the plant and suddenly interrupts its

Coffee Tree with Fruit.

COFFEE 201

growth. It can be induced artificially by injuring
the roots. When the crop is harvested, the suckers
which spring up from the roots often show the
disease, even though the parent plant was entirely
normal. Plants that have been burned by improper
applications of Paris green also often develop
mosaic disease. Good cultural methods which
avoid shock or injury of any kind to the plant, and
which keep it growing steadily and thriftily, are the
best safeguards against this trouble. Care in the
seed beds is also necessary, since poor, stunted plants
are more likely to develop this disease.

Coffee ( Coffea sps. )

Coffee is strictly a tropical product. In a natural
state it grows as an undershrub in mountainous
forests, and when cultivated the same conditions
must be somewhat closely approximated. It is
grown extensively in Mexico, Central and South
America, and Porto Rico. Formerly it was one of
the principal crops of Cuba : but owing to the high
price of labor and the greater profit in sugar cane, its
cultivation has been nearly abandoned.

The best coffee is usually grown at an altitude of
from two to five thousand feet, and often on hind too
steep for the cultivation of other crops. It is
injured by periods of prolonged drought and thrives
best where the rainfall is somewhat evenly distrib-
uted throughout the year.

The best soils are rather heavy clays well provided
with humus.

202 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Coffee is usually planted on forest lands. In some
cases the underbrush is simply cut away and the
trees are thinned, leaving only enough of the origi-
nal growth standing to afford the partial shade that
is necessary for the plants. At other times the land
is entirely cleared and special kinds of shade trees
are planted with the coffee. Different trees are pre-
ferred in different regions. Leguminous trees are the
ones usually selected, since these are always provided
with root tubercles and serve to enrich the soil by
collecting atmospheric nitrogen in the same way as the
soil-improving herbaceous legumes. At the higher
altitudes shade is unnecessary and is seldom used.

Young coffee plants are often pulled up for trans-
planting where seeds have germinated under the trees
in an old plantation, but it is better to prepare
special seed beds, in order that the seedlings can re-
ceive some attention. The seed beds must be shaded;
palm thatch usually serves for this purpose. The
young trees are planted when about two feet high at
distances varying from six to ten feet apart. The
mistake is often made of planting too closely. This
gives weak, spindling trees which are more subject to
various diseases. Horse cultivation is seldom at-
tempted, but the ground between the trees is kept
clean with hoe or machete. When the forest is en-
tirely cleared, bananas are often planted in order to
make a quick, temporary shade while the permanent
shade trees are growing. When this is done, con-
stant care is required to keep them sufficiently thinned
out to prevent the crowding and overshading of the
coffee, and they should be entirely dug out as soon as

COFFEE 203

the permanent shade trees have grown large enough
to answer their purpose. It is usual to give the trees
heavy annual prunings to keep the crop down within
easy reach of the pickers.

The ripe coffee berry is a red fruit the size of a
small cherry. Harvesting the fruit has to be done
by hand, and this constitutes one of the largest items
of expense. The berries are passed through a rude
pulping mill, after which the seeds are spread on
large cemented floors to dry in the sun. After be-
coming thoroughly dry they are cleaned, graded, and
polished, and then are ready to sack for market.

Most of the coffees in cultivation are supposed to
belong to a single species.

The Liberian coffee is, however, entirely distinct :
the tree grows much larger and stronger, and the
fruit and seed are also larger. Like most cultivated
plants coffee is quite variable in character, but so
far very little attention has been given to the selec-
tion of improved strains. Here, as with most other
tropical products, a great field is open for the work
of the intelligent plant breeder.

Diseases and Insects. — Like all other cultivated
crops, coffee is subject to the attacks of various fungi
and insects. The only insect enemy that has at-
tracted wide attention is the leaf miner (^Leucopterd)^
a minute, lepidopterous larva, Avhich burrows in the
leaf tissue, forming large, irregular, deadened areas.
It occurs abundantly in all parts of the American
tropics, and does very considerable injury by so
greatly reducing the active leaf surface. When
ready to transform, it emerges and spins a very

204 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

delicate cocoon on the under side of the leaves.
Experiments at the Cuban Experiment Station have
shown that it is possible to kill large numbers of the
insects when in this stage by spraying with kerosene
emulsion. As the pupal stage lasts but a few
days, frequent sprayings are required in order to be
effective, and in most cases the expense will prob-
ably be found to be too great to make the remedy
a practical one.

A large aj)his and various scale insects sometimes
attack coffee, but they are usually soon controlled
by their natural enemies.

The rust fungus (^Hemileia) that has caused such
heavy losses in the East Indies has so far not
appeared in the American tropics, but there is a
rust-colored leaf spot (^Stilhum) that occurs quite
commonly and which sometimes causes considerable
injury. The spots are sometimes confused with
those caused by the leaf miner, but the Stilhum
spots are always circular, not irregular, in outline,
and in moist weather close examination will show
them to be covered with the minute, short-stalked,
orange-colored, fruiting bodies of the fungus. This
disease is usually troublesome only when the coffee
is overshaded. Thinning out the plants and re-
moving some of the shade is the only remedy
required.

In some regions many coffee trees are lost from the
attack of a fungous root rot. The disease spreads
slowlv in concentric circles, from each center of
infection. It has not been thoroughly studied, and
the only remedy that can be suggested would be to

CACAO 205

ditch deeply around each such infected area, thus
cutting off the underground spread of the fungus.

Cacao {Theohroma Cacao)

The cultivation of this crop is very similar to
that of coffee, and, as a rule, it is found in the
same general regions, but thrives best at a somewhat
lower altitude, most of the plantations being under
two thousand feet and some even are almost at sea
level. Cacao requires a rather moist climate, with
equable distribution of rainfall; the soil should be
deep, rich, and well drained. The method of plant-
ing is much the same as coffee, but the trees, being
of slightly larger growth, require to be planted at a
distance of as much as twelve or fifteen feet. In a
few cacao-producing regions it is grown without
shade, but generally shade trees are provided.

The seeds from which commercial chocolate and
cocoa are prepared are produced in large conical or
pear-shaped, fleshy pods, which somewhat resemble
small musk melons. They grow directly from the
trunk and larger branches. When mature, these
pods are cut open and the beans placed in tubs or
vats to pass through a process of fermentation.
After two or three days they are taken out and
spread upon cement floors to dry. On the larger
estates the beans are often dried by artificial heat
with various devices, somewhat similar to those used
for drying fruit.

Great care and some experience is necessary in
order to conduct the operations of fermenting and

206 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

drying properly, as the quality and market price are
very easily injured.

A number of well-marked varieties are in cultiva-
tion. One known as the Creolla is probably most
generally planted; it is a hardy, productive, red-
seeded kind that thrives under a wide range of con-
ditions. Some of the more delicate, white-seeded
varieties have a finer flavor and command higher
prices in the market.

Cacao is subject to a considerable number of rather
serious diseases. Thrips often do much damage to
the young pods. Two or three different fungi cause
serious pod rots, and other fungi cause cankers on the
stems that greatly weaken and sometimes kill the
trees. There is also a root-rot fungus in some re-
gions and in Surinam the industry has been almost
extinguished by the outbreak of a witches'-broom

disease.

Rubber

Rubber is prepared from the milky juice of a num-
ber of species of trees and vines. Only two are of
much importance in the American tropics. These
are the Mexican rubber (^Castilloa elastica^ and the
Brazilian rubber (^Hevea Brasiliensis'). So far, the
commercial supply of rubber has mostly come from
wild forest trees. Wasteful methods of harvesting
which have rapidly exhausted the more accessible
sources of supply, and the immense increase in the
use of rubber in the arts, long since forcibly called
attention to the necessity of producing it by agricul-
tural methods. Much money has been expended in
making rubber plantations, especially in southern

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FRUITS 207

Mexico, and many companies of a semispeculative
nature have been organized for this purpose. It
requires a number of years before rubber trees reach
the productive age. A few of the Mexican planta-
tions are now nearing an age when they will begin
to produce, so we will soon know more as to the
probable outcome of these investments.

Castilloa seems to lend itself more readily to cultu-
ral methods than Hevea and this is the species that
has been most planted. There is no question but
that the tree can be grown successfully under a wide
range of conditions. More light is needed, however,
as to what conditions will prove best adapted to pro-
moting a free flow of latex ; and more experience is
needed on many other points in regard to the best
way of managing rubber plantations. The commer-
cial planting of other species of rubber is proving a
success in some of the East Indies.

It is not likely that the roseate promises contained
in the prospectuses of the speculative rubber com-
panies will ever be fully realized, but in view of the
immense demand and the high prices now prevailing,
there is every reason to hope that under conservative
management American rubber plantations will prove
to be profitable and the business of rubber planting
seems destined to be greatly extended in many parts
of the American tropics.

Fruits

Temperate Fruits

The fruit industry has come to be an important
one in many parts of the South. The commercial

208 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

fruits may be roughly grouped into three classes:
those of temperate regions, the subtropical ones,
and those which are strictly tropical. The limits
of this work will only admit of a brief discus-
sion of those of chief commercial value, taking
up first those that belong more especially to the
temperate regions.

Peaches (^Persica vulgaris). — This is easily the
most important of the temperate fruits for the region
under discussion. Peaches are grown commercially
on a large scale in many parts of the South, espe-
cially in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Texas. Cli-
matic conditions are sufficiently favorable for at least
some of the races of peaches in all parts of the South-
ern states. High lands should be chosen instead of
low, on account of their greater freedom from late
spring frosts. These frosts, coming after the blos-
soms are open, frequently cause heavy losses, and
constitute one of the most serious drawbacks to peach
cultivation. Peaches will grow in almost any well-
drained soil, but very rich land is not advisable, as
it causes too rank a growth. The best lands are
light, sandy loams that have a larger proportion of
clay in the subsoil. Good upland cotton soils are
usually good peach lands.

Peach pits are generally planted in the fall, scat-
tered five or six inches apart in about four-foot rows.
The young trees will be large enough to bud by the
following August. These buds remain dormant dur-
ing the winter, and in the spring, before growth
starts, the stock is cut back to just above the bud,
thus forcing all the growth of the tree into the in-

FRUITS 209

serted bud. Young, well-cared-for peach trees grow
rapidly, so they will be ready to move to the field
after one season's growth. Strong-growing seed-
lings are sometimes budded in June. After a few
days the tops are lopped to force the bud into im-
mediate growth, and such June buds often make
sufficient growth to be planted the following season.
At the South, where there is no hard freezing to
heave out the freshly planted trees, planting may be
done at any time during late fall, winter, or early
spring. The usual distance between trees is about
twenty feet each way, although some growers plant
them considerably closer. The principal points to
secure success in tree planting are, to see that mel-
low ground is tramped closely about the roots and
that the top is heavily pruned to compensate for
the roots that are necessarily lost in transplanting.
Care should also be taken not to expose the roots to
undue drying by sun and wind. The young or-
chard should receive thorough cultivation during the
entire summer. In the cotton belt, the land be-
tween the trees may be safely planted to cotton for
the first two years, since the culture given to this
crop is exactly that required by the young orchard.
Corn is also sometimes planted in young orchards,
but is a less desirable crop than cotton, as it grows
tall enough to shade the small trees and draws more
heavily on the soil moisture and fertility. On the
advent of fall the land should be sown to rye or
winter oats to guard against undue washing by the
winter rains. These crops must be plowed under in
the spring, however, and by no means be allowed to

210 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

mature ; nothing is harder on a young orchard than
the making of a crop of small grain, since it prevents
the stirring of the ground in the spring at the time
when such cultivation is most needed. When lands
are not too rich, crimson clover or vetch may be
wisely substituted for rye as a winter cover crop ;
but these legumes add so much nitrogen to the soil
that their continued use is not always advisable in a
peach orchard.

Peaches require more pruning than most other
fruit trees. The orchard should be gone over system-
atically every winter, shortening in and thinning out
the limbs. During the long growing season at the
South peaches grow so rapidly that it is best to go
over the orchard two or three times in the summer
to pinch back the ends of the rapidly growing shoots;
this will promote branching and by a little care a
symmetrical top can be formed. If no summer pinch-
ing is done, the main limbs will grow to an inordi-
nate length that will necessitate extra heavy winter
pruning.

At the South well-grown peach trees will begin to
bear at about three years from time of planting.

For distant shipment fruit cannot be allowed to
fully ripen on the trees. The best stage for picking
is after it has obtained full size and color, but two or
three days before it begins to soften. The fruit on
a tree cannot all be picked at once, but should be
gone over as often as every second day in order to
secure it all in the best condition. It should be han-
dled very carefully to avoid all bruising. Picking
baskets should be lined with cloth or still better fruit

FRUITS 211

should be picked in smooth buckets, and hauled direct
to the packing house without receiving other han-
dling.

At the packing house the fruit is sorted into two
or more grades, and then packed for shipment. The
package most used at the South is a light crate, hold-
ing six four-quart veneer baskets. If the market is
more than twenty-four hours distant, refrigerator
transportation is almost essential. With proper refrig-
eration peaches may safely be shipped for four or five
days, or even somewhat longer. To secure the best
results it is of great importance to get the fruit into
the cars as quickly as possible after it is picked.
Early failures with refrigeration were largely due to
the attempt to refrigerate fruit which was already
overripe. Peaches are usually consigned to fruit
dealers to be sold on commission. They are so per-
ishable that dealers dislike to take the risk of buying
them at the point of shipment. However, buyers visit
the principal producing centers each season, and often
take considerable quantities.

At the South peaches are mostly grown for ship-
ment in the fresh state. At some points canning and
evaporating plants have been established, but these,
as a rule, only work up the poor grades. In the more
remote country districts peaches are still sometimes
fermented and distilled into brandy.

An immense number of varieties are in cultivation,
but they can be grouped into five principal classes or
races. First, the Persian, which includes the Craw-
ford, and many other varieties that have been longest
in cultivation at the North. Second, the North China

212 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

race, which are mostly descended from the Chinese
Cling ; this includes the Elberta and many others
most popular in the middle South. Third, the so-
called Spanish type, including certain kinds derived
from Florida seedlings, which were supposed to be of
Spanish origin. This race is of less importance than
the other two, but is adapted to a somewhat more
southerly region. They are mostly grown in the
latitude of north Florida. None of these races suc-
ceed well in the peninsula of Florida, nor in South
Texas ; for these regions two other races have re-
cently been developed that came originally from South
China. The Chinese Honey and its descendants are
rather small, long, pointed peaches, with a sweet but
somewhat insipid flavor. The Peento type are de-
scendants from a variety of that name, which, unlike
the Honey, is broad and flat in shape. Varieties of
these two types can be grown throughout the orange
belt of Florida and succeed to some extent in Cuba
and other tropical countries. No detailed description
of the difl^erent varieties can be attempted here, but
the reader is referred to the Reports of the Georgia
and Florida Horticultural Societies.

Diseases and Insects. — The most serious fungous
disease at the South is the brown rot (^Moyiilid). If
the weather is wet during the ripening season, the
loss from this cause is liable to be very great. It is
always worse on low, moist land and on trees that are
making a vigorous growth. To guard against rot
orchards should be given such treatment as will in-
duce only a moderate growth, just enough to keep the
trees in a healthy normal condition. Rapid growth

FRUITS 213

in a bearing orchard is not desirable. Tliorougli
spraying with Bordeaux mixture gives a large meas-
ure of protection from rot, but in very unfavorable
seasons, or on rankly growing trees, it cannot be de-
pended upon to entirely prevent it. Peach foliage
is very susceptible to injury from copper compounds,
so that a very weak Bordeaux must be used. Two
pounds of copper sulphate and six pounds of lime
to a barrel of water is the formula usually recom-
mended for peaches. To be effective, spraying must
be given early in the spring, as soon as the blossoms
fall. In fact, one spraying before the buds open is
advisable. Subsequent applications will depend, to
some extent, upon the weather. If the weather is
wet, more spraying will be required than when dry.
Another necessary precaution is to remove all dry,
so-called " Qiummied " fruits of last year's crop and
destroy them, for it is on these " mummies " that the
fungus passes the winter.

Next in importance to the rot is the curculio, a
small beetle which stings the young fruit and deposits
an egg which hatches into a small, white, footless
grub, that feeds within the tissues of the growing
fruit, either destroying it entirely or, if the egg has
been laid later in the season, causing it to ripen pre-
maturely and, when cut, disclosing the rotting cavity
in which the grub is feeding. These wormy peaches
are well known by every one who has handled this
crop. Adding two ounces of Paris green to the
barrel of Bordeaux mixture that is used for the first
spraying after the falling of the flowers will kill a
certain proportion of the adult beetles, as they feed

214 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

to some extent upon the yonng, tender foliage. But
this spraying cannot be depended upon to fully pro-
tect the crop. The beetles have a habit of falling
from the tree when disturbed. This fact is taken
advantage of for destroying them. Sheets are fas-
tened over light frames that are made with an opening
on one side so that they may be slipped about the
trunk of the tree ; the tree is then jarred sharply, the
beetles falling upon the sheets, where they may be
gathered up and destroyed. This work is best done
early in the morning, since the beetles fly too quickly
during the heat of the day. Curculio catching should
begin as soon as the young fruits are well formed,
and the trees should be gone over every morning as
long as the insects are found in any quantity. In some
seasons they will be practically all caught in three
weeks and at other times it will be necessary to con-
tinue the catching almost to the time for gathering
the fruit. This is a laborious and expensive business,
and is not undertaken by all growers. It is, however,
the only method by which immunity from this pest
can be secured, and it is found to pay well by those
who have followed it most thoroughly.

The San Jose scale (^Aspidiotus perniciosus) is an
insect coming originally from China that first attracted
attention in this country in the neighborhood of San
Jose, California. It has since spread to practically all
fruit-growing sections, usually having been carried on
infected nursery stock. This fact more than any-
thing else has led to the enactment in most of the
states of stringent laws governing the inspection of
nurseries and the traffic in and importation of nursery

FRUITS

215

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■ijyii'-M

The San Jose Scale.

~5«S=f,^

A Curculio Catcher.

216 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

stock. This insect attacks practically all of the
deciduous fruit trees and many ornamental trees and
shrubs, covering the bark with a grayish scurfy
coating. It is especially injurious to the peach,
since, when present in great numbers, it quickly
lowers the vitality of the tree, frequently killing it
outright by the second year. Many fine orchards
in all parts of the country have been ruined by this
insect. For a long time entomologists were at a
loss to determine the original home of this insect,
as it is now so widely scattered in all parts of the
world. Since this has finally been determined, great
efforts have been made to find and introduce its
natural native enemies, but so far the practical results
obtained have not equaled the expectations that were
warranted by the success of such importations in
other cases. The usual methods employed for com-
bating this most serious pest are the use of contact
poisons for spraying and washing the trunks, or
fumigation with hydrocyanic gas under tents. The
latter method is cumbersome and expensive, so
reliance is usually placed on spraying. Various
substances have been widely recommended for this
purpose and have been used with more or less success,
particularly whale-oil soap and kerosene and crude
petroleum, both in emulsions and mechanical mixtures.
On the whole, however, the best and safest results are
found to follow the use of the sulphur-lime spray (see
page 97). Two applications are best, one in the fall
as soon as the leaves are off and another in the spring
before the buds open. As in most spraying opera-
tions, very thorough work is necessary, since it is

FRUITS 217

only those scales that are actually covered by the
mixture that are killed.

The next most serious peach enemy is the root
borer. This is the larva of a small moth which lays
her eggs on the bark at the foot of the tree. When
the young hatch, they bore into the bark and range
downward, feeding on the soft layer between the
bark and the wood. They are often numerous
enough to do considerable damage, sometimes even
girdling the tree and killing it outright. Many
preventive washes have been tried with the idea of
deterring the insect from laying her eggs on the tree,
and it is probable that some of them are more or less
effective; but careful experiments show that they can-
not be relied upon. . Perhaps as good a one as any is
to paint the trunks of the trees, in early spring,
with a heavy Bordeaux mixture, to which has been
added six to eight ounces of Paris green to the
barrel. The lime of the Bordeaux mixture acts to
some extent as a deterrent, and the Paris green will
kill some of the newly hatched larv?e while attempt-
ing to bury themselves in the bark. Another ex-
pedient is to mound the dirt up well around the
trunk of the trees in early spring, before the eggs
are deposited. This forces the insect to place her
eggs high up on the tree, Avhere the bark is too hard
to be easily penetrated by the young larvpe. After
all these precautions have been taken, however, it is
still necessary to go over the orchard two or three
times each summer and dig out the borers with a
sharp knife. On removing the dirt from the base of
the tree, they can be easily located by the gum and

218 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

sawdust that exudes from the mouth of their
burrows.

The peach yellows that has killed so many orchards
at the North is almost unknown at the South, but a
somewhat similar disease, known as rosette, has been
quite destructive in restricted localities. Infected
trees can be told at quite a distance by the yel-
lowish color and the manner in which the leaves
are crowded at the ends of the twigs. This, like the
yellows, is a functional, non-parasitic disease. No
remedy is known. Diseased trees should be promptly
dug up and destroyed.

Plums (^Prunus sps.^. — The remarks already given
in regard to peaches will nearly all apply with equal
force to plums, since the two crops require very
similar conditions and management and are liable
to the attacks of the same diseases and insects.
If anything, plums may be planted on rather heavier
soils than peaches. The cultivated varieties of plums
differ much more widely than peaches, since they are
derived from a number of distinct species. The
Japanese plums, which are supposed to belong to
Primus triflora^ are the most important race for the
Southern states and include such well-known market
kinds as Abundance, Burbank, and Kelsey. Next in
importance come the Wild Goose class (^Prunus Jior-
tulana^. Following these are the native Chickasaws
(^Prunus angustifolid)^ many of which have been
brought into cultivation. The European plums and
prunes (^Prunus c?o?7^es^^ca), which are so largely grown
in California, do not succeed well at the South, and
are rarely found there. The many native varieties

FRUITS 219

of Northern plums (^Primus Aynericana and Prunus
nigra) are also but little planted.

A few varieties of plums root readily from cuttings,
and one of these, the Mariana^ has been extensively
used as a stock on which to bud the other kinds.
At the present time most commercial plum orchards
in the South are on these stocks.

Besides the diseases and insects discussed under
peaches, plums are subject to another serious trouble,
known as black knot (Ploivriglitia). This is a
fungous parasite causing unsightly black, gall-like
swellings on the twigs and branches. When these
become numerous, they greatly sap the vitality of the
tree, and in extreme cases even cause its death. It
can be quite thoroughly controlled by carefully
pruning out the diseased branches and spraying the
tree in early spring with Bordeaux mixture in order
to prevent new infection.

Neither apricots nor cherries, the other two im-
portant stone fruits, succeed well at the South.
Apricots bloom so early as to be very subject to
injury from late frost ; while climatic conditions do
not seem favorable to the growth of cherry trees, and
it is useless to plant them south of Tennessee and
Kentucky, except in the mountains and the red clay
foothills of the Piedmont region.

Apples (^Pyrus malus). — At the South apples
do not have the same preeminent commercial im-
portance as at the North, but they can be grown,
at least for home use, in practically all parts of the
cotton belt. A few varieties will even grow and bear
fruit along the Gulf coast and in Florida, though

220 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

they give plain indications that the surroundings are
not congenial.

Apples grow best on rather heavy soils, those of
limestone origin being particularly adapted to them.
They are sometimes budded in the same manner as
peaches, but it is more usual to propagate them by
root grafting. Apple seedlings are taken up when
one year old, the roots cut into from one to three
pieces, and the scion of the desired variety is whip-
grafted into this piece of root. These grafts are
planted rather deeply in nursery rows, so that the
point of union is well covered with earth. They are
usually allowed to grow two years in the nursery, but
some orchardists prefer planting one-year-old trees.

The cultivation and care of an apple orchard is
much the same as with the peach, except that less
pruning is required and that on strong, moist lands
it is permissible, after three or four years, to seed the
land down to grass or clover.

Several hundred varieties of apples have been listed
in catalogues, and more or less cultivated, but compar-
atively few of these have any commercial impor-
tance. Many of the best-known Northern varieties
do not thrive well at the South. • Of the better-
known kinds, Red Astrakhan and Red June for early,
and Winesap and Ben Davis for late, kinds may be
safely planted.

Apples are subject to the attacks of a long list of
diseases and of insect troubles. There are borers
which attack the roots and trunks, and cankerworms
to destroy the leaves. The woolly aphis causes dis-
tortions and gall-like swellings on the roots. This

FRUITS 221

is apt to be a rather serious pest and is frequently
introduced on the roots of young trees from the
nursery. Such trees should never be planted. This
trouble may be partially cured by removing the soil
from the roots and applying a liberal application of
ground tobacco stems and again covering with dirt.

Everything considered, the codling moth is the
most serious pest of the apple. This is a small brown
moth that lays an egg in the calyx of the young apple
just after the flower falls. The egg soon hatches
into a minute grub that bores down into the fruit,
usually working in or near the core. Such wormy
apples are, of course, worthless for market. The stand-
ard remedy is to spray thoroughly with Paris green,
just after the flowers fall, and before the young
fruits get heavy enough to turn down. If a drop of the
poison spray chances to lodge in the calyx, the Paris
green will remain there and kill the young grub as it
tries to eat its way into the interior.

Two sprayings should be given at intervals of a
week or ten days and the work should be done as
thoroughly as possible in order to make sure that
each apple receives its drop of poisonous liquid.

Another very serious apple trouble is the fungous
disease known as scab (^Fusicladium). This forms
brown, unsightly blotches on the fruits and seriously
injures their keeping qualities. It also attacks the
leaves and the young twigs. The fungus which has
wintered over on the twigs becomes active early in
the spring, and if the weather is damp and rainy at
blooming time, it may cause the blasting of the flower
clusters and prevent the setting of fruit. Thorough

222 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

spraying with Bordeaux mixture is the recognized
remedy. To be effective this must begin early in
the season. The first application should be given
before the flowers open and a second as soon as the
petals have fallen. As a rule it is not wise to spray
plants of any kind when in full bloom as there is
danger of interfering with pollination. Usually a
third and fourth application should be given at in-
tervals of ten days to two weeks. In practice Paris
green is added to the Bordeaux mixture for all
except the first application, the combined spray thus
serving to prevent injury from the codling moth
and from the cankerworm and other leaf-eating
insects and at the same time giving protection from
scab and other fungous troubles.

At the South bitter rot (^Sphceropsis') must be
included among the very serious apple diseases. It
attacks the unripe fruit while still hanging on the
tree, covering it with large blackened areas. If
examined closely, the surface of these areas will be
found to be more or less thickly covered with minute
pustules that break up through the epidermis of the
leaf. These are the fruiting bodies of the fungus
and contain the spores by means of which the disease
is disseminated. The same fungus also attacks the
larger branches, killing the bark and causing sunken,
more or less distorted areas called cankers. It is
here that it passes the winter. The careful cutting
out of all such centers of contagion during the
winter together with repeated sprayings with Bor-
deaux, as recommended for the scab, will largely pre-
vent injury, but the disease is a very difficult one to

FRUITS 223

fully control. Some varieties are much more sub-
ject to it than others, and only those with some
degree of immunity should be selected for planting.

The serious disease of pears known as blight or
fire blight also attacks apples and often causes much
damage by destroying the flower clusters and the
small twigs that bear them. This is a bacterial
disease, and the contagion is conveyed from diseased
to healthy flowers by the bees which visit them in
such numbers. It will be discussed more fully as
a pear disease. No remedy can be given except to
cut out all diseased flower clusters as soon as they
can be detected and to see that no neglected pear
trees are allowed to stand in or near the apple or-
chard.

At the South apple trees are often seriously dam-
aged by green aphis. These are little soft-bodied
sucking insects that multiply with exceeding rapid-
ity. They may be often seen entirely incrusting all
the young growing twigs. A tree so infested stops
growing and is greatly enfeebled. Spraying with
kerosene, either as an emulsion or as a mechanical
mixture with water, is the usual remedy, but it is not
fully satisfactory. Apple foliage is easily injured by
kerosene. The mixture cannot be used if stronger
than ten per cent and even then care must be used
not to apply it too heavily. To be effective the
spraying must be repeated at frequent intervals,
since it is always impossible to kill all of the insects,
and the few that are left multiply so rapidly as
quickly to reinfest the tree.

Apples are sometimes attacked by the San Jose

224 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

scale, though they are less susceptible than the
peach, pear, or plum. They are also often infested
by another scale, the oyster-shell bark louse. The
same line of treatment suggested for the San Jose
scale on peaches will be effective for any of the scales
found on apples.

The apple leaf rust (G-ymno sporangium) is an-
other disease that should be mentioned. It is a
fungous disease causing conspicuous yellow spots on
the leaves. On the under side of these spots clusters
of minute horn-shaped receptacles appear that are
filled with spores. This disease is a peculiar and
interesting one, since the fungus which causes it
passes through two very distinct stages. The spores
formed on the apple leaves will not grow again on
the aj^ple, but if blown to a red cedar they quickly
germinate and form small galls on the twigs, which
the following spring develop into the unsightly
orange-colored masses, usually known as " cedar ap-
ples," that are such familiar objects wherever apples
and red cedars occur in the same neighborhood. It is
the spores produced on these '^ cedar apples " that
again infest the young apple leaves and cause the
yellow rust spots. Cutting down all the cedar trees
in the neighborhood of an apple orchard is the surest
remedy for this trouble. Spraying with Bordeaux
mixture at the time that the "cedar apples" are
maturing spores will also give some protection.
Many varieties of apples show a marked immunity
from this disease. Red Astrakhan, Winesap, and
Ben Davis are seldom or never attacked by it, while
Red June, Jonathan, and many other varieties are

«t

FRUITS 225

seriously injured in all regions where the red cedar
is common.

Pears (^Pyrus sps.^. — The varieties of pears mostly
cultivated at the North are of European origin, and
these, as a rule, do not succeed well at the South. All
the varieties of the Oriental race, however, are per-
fectly well adapted to Southern conditions and a few
of them are extensively grown for market. Unlike
the European kinds which do best on strong clay-
loam soils, these thrive in even the lightest sands
and can be successfully grown throughout the cotton
belt, along the Gulf coast, and even in peninsular
Plorida. To succeed, however, they must be budded
on Oriental roots. They will not thrive if propa-
gated on European roots or on the quince.

Some fertilizer must be used on very light soils to
secure sufficient growth, but, as will be more fully
explained in discussing blight, great care must be
taken not to overfertilize.

It is usual to give clean cultivation during the
first two or three years. After this, custom varies ;
some growers, especially on the heavier soils, prefer-
ring to plant the ground to some cover crop or even
let it grow up to grass.

Unlike most other fruits, pears do not develop
their best quality if allowed to hang on the tree un-
til entirely ripe. They should be picked Avhen fully
grown or as soon as the seeds have hardened and be
placed in a close dark place to ripen. The rule usu-
ally followed in picking is to take them as soon as
the stem will part readily from the tree when the pear
is lifted. If allowed to tree ripen, many varieties

Q

226 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

become dry and tasteless, while others soften and rot
at the core, thus becoming worthless.

Like the apple, pears are subject to the attacks
of the codling moth and also to a scab fungus. These
may be controlled in the same way as suggested for
apples by spraying with Bordeaux mixture just before
and with Bordeaux and Paris green just after bloom-
ing.

San Jose scale attacks pears in common with the
other deciduous fruit trees and should be treated as
previously indicated.

Pears are also subject to a leaf-spot fungus (^Ento-
mosporium) which does much damage by causing the
premature falling of the leaves. Some varieties are
very susceptible and are often completely defoliated
by midsummer. This prevents the formation of
fruit buds, and the crop for the following ^^ear is lost.
Other kinds show a marked degree of immunity and
are usually but little injured. The spraying with
Bordeaux recommended for scab will do much to
hold this disease in check also.

Blight, or as it is sometimes called, fire blight, is by
far the most serious disease of pears. It is caused
by bacteria which attack the tender growing tissues,
especially of the cambium, Avhich lies between the
bark and the wood. The stigmas of the open
flowers are also very liable to attack and in the
great majority of cases infection takes \)\^q,q in this
way through the flowers. The usual course of the
disease is as follows : when the sap first stirs in the
spring on certain old blighted areas, where the disease
has held over from the previous year, the bark

FRUITS 227

exudes drops of a sweet sticky liquid that is simply
swarming with the blight germs. Other food being
scarce, bees are attracted to this sticky exudation
and become smeared with it. When they after-
ward visit the first open flowers, they carry the
germs, which find a favorable place of growth on the
moist stigmas of the pistils. They multiply and
find their way down through the soft tissues so
rapidly that in the course of one or two days the
entire flower looks limp and watery, and it soon
blackens and shrivels. From the flower stem the
disease quickly makes its way to the soft cambium of
the fruit spur, and spreads from this downward to
the larcrer limbs on which it is borne. The disease
usually continues to spread rapidly as long as the
tree is in an active growing condition, and it often
happens that the disease, gaining access to a large
limb from some small fruit spur, completely girdles
it, and thus causes the sudden dying of all that part
above the point of infection. If, as sometimes hap-
pens, the diseased fruit spur springs directly from the
main trunk, the entire top of the tree may suddenly
die. When the trees stop growing and begin to
harden up the new wood in the great majority of
cases, especially on the twigs and small branches, the
disease dies and a sharp line of demarcation begins
to separate the dead from the living wood. On the
trunks and larger limbs, however, there are always
certain places where it continues to grow slowly, and
it is by means of these " hold over " cases that
the disease passes the winter, and starts a fresh out-
break the following spring. The " blossom blight "

\
228 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

above described is by far the most common form, but
the disease may also be conveyed by the bites of
insects to the young leaves, stems, or fruits. It does
not, however, seem to be able to pass through the
unbroken cuticle which is nature's protective cover-
ing to guard against such infections.

No remedy for this disease is known, and no
spray or other application has been found that is of
the slightest use in controlling it. Cultural methods,
however, may do much to minimize the losses oc-
casioned by it, by taking advantage of the fact
that it spreads fastest when the tree is making the
rankest, most vigorous growth, and that it practi-
cally dies out as soon as that growth begins to
harden. A pear orchard that is attacked by blight
should be at once seeded down to grass, or some
cover crop, and should be given phosphatic fertilizers,
but no nitrogen, in order to induce the early harden-
ing of the wood. Especially after the trees reach
bearing age anything that would induce a rank,
sappy growth should be carefully avoided. Spo-
radic cases that occur in young trees should always
be promptly cut out, taking care to cut well in ad-
vance of the diseased area. In a bearing orchard
it will do little good to attempt cutting while an
outbreak is actively in progress, but when it is over
the dead wood should be cut away and careful
search made for all living '^ hold over " cases. These
should be cut out with great care, and the orchard
should be inspected frequently, with the hope of de-
tecting and removing all of them. In starting a
young orchard it is also wise to prune back very

FRUITS 229

low, and then allow three or four leaders to form
instead of one. This does not make as handsome
a tree, but in case blight infests one of these leaders
it can be cut away without losing the entire tree.
It is also best to carefully prune off all fruit spurs
tliat form on the trunk and larger limbs, thus con-
fining the flowers, which are such a source of danger,
to the twigs and smaller branches. There seems to
be a certain periodicity with this disease, and in
occasional years heavy losses will occur, notwith-
standing all these precautions. Ordinarily, however,
profitable crops can be secured if they are carefully
attended to.

Tlie quince (^Cydonid) and the loquat (^Mespilits)
are two fruits related to pears and apples that are
considerably grown in some parts of the South, but
neither is of much commercial importance. The ordi-
nary, or French, quince does not thrive well, except
in the more northern districts, but the large, coarse
Chinese quince is at home in all parts. It is used,
like the other, for preserving, but has quite a dis-
tinct flavor. The loquat, or medlar, sometimes erro-
neously called "Japan plum," only occurs in Florida
and along the Gulf coast. It is quite abundant in
the neighborhood of New Orleans. As it blooms in
the fall, and ripens its fruit in early spring, it is a
welcome addition to the home garden in those re-
gions where it can be grown, but it cannot endure
much cold. It also thrives well in the tropics.

The dwarf June berry, or service berry (^Amelan-
chier^, is another little fruit belonging to the apple
and pear family that is often found in Southern

230 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

gardens. It is locally called a currant, but it does
not compare with that favorite Northern fruit in
flavor or usefulness.

Of the other small fruits strawberries and black-
berries are the only ones that can be successfully
grown. Raspberries, currants, gooseberries, and cran-
berries all fail except in the mountainous districts.

Strawberries {Fragaria) succeed well in all parts
of the South, as also in Cuba, Porto Rico, and other
tropical countries. They are grown extensively for
Northern shipment, and, in fact, in certain regions
they constitute the chief market crop. Refrigerator
transportation must be utilized to reach points more
than twenty-four hours distant. A great number
of varieties are in cultivation, and various cultural
methods are used, but the subject is too large to be
considered in detail here.

Blackberries (^Ruins') are of much less commercial
importance than strawberries. Some, at least, of
them can be grown successfully in all parts of the
Southern states. The varieties in cultivation are
descended from a number of wild species. They
may all be classed in two groups, the high-bush black-
berries and the trailing blackberries. The last are
usually called dewberries.

Grapes (^Vitis). — Some of the many kinds of grapes
can be grown successfully in all parts of the South-
ern states and even in favored localities in the West
Indies. In no part of the South, however, do they
have the same commercial importance as along the
shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario or in California.

Grapes will grow under a great variety of soil and

FRUITS 231

climatic conditions. Most of the kinds do best on
strong, well-drained limestone soils and in a dry
rather than a wet climate. Frequent rains and a
moist, muggy atmosphere, especially as the fruit
reaches maturity, always promote the many fungous
diseases to which this crop is so susceptible. The
common European practice of planting on hillsides
too steep for cultivation to other crops is seldom fol-
lowed in this country, not so much because grapes
cannot be made to thrive in such locations as because
the expense of cultivation is much greater than on
more level land. Good drainage is, however, always
important, and a southeast exj)0sure, where the dew
dries early, is to be preferred to a northern one.
Grapes require plenty of potash and phosphoric acid,
and where these substances are lacking they should
be supplied in commercial fertilizers ; but nitrogenous
manures should be avoided as they promote a ten-
dency to disease. Vine roots seem to have a consider-
able power of utilizing the insoluble phosphates. No
vines grow better than those having old bones buried
about the roots.

Grapes are mostly propagated from cuttings, the
young plants being planted in the vineyard when
from one to two years old. They are usually planted
at from six to eight feet apart, and the ground should
be given frequent but shallow cultivation in order to
always keep it clear of weeds and grass. Cover
crops are seldom used in the vineyard, but at the
South some kind of winter cover crop would undoubt-
edly be of great benefit in protecting the fertility of
the soil. The California method of training which

232 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

allows the vines to fall over on the ground will not
answer at the South on account of the summer rains,
but it is necessary to tie the vines either to stakes or
to some form of wire trellis. Everything considered,
the horizontal three-wire trellis is to be preferred,
since the fruit hangs under the shelter of the leaves
and is more protected from sun and dew.

Most kinds of grapes require heavy annual prun-
ing in order to produce profitable crops. A number
of different systems of pruning are in vogue, but the
so-called long-arm renewal system is best adapted
to Southern conditions. During the first season all
laterals are pinched out, and the vine is trained to a
single stem. When this reaches the height of the
trellis, the terminal bud is pinched out to force
branching. No further attention is required till the
winter pruning, when all but the two best branches
are cut away. These are tied down to the central
wire of the trellis and are cut back to three or four
buds in order to prevent overbearing. Each of
these buds will push a strong new shoot in the spring,
which in most cases falls over the side wires and
supports itself without the necessity of tying. The
fruit is borne on these new shoots, each one producing
an average of three bunches. All shoots starting
from the lower part of the main stem should be
pinched off. The next winter the two best shoots are
again selected, preference being given to those start-
ing farthest back near the old cane, and all others
are cut away. This time the bearing canes may be
left longer than the first year and by the third year
they may be left long enough to meet with those of

FRUITS 233

the next vine, thus making a continuous line of bear-
ing wood for the full length of the trellis.

• Grapes must hang on the vine till fully mature,
as they do not ripen after gathering. Maturing at
the South during the heat of midsummer, they do
not keep like the Northern grape that ripens in the
cool weather of fall, and they must be marketed
quickly, refrigerator transportation being necessary
for distant shipments.

At the South grapes are mostly grown for use in
the fresh state, but in a few sections wine making
has become a successful industry. Many families
also make it in a small way for home consumption.
The kinds mostly used for wine making are the Con-
cord, the Herbemont, and the Scuppernong.

The varieties of cultivated grapes are very numer-
ous and differ widely in character and adaptability to
different cultural conditions. They are descended
from a considerable number of wild species, and they
are usually classified according to their botanical
relationship. The most important that have become
the parents of cultivated kinds are Vitis vinifera
of Europe, Vitis Labrusca of the northeastern United
States, Vitis cestivalis of eastern America, Vitis
Bourquineana of the southeast (known only in
cultivation), Vitis rotundifolia of the southeast, and
Vitis Linsecomii of the southwest. Besides the
direct descendants of these different species much
attention has been given to hybridizing, and some
of our best varieties are multi-hybrids, combining the
characteristics of several of these original strains.
The name of Rogers will always be associated with

234 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

the delicious but unfortunately rather delicate kinds
produced by combinations of the vinifera and
Labrusca tj'pes, while the achievement of T. V.
Munson of Texas in producing an entirely new
race of grapes, better adapted than any of the
old ones to southwestern conditions, by using the
native post- oak grape of Texas as the foundation for
his crosses, is one of the most notable in the entire
history of plant breeding. A wild grape ( Vitis
Carahcea) grows abundantly in many parts of the
West Indies. It is exceedingly vigorous and the fruit
is of fair quality. It could doubtless be used with
equal success as the basis for a race of grapes entirely
adapted to tropical conditions.

The vinifera or European kinds are practically
the only ones grown in Europe and in California.
All of the raisin grapes and many of the best
wine and table grapes belong here. They require
a warm, dry climate in order to succeed well, and
unfortunately none of them are fully successful at
the South. In a humid climate they are very
subject to mildew and to other diseases, and every-
wdiere they are exceedingly susceptible to the at-
tacks of Phjdloxera.

The Labrusca varieties are the ones most generally
grown in the northeastern United States, and they
include such well-known kinds as Concord, Ca-
tawba, and Niagara. They can be grown as far
south as the Gulf coast, but are not fully successful
in peninsular Florida and are probably not adapted
to tropical conditions. They are good growers and
are comparatively resistant to most grape disease.

FRUITS 235

but at the South they prove very susceptible to root
rot, and vineyards are apt to be short lived.

The cestivalis varieties are of comparatively little
importance, though some of them are valuable for
wine. Vines of this type and of the closely related
Vitis rupestris are very resistant to the Phylloxera,
and they have been very widely used in Europe and
California as stocks on which to graft the susceptible
vinifera varieties.

The Bourquineana varieties also constitute a small
group, but they are important at the South from
their power of resistance to the insidious root-rot
disease. The Delaware, everywhere so well known
as one of the best of American table grapes, and the
Herbemont, which makes one of the finest American
wines, are the two principal varieties of this class.

The rotundifolia varieties are all natives of the
Southeastern states and thrive best on the moist,
sandy soils of the coast region. They are rampant
growers, easily climbing to the top of the tallest
forest trees. The fruit is large and juicy but thick
skinned. It is produced in small, irregular clusters
and not in symmetrical, compact bunches, as in the
other races. Unlike the bunch grapes it requires
little or no pruning, the vines being allowed to run
at will over large arbors. The Scuppernong is the
best-known kind. It is a light-colored grape, while
all the other varieties are black. While of no great
commercial importance, it is very widely planted at
the South for home use and domestic wine making;
in fact, no Southern home is considered complete
without its Scuppernong arbor.

236 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

The Linsecomii varieties have all originated with
Mr. Munson in Texas. They are especially adapted
to southwestern conditions, though they succeed
well in most other 'parts of the South. They con-
tain some very fine table varieties. Owing to their
wide range in season of ripening, they have con-
siderably extended the Southern grape season. The
adaptability of these kinds to tropical conditions has
not yet been determined.

Grapes are subject to a great variety of insect
pests and fungous diseases. Owing to the impor-
tance of the vine industry in Europe and to the fact
that it has been three times seriously threatened
with annihilation, owing to the importation of Ameri-
can diseases (powdery mildew, downy mildew, and
Phylloxera), attention was early called to these
troubles, and they have been more exhaustively
studied and published on than the diseases of any
other cultivated plant. The resulting mass of liter-
ature is so enormous as to be absolutely bewildering.
Only the more important troubles can be touched on
here. For practical purposes it is only necessary to
know that most of the fungous diseases and leaf-eat-
ing insects can be held in check by persistent spray-
ing with Bordeaux mixture and Paris green. This
treatment is strongly recommended wherever grapes
are grown in the humid regions. The first spray-
ing should always be given before the buds open.

Powdery mildew ( Uncinula') is a superficial fun-
gus that forms a white coating over the leaves,
fruit clusters, and young stems. It is very injuri-
ous to the European varieties, but rarely does much

FKUITS 237

damage to American kinds. Dusting with sulphur is
a better remedy than the Bordeaux for this disease.

Downy mildew (^Plasmopera) is a far more serious
trouble than the previous kind. This fungus grows
within the tissues of the leaves, sending out its fruit-
ing branches through the stomata on the under sur-
face, where they form a delicate downy or frostlike
coating. The affected leaves soon die and fall.
It also attacks and rots the young fruit clusters.
Fortunately, it can be controlled by thorough treat-
ment with Bordeaux mixture ; in fact, it was against
this disease that this famous remedy was first em-
ployed.

Black rot (^Guignardia) should probably be con-
sidered the most "serious grape disease in eastern
North America. It grows on the leaves, causing a
conspicuous brown spotting, but its chief injury is
to the fruit. The infested fruits blacken and shrivel
into hard, unshapely, persistent masses, which are
covered with prominent pustules containing the
spores. This makes ragged, unsightly bunches that
are unfit for market. In severe attacks, all the fruits
on a cluster are frequently destroyed. Varieties
differ somewhat in susceptibility, but all of the bunch
grapes are more or less subject to attack, the rotiuidi-
folia type alone having any real immunity. Thorough
early and repeated spraying with Bordeaux, espe-
cially if continued from year to year, will usually
hold this disease in check, but it is notoriously diffi-
cult to control, and careless spraying is only wasted
labor.

Ripe rot QCrlceospoymirn) is another very serious

238 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

trouble at the South. It attacks the fruits just as
they are beginning to ripen, causing them to become
discolored and often somewhat swollen. The dis-
eased fruits are covered with pimple-like pustules,
as in the black rot; but unlike those attacked by
that disease, they do not dry down and persist, but
soon soften and fall from the cluster. The disease
often develops after the fruit is picked and while
on its way to market ; baskets of grapes that seem
perfectly sound when packed, opening up forty-eight
hours later in a worthless, unsalable condition.
From the berries the fungus soon invades the stems
of the cluster. Instead of remaining limber and
pliable, as in healthy clusters, such infected stems
dry down hard and brittle, so that even the sound
berries are easily jarred off, and the clusters, when
they reach market, cannot be handled without shat-
tering. It is this shattering that has given South-
ern grapes so poor a reputation in the markets
and has done more than anything else to make
the industry unprofitable. Spraying with Bordeaux
is not admissible for some weeks before the ripen-
ing of the fruit, since it stains the clusters and
makes them unfit for use. It therefore cannot be
used as a remedy for this disease. The ammonia-
cal solution of copper carbonate may be substi-
tuted for it with some success, but it by no means
fully prevents the trouble. Training on a horizon-
tal trellis so that the fruit is protected from the
sun and dew by the foliage gives more relief than
anything else, but no really successful treatment
for controlling this disease has yet been devised, es-

FRUITS 239

pecially if the weather is damp and showery when
the grapes are ripening.

Root rot is an obscure trouble which has not been
sufficiently studied, and its real cause is not under-
stood. A whitening of the layers between the
outer and inner bark is always noticeable, and the
small roots gradually die and rot ; but so far it has
not been possible to connect the disease with any
specific fungus. It occurs in all parts of the South,
especially in the dry hill lands, and has been tlie
cause of the early death of a great number of vine-
yards. The 7'otundifoUa grapes seem to be entirely
immune to this disease. The Bourquineana varieties,
while not fully immune, show a pronounced power
of resistance, while- all the other classes are about
equally susceptible. It is probable that grafting
these other kinds on some strong-growing, resistant
kind like the Herbemont would do much to obviate
this trouble and to prolong the life of Southern vine-
yards. The Delaware, although a slow grower and
usually considered delicate, has a pronounced power
of resistance, and in many parts of the South it will
continue to live and bear crops long after the Con-
cord, Ives, and other strong-growing kinds have been
entirely destroyed.

The Phylloxera is a plant louse that occurs in two
forms: one causing small galls on the leaves, and the
other living on and causing distortions of the roots.
It is the root form that does most damage and causes
the death of susceptible kinds. It is a native Ameri-
can insect, and all the American species of grapes
have developed a greater or less immunity to it ; so

240 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

that while it may be able to live on them, it causes
but little injury. The European vi7iifera varieties
are all, however, very susceptible, and to grow them
successfully where the Phylloxera occurs, they must
be grafted on roots of some resistant American kind.
This is now very widely done in both Europe and
California. None of the kinds usually grown at the
South are materially injured by this insect.

The great number of leaf-eating grape insects can
all be more or less successfully controlled by the use
of Paris green, which is best applied in connection
with the Bordeaux-mixture sprays.

Persimmons (^Diospyros). — The Japanese persim-
mon is another fruit of some importance that grows
well in nearly all parts of the South. It is of rather
recent introduction and so far has been slow in
finding a place in the markets. The demand for
it is, however, slowly increasing, and as it is of really
high quality and keeps and ships well it will doubt-
less ultimately become one of the important com-
mercial fruits. Tlie trees are not hardy at the
North, and they are sometimes injured in the South
by exceptionally cold winters or especially by late
cold snaps in the spring. Methods of cultivation
are much the same as for as the peach though much
less pruning is required. As the trees are slow
growers they may be set as close as twelve or fifteen
feet. There has been much confusion in regard to
varieties and varietal names. About a dozen kinds
are now in more or less general cultivation and can
be secured of the leading Southern nurseries. The
trees are sometimes injured by a serious blight, but

FRUITS 241

it has not been sufficiently studied to determine the
real nature of the disease nor to suggest a remedy.
A leaf disease also occurs, but on the whole this fruit
is unusually free from serious troubles.

The native wild persimmons, so common through-
out the South, are gathered and shipped to market
from some sections. During recent years some
attention has been given to selecting the best of
these and bringing them into cultivation, but as yet
this has not passed the experimental stage.

Subtropical Fruits

The various citrus fruits easily overshadow all
the others that can properly be classed as sub-
tropical. Of these oranges, pomelos (grape fruit),
lemons, limes, and citrons are of most importance.
Other subtropical fruits are the fig, pomegranate, and
olive.

Figs (^Ficiis). — The fig must be classed as sub-
tropical, although when in the dormant condition the
tree will stand considerable cold. It can be grown
with some success as far north as central Alabama
and Mississippi, for although at this latitude fre-
quently frozen to the ground by hard winters it
sprouts readily from the roots and often bears fruit
on these new shoots the first season.

The fig will grow on a great variety of soils, but if
not naturally rich they should be well fertilized.
It has a shallow rooting habit, and only very shallow
cultivation should be given after the trees gain
much size. Deep plowing is very detrimental. In
fact, at the South the ideal location for figs is found

242 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

in the hard-trampecl, clean-swept dooryarcl, where
they receive no cultivation whatever, but where no
grass or weeds are allowed to grow and where they
are constantly enriched by ashes, soapsuds, etc.
Figs always thrive admirably in dooryards, but
there have been many failures when the attempt
has been made to grow them under orchard con-
ditions.

The fig, while widely grown at the South for family
use, has never gained much commercial importance.
The fresh fruit, ripening as it does during the period
of midsummer rains, is too delicate for shipment
under ordinary methods. Experiments have shown
that with very careful handling it can be successfully
shipped under refrigeration, but fresh figs are practi-
cally unknown in the Northern markets, and there is
consequently no pressing demand for them. By proper
effort a profitable trade in them could unquestionably
be established, for no fruit is more keenly relished by
those who have learned to know it. There is a lim-
ited industry in canning and preserving figs at a few
points in the South. So far, very high prices have
been maintained for these goods, and the demand for
them is, consequently, not as great as it would other-
wise be. It is an industry that is capable of very
considerable extension. No commercial dried figs are
made at the South, since climatic conditions are unfa-
vorable and the varieties best adapted to drying do
not thrive well.

The number of varieties known in different coun-
tries is very large, but only a few seem to succeed
well at the South. Of these Celeste and Green

FRUITS 243

Ischia are the best for general planting. The Celeste
is a small fig, but very sweet and delicious, and the
tree is exceedingly hardy and productive. It is more
planted than all the other kinds combined. It is an
early fig, ripening during July. The Green Ischia is
somewhat larger and later, ripening in August and
September, thus making a desirable succession. It is
of high quality and seems to be equally as hardy and
productive as the Celeste. It is comparatively little
knoAvn, but deserves to be much more widely planted.
None of the varieties grown at the South produce fer-
tile seed, since they all belong to the class that pro-
duces fruit without poUenization. The wild pollen-
bearing Capri fig, with its curious insect parasites,
wdiich convey the pollen to the hidden pistillate
flowers, are therefore not needed. All the figs are
readily propagated by means of cuttings.

Nematode root galls {^Heteroderci) constitute by
far the worst disease of the fig. These trees are par-
ticularly susceptible to the attacks of this pest, which
occurs so abundantly in all the sandier lands at the
South, and it is probably responsible for most of
the failures that have occurred with figs. The in-
fested roots soon rot away, and the tree quickly
loses vigor and finally dies. No practicable remedy
is known. If nothing whatever is allowed to grow
on the land for eighteen months, the nematodes will
be exterminated by starvation. This probably ac-
counts for the comparative immunity of trees grown
under dooryard conditions.

The fig rust ( Uredo fiei) and another leaf disease
(caused by Cercospora Bolleana) often do consider-

244 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

able harm by defoliating the trees. These may both
be kept in check by occasional spraying with Bor-
deaux mixture.

A stem borer is troublesome in Louisiana, and one
of the native scale insects seriously injures the fig in
Cuba. Neither insect has received much study.

Pomegranate (^Punica). — This fruit has about the
same range as the fig. The small amount of pulp
surrounding the seeds contains a pleasant acid, and
they are often used for making a cooling drink, but
the fruit has no commercial importance. It is fre-
quently grown in family gardens, but quite as much
as an ornament as for its fruit.

Olives (^Oled). — The olive is fairly hardy to cold
and will grow and bear in the latitude of the Gulf
coast. It has, however, been but little planted, and
whether it can ever be of commercial importance is
doubtful, as the climate does not seem to be well
suited to it. The tree grows well in the West
Indies. Some seen at Hope Gardens, Jamaica, fifteen
years old, were thirty feet high, but for some un-
known cause they had never borne fruit. The fact
that it is not found in old Cuban gardens indicates
that it will not succeed there, since it must have
been early introduced by the Spaniards.

Oranges {Citrus aurantium and 0. nohilis). —
Oranges, while in reality tropical evergreens, are
able to endure light frosts without injury, especially
if in a half dormant condition, and they are, there-
fore, classed among the subtropical fruits. They
are grown as far north as New Orleans and the
Gulf coast of Mississippi and Alabama ; but in this

■Jl
be

o

FRUITS 245

latitude they are frequently injured by cold, and
every few winters the trees are frozen to the ground.
Sometimes in such cases they sprout again from the
roots, but often they are killed outright. Even in
northern peninsular Florida the orange industry,
which was once so important, has been ruined by
occasional severe winters, so that at the present time
commercial orange growing in the southern United
States is principally confined to the southern third
of the Florida peninsula. Here it is a very impor-
tant and growing industry, but the total output
from the state is now less than it was before the
disastrous freeze of 1894, and it is far less than from
the great orange-growing district of California.
The orange is at home in tropical countries, and
it occurs abundantly in a half-wild state in all parts
of the West Indies and Central America. Until
recently, however, its commercial importance has
not been realized in these countries, and its cultiva-
tion has received but little attention. Since the
great freeze in Florida, and especially since the
Spanish-American war, the possibilities of the busi-
ness in regions absolutely free from frost has begun
to attract the attention of enterprising Americans,
and there are now considerable commercial plant-
ings in Cuba, Porto Rico, and Jamaica.

The orange will grow and thrive on a great va-
riety of soils and under most diverse climatic condi-
tions. To secure a fruit that will keep and carry
well, however, fairly dry weather is necessary dur-
ing the ripening season, and it is the general consen-
sus of opinion that fruit grown on rather light,

246 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

sandy soils carries better and is juicier and richer in
flavor than that on heavy lands. The trees, too, are
considered to be healthier and freer from foot rot on
light, well-drained soils. In such locations, however,
oranges require the liberal use of fertilizers, and
their proper application taxes the skill of the
grower to the utmost. Nowhere has the use and
effect of fertilizers been more closely studied than by
the Florida orange growers. While there is still
much difference of opinion among them as to minor
details, all are in agreement as to the main facts,
which are: —

First, that abundant applications of potash are
necessary to secure heavy, juicy fruit of high flavor
and good keeping quality. It also seems to add to
the vigor and disease-resisting power of the tree. If
used too freely, the fruit may be a little too acid, but
no other bad results will follow.

Second, pliosphoric acid is also necessary, but in the
case of the orange it seems to be less important than
potash. It seems to induce greater fruitfulness, and
no harmful results are likely to follow, even from its
excessive use.

Third, while potash and phosphoric acid may be
used freely with only good results, great care must be
exercised in the use of nitrogen. If this element is
not present in sufficient quantity, the leaves will be
small and yellow, the tree will lack vigor, and the
fruit will be small and poor. If too much is used,
the leaves will be dark green and very large, wood
growth will be stimulated at the expense of fruit-
fulness, and the frait will be coarse, thick skinned,

FRUITS 247

and of poor keeping quality. If used in great excess,
a serious disease known as " die back " will be in-
duced, from the effect of which the tree may never
completely recover. The source of the nitrogen used
seems, too, to be a factor of importance. Stable ma-
nure should never be used in the orange orchard, and
other organic sources of nitrogen, like cotton-seed
meal and dried blood, are more dangerous than the
mineral salts, like nitrate of soda and sulphate of
ammonia. Even leguminous cover crops must be
used with caution as their continued use in connec-
tion with other fertilizers has been known to occasion
"die back." No hard and fast rule can be given
governing the use of nitrogen in the orange orchard.
The trees should be carefully Avatched and should
be fed with it according to their evident needs. The
amount to use will vary from time to time with the
condition of the trees and of the weather. More
can be used safely during the winter and in dry sea-
sons than during wet midsummer weather, but it is
always the part of safety to under rather than over
feed with this substance. The total amount of fer-
tilizer used by the Florida growers is very large. It
may reach as much as fifty or even a hundred
pounds per tree in the case of large old trees that are
in heavy bearing, but young trees during the first
year do not receive more than from one to five
pounds. It is best to divide the amount to be used
for the year into at least two applications, and some
growers prefer as many as three or four, especially
for the nitrogenous part of the fertilizer. Expe-
rience with fertilizers in the islands is not yet very

248 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

extended. So far it has been used in much less
quantity than in Florida. Where heavy applications
are required, the same precautions as in Florida will
doubtless be necessary. Many of the earliest com-
mercial plantings in these countries were made on
rich, heavy sugar and banana lands with the idea that
no fertilizers would be needed. It now seems prob-
able, however, that the quality of fruit produced in
such locations will not be such as to compete with
that produced on lighter soils witli intelligent fer-
tilization and that the cost will really be greater,
owing to the greater expense of cultivation in heavy
lands.

Formerly nearly all oranges were grown on natural
or so-called seedling trees. Now, as with most other
fruits, commercial orchards are all planted with
budded trees of named varieties. A considerable
number of different stocks have been used on which
to bud oranges and the other citrus fruits, and there
is still considerable difference of opinion in regard to
this very important question. The great bulk of the
trees are, however, now grown on either sour orange,
rough lemon, or Citrus trifoliata roots, although
sweet seedlings (for soils not subject to foot rot) and
pomelo seedlings both have their advocates. The
trifoliata stocks are mostly used in the northern part
of the orange belt, since their deciduous nature seems
to check winter growth, rendering the trees more nearly
dormant, and therefore more resistant to cold. Trees
on this stock do not grow as rapidly as on the others,
and some claim that this partial dwarfing makes the
fruit thinner skinned and better in quality. The

FRUITS 249

rough lemon is a favorite stock with the nurserymen
because it transplants easily and the young trees grow
very rapidly. This rapid growth tends to make
the first crops of fruit coarse and poor in quality, but
this defect is remedied as the trees come into full
bearing. It is probably one of the best stocks to use
for light soils, especially in regions where there is
little danger from frost. It is the general opinion,
however, that this stock is not well adapted to heavy
lands. The sour orange thrives in a great variety
of soils, and it will undoubtedly stand more water
and other unfavorable conditions than any of the
others. It is very resistant to foot rot and is nat-
urally very long lived. While trees budded on it
do not grow quite as fast as on the rough lemon, it is
greatly to be preferred on heavy lands, and on the
whole it is probably the safest stock for general
planting.

There is some diversity of oj^inion as to the best
age at which to move orange trees from the nursery
to the orchard. Many planters prefer large, heavy,
two- or even three-year-old trees, and it is probably
true that such trees give better results than in the
case of most deciduous fruits. Everything consid-
ered, however, a well-grown tree that is from twelve
to eighteen months from the bud will be more satis-
factory and can be handled more easily and cheaply
than the older, larger ones. Two- and three-year-old
nursery trees are only too often the culls that did not
make sufficient growth to be sold as yearlings. It is
a great mistake, however, to plant a very small orange
tree, or one so young that the wood is not thoroughly

250 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

hardened. In Florida orange trees are usually
planted in winter, when in the most nearly dormant
condition. They can then be handled much the same
as deciduous fruit trees. They can, however, be
successfully planted in summer by selecting a time
w^hen the growth is not active, but more care is re-
quired than in the dormant winter season. In mov-
ing orange trees they should always be heavily
pruned, and if the weather is dry it is wise to clip
off half of each remaining leaf with the shears in
order to still further check transpiration. If the
trees are entirely defoliated, the tendency is for
new shoots to start too quickly before there is suf-
ficient root development to support them. In the
tropics it is often necessary to cut the roots about
the young trees a week or ten days before moving
them in order to check growth and render them
sufficiently dormant, so that they can be handled
with safety.

The proper handling, grading, and packing of
oranges for market are matters of the greatest
importance since the price received is largely de-
pendent on the care and skill used. This fact seems
to be more generally and fully appreciated by the
California growers than by those in the South.
Much of the reputation of California fruits has come
from the fact that they are uniformly so well packed.
Oranges for shipment should alwaj'S be cut from the
tree with the small clippers used for this purpose.
If they are pulled, the skin will be broken at the
point of attachment to the stem and decay is likely
to follow. When first picked, the rind of the orange

FRUITS 251

is turgid and full of sap. In this condition it is
easily bruised, so the fruit should be handled with
much care and it should be " cured " by lying ex-
posed to the air in the packing house for two or
three days until this surplus moisture has evaporated
and the rind becomes somewhat limp and pliable.
It can now be handled and pressed closely in the
boxes without injury. If the fruit is packed direct
from the tree without curing, it will be more or less
bruised in handling ; the moisture given off will
dampen the wrapping paper, thus favoring decay;
and the shrinkinsr of the fruit will make the box
seem slack filled. Much of the complaint of or-
anges arriving in bad order comes from the care-
less disregard of this important matter of curing
before packing. After the fruit has lain in the cur-
ing boxes long enough to handle well it is graded
into brights and russets and the unmarketable culls
are rejected. Each class is now assorted into certain
standard sizes for convenience in packing. This is
best and most accurately done by the use of some of
the mechanical sizers now on the market. The
oranges are rolled through the machine, the different
sizes passing through different openings, and falling
in separate receivers. Each orange is now wrapped
in tissue paper that is usually marked with the dis-
tinctive brand or trade mark of the owner, and they
are packed in the boxes, each size according to some
definite plan that will bring them out evenly and
smoothly at the top of the box. The box should be
full enough so that considerable pressure is necessary
in nailing on the cover. Small growers do not

252 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

always pack their own fruit. It is often bought on
the tree by shippers who run their own packing
houses, or if not sold, it may be taken to some cen-
tral cooperative packing house.

A large number of varieties are in cultivation, but
for a detailed discussion of them the reader must
consult some of the really excellent special works on
orange culture. Two quite distinct groups may be
recognized : the common or round orange ( Citrus
aurantimn) and the Mandarin or kid-glove orange
(^Citrus nohilis). The Washington navel, which is
the seedless orange so extensively grown in California,
does not succeed well in Florida, and whether or not
it will be a success in the West Indies is still an
open question. In Florida each section has its fa-
vorite kinds, many of which have been selected from
among the best native seedlings. In the compara-
tively new orange regions of the West Indies it is
still difficult to decide what varieties it will be most
profitable to plant. Many very excellent seedlings
occur in these countries and it is probable that in
the future each island may develop its own market
varieties by selecting its best native seedlings.

The orange is subject to a considerable number of
serious diseases and insect pests, only the more im-
portant of which can be briefly considered.

The ''die back" has already been mentioned in the
discussion of fertilizers. It is a functional trouble not
caused by any parasitic organisms but resulting from
some derangement of nutrition. It is usually caused
by overstimulation with nitrogenous fertilizers. The
leaves, which are at first very large and dark green,

FRUITS 253

become crumpled and mottled with yellow, the twigs
exude drops of gum, and these symptoms are fol-
lowed by the more or less extensive dying back of
the branches. In the case of severe attacks the tree
may ultimately die, but more often it lingers on in an
unthrifty and unprofitable condition. Such trees may
ultimately be restored to health by pruning out the
diseased wood and giving great care to fertilizing and
cultivation in order to carefully avoid the exciting
cause. When an orchard is seen to be threatened with
"die back," cultivation should be stopped at once so
that the grass may grow and thus take up some of the
excess of nitrogen, and some benefit may be derived
from additional applications of potash and acid phos-
phate, which would tend to restore a proper balance
in the food supply.

Foot rot, or mat di gomma^ as it is called by the
Italians on account of the flow of gum which accom-
panies it, is an obscure disease, the cause of which
has not been clearly ascertained. It causes the dy-
ing of more or less extensive areas of the bark usu-
ally at or near the crown of the tree. As a rule it is
worse on wet, heavy lands. The sweet orange, when
on its own roots, is particularly susceptible to this
disease, while the sour orange is quite resistant.
The disease often girdles and kills the trees, but it is
by no means always fatal, and old trees are often
seen still fairly thrifty and bearing heavy crops while
their bases are badly scarred by old attacks of this
disease. Serious losses can usually be avoided by
giving good drainage and especially by planting
trees budded on sour orange roots.

254 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Any injury to an orange tree is apt to result in a
flow of gum. As we have seen, it is a symptom in
both of the above diseases. There are other obscure
diseases of the orange in various countries that are
accompanied by the exudation of gum. These are
collectively known under the name of "gummosis,"
but none of them have been sufficiently studied to be
really understood.

Scab (Cladosporium) is a fungous disease causing
blisters and distortions on the leaves and young
fruits of lemons and sour oranges. It does not attack
the sweet orange and usually does no material harm
to grape fruit. Sour orange seedlings in the nursery
are often so badly attacked by it as to retard their
groAvth and leave them in poor condition for budding.
It can be successfully prevented by spraying with
Bordeaux mixture.

Sooty mold QFiimago C'ltri^ often erroneously called
Meliola Citri) is a fungus forming a black, crustlike
coating on the fruit and leaves. It is not a parasite,
and is by no means confined to the orange, but it is a
" honey dew " fungus growing on the sweet ex-
udations of certain aphids and scale insects. It
greatly injures the appearance, quality, and market
value of the fruit, and if abundant lowers the vitality
of the tree by obstructing the functions of the leaves.
It can be entirely prevented by keeping the trees
clear of the insects which furnish its food supply.
This, however, is often not an easy matter.

The rust mite (^Pliytoptus) is very abundant in the
West Indies and Florida. It is not a true insect, but
is related to the spiders and is so small as to be in-

FRUITS 255

visible without the aid of a strong pocket magnifier.
It scarifies the surface of the leaves, young twigs,
and the fruits, causing blackish thickenings and
discoloration of the leaves and twigs and a peculiar
bronzing or russeting of the fruit. These " russet "
oranges are well known to the trade and by many
are supposed, like russet apples, to represent a distinct
variety. This is not the case since all varieties
become " russets " when attacked b}^ the rust mite.
The damage is entirely external and does not injure
the flavor of the fruit. In fact, many people believe
that the russets are the sweetest. They do not look
as well, however, and " russets " ahvays bring from
fifty cents to a dollar a box less than " brights " of
the same grade. This mite, like most others of its
class, is very susceptible to sulphur fumes. It can
be quite successfully controlled by dusting the trees
with sulphur, or better still spraying with water
containing a little flour paste and flowers of sulphur
in suspension. Spraying with sulphide of potash is
also very effective^but the effect is less lasting. The
treatment should begin very early in the season and
should be continued from year to year.

Scale insects of various kinds are among the most
troublesome pests of the orange. There are a consider-
able number of species, but they cannot be considered
separately here. When present in considerable num-
bers on tlie trunks, branches, or leaves, they greatly
reduce the vitality and productiveness of the tree.
Young trees may even be killed outright. The fruit,
too, is much disfigured when covered by scales. Very
fortunately most of the scale insects have numerous

256 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

natural enemies that aid materially in holding them
in check. They are attacked by minute Hymenop-
terous parasites, are eaten greedily by various species
of ladybirds (^Coccinellidce) and by certain predaceous
Lepidopterous larvce, and in moist regions they are
frequently destroyed by various insectivorous fungi.
In fact, it may almost be considered a rule that in its
native country each scale insect has developed so
many natural enemies that under normal conditions
it is kept so closely under control as to do but little
real damage. Sometimes, however, changes in weather
conditions or in other factors favor tlie scales at the
expense of their enemies with disastrous results.
Most of the worst outbreaks have occurred when scales
have been accidentally imported from one country to
another and have thus been able to escape their
natural enemies. A striking instance of this kind
was the outbreak of the cottony-cushion scale that
at one time suddenly threatened to extinguish the
California orange industry. The absolute destruction
of this scale which followed so promptly after the intro-
duction of its natural enemy, the Australian ladybird
(Vedalia)^ was one of the most spectacular triumphs
of modern economic entomology. Aside from this
introduction of natural enemies two lines of treatment
are recognized for scale insects: spraying with caustic
contact poisons like kerosene emulsion, whale-oil soap,
or the rosin-lime mixtures, or fumigating with hydro-
cyanic-acid gas. Spraying is much more difficult
and unsatisfactory than with deciduous trees, and
the fumigation is costly and unless done with
great care dangerous. Both treatments have the

FRUITS 257

great disadvantage of destroying our friends the scale
parasites along with the scales. Except in cases of
extreme necessity it is probably unwise to attempt
the treatment of entire orchards for scale. Great
care should be taken in making new plantings to
avoid trees from infested nurseries, since this is the
way in which this trouble is usually introduced.
Close watch should be kept, and individual trees
should be promptly treated as soon as scales threaten
injury. In this way and by giving good cultivation
and general care, expensive general spraying or
fumigation, with its wholesale destruction of the
useful scale parasites, may usually be avoided. Scale
insects seem to multiply faster and do much more
damage on feeble, slow-growing trees than on vigorous
ones. The greater vigor of growth of young trees
on rough lemon roots is thought by some to make
them less susceptible to scale than when budded on
the sour orange.

The white fly (Aleurodes) is an insect closely re-
lated to the scales. At the present time in Florida
it is more feared than all the other orange pests com-
bined, since its natural enemies have failed to hold it
in check and none of the usual remedies seem capable
of satisfactorily combating it. It is always accom-
panied by the sooty mold, which adds greatly to
the injury it occasions. It also occurs in Cuba, as
specimens of it have been collected there, but so far
it is not in sufficient numbers to prove injurious or
to attract attention. Whether this practical im-
munity is due to the presence of more active natural
enemies has not been determined. The closely re-

258 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

lated oruava fly is fairly abundant in Cuba, but it is so
freely attacked by a red fungus (Asherso)iia^ and
other parasites that it is seldom injurious.

In Cuba a grayish green beetle {Pachnceiis Utus^
belonoinof to the curculios is yery abundant and does
considerable damacre by eatino- the youno' oran^re
foliage. This, hoAyeyer, is insigniticant compared
to the injury caused by the lary;e to the roots.
Ejvors are laid on the leayes. which soon liatch, when
the minute o-nil) falls to the o-round, whicli it at once
enters and bci^'ins fecdino- on the bark of the roots.
It deyelops into a white, footless grub about half an
inch lono-, which remains underoTound till the close
of the winter dry season, when it pupates, a fresh
crop of beetles emerging with the first spring rains.
They sometimes occur in enormous numbers, more
than a luindred hayincv been found on the roots of a
sino'le small tree, and it really constitutes one of the
most serious drawbacks to orange cultiyation in the
island. The presence of these grubs at the roots is
soon indicated by the arrested q-rowth and the yel-
lowino' of the foliaofe. ^lany trees haye been killed
outriirht, but as a ireneral rule tliey partially re-
coyer durino- the rainy season. Continued attacks,
howeyer, o-reatly retard orrowth and preyent fruit-

O * d' X

fulness. Owino- to its underirround feedinq; habit, it

c_> o c?

is yery ditlicult to combat this insect in the laryal
stacre. Before the studies made by the Cuban Ex-
periment Station the connection between the root
grub and the green beetle was not suspected. Now
that its life history is known it is comparatiyelyeasy to
control it by destroyinq^ the beetles. On small trees

FRUITS 259

they mtiy be easily picked off by liand, but it is bet-
ter to take advantage of the fact that like most of
their relatives they fall to the ground when jarred
or otherwise disturbed. Jarrino- them onto a sheet
stretched over a light frame, such as has been de-
scribed for the peach curculio, is tlie most effective
method of combating this pest. Spraying with Paris
green is also useful, but it cannot be fully relied on,
since the beetles, as a rule, only feed on the youngest
foliage, and yery frequent spraying would be neces-
sary to keep all the young growth effectively poi=
soned. So far as known tliis insect is confined to
Cuba. Another very similar one is abundant in
Porto Rico, feeding on orange foliage, but its life
history has not been studied and its larval habit is
not known. In Jamaica a much larQ-er and showier
curculio (^Prcepodes vittata) does almost exactly the
same damage as the Cuban insect, and it has been
one of the chief reasons for tlie practical failure
of commercial orange planting in tliat island. It
could doubtless be controlled by the same means that
is being found effective in Cuba.

Various species of ants are serious enemies of the
orange in some of the tropical countries. Differ-
ent species of the large leaf-cutting ants (^Atta)
that are known as "bibijaguas" in Cuba do much
damage in that island and also in parts of ]\Iexico
and Central America, but they are not troublesome
in Jamaica and Port Rico. A large tree may be
entirely defoliated by a horde of these marauders in
a single niglit. They live in underground cavities
in large " ant-hills " and send out their marching

260 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

columns to great distances in search of foliage that
is just to their liking. This they do not eat, but
they cut it up in small pieces and pack it away in
their underground chambers, where it becomes cov-
ered with a peculiar fungous growth on which the ants
feed. It is necessary to search for and destroy all
these nests in the neighborhood of orange orchards.
This is usually done either by pumping in sulphur
fumes or by the use of carbon disulphide. Killing
" bibijaguas," however, requires constant attention,
since the queens swarm at intervals and scatter out
in order to establish new nests. Trees may be tem-
porarily protected from leaf-cutting ants by tying
a bit of loose cotton around the trunk or by paint-
ing on a ring of the sticky material known to the
trade as "tree tanglefoot." This is the same ma-
terial used in making sticky fly paper. It will
remain soft enough to prevent the ants from cross-
ing for a number of days.

Another much smaller ant QSolenopsis)^ known
locally as " hormega brava " on account of its vicious
sting, does considerable damage in Port Rico and
some parts of Cuba by eating holes in the bark of
young trees in order to induce a flow of gum. They
also bite and destroy the very young twigs. These
ants make large shallow nests near the surface of the
ground, and great numbers of them can be destroyed
by opening these nests with the hoe and sprinkling
them with kerosene or rosin-lime mixture. A ten
per cent solution of creolin is also useful.

Pomelos (^Citrus deeumana). — The pomelo, or
grape fruit, is very closely related to the orange, not

FRUITS 261

only botanically but in methods of growth and culti-
vation, and it is subject to the same diseases and insect
pests. All that has been said on these heads under
oranges will, therefore, apply equally to this fruit.
The tree is a rather stronger grower than the orange
and tends to come into productive bearing a little
younger. The fruit, too, is less delicate and bears
handling and shipping better. It will hang on the
tree after ripening and keep in good condition
for marketing much longer than the orange. It is
only recently that it has been extensively introduced
in the markets, audits use is still somewhat limited;
but the demand is rapidly growing and it bids fair
to soon rival the orange in commercial importance.
Not much can be said as to varieties at the present
time. Marsh seedless is probably being more planted
than any other, although it is only medium in size
and a little harsh in flavor. It is not absolutely
seedless as each fruit usually contains three or four
seeds, but most of the other kinds have forty or
fifty or more. Just how much of a factor this
seedless feature will prove to be in the market can-
not yet be determined. The native seedlings found
in Cuba are of a rather different type from those of
Florida, from which the present market kinds have
mostly been selected. The fruit is sweeter and has
less of the distinctive grape-fruit bitter. The trees, too,
are of a more upright growth. The best of these seed-
lings are very delicious, having a peculiar sprightly,
vinous flavor that is greatly relished by all who try
them. They are so mikl as to be eaten from the
hand, like the orange. One variety of this type was

262 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

introduced to the trade some years ago under the name
of Royal. It is still listed in the nursery catalogues,
but it does not seem to have attracted much atten-
tion and is not widely planted. Other kinds of this
class are locally just beginning to receive attention.
In the Isle of Pines, in particular, one has been
selected and planted which is being very favorably
received in the market, and it seems probable that
these " sweet grape fruit " will soon find a recognized
place in the markets by the side of the ordinary
bitter ones.

Lemons QCitrus Limonuni). — The lemon will not
bear as much cold as the orange, so that its cultiva-
tion is confined to regions that are practically free
from frosts. Although closely related to the orange,
the tree is of somewhat different habit and requires
much more pruning to keep it in productive condi-
tion. It has also more of a continuous bearing
habit, ripe fruit, half-grown fruit, and flowers being
frequently found on the tree at the same time, which,
contrary to popular belief, is rarely the case with the
orange. It grows and bears well in south Florida,
as also in the West Indies, but so far the lemon in-
dustry has attained no commercial importance in
these regions, largely on account of the difficulty
that has been found in curing them so that they will
keep well, and thus be able to compete with the
foreign and California product. Lemons have to be
picked green and then house ripened or cured.
Some large plantings are now being made in Cuba,
and an earnest attempt will doubtless be made to
solve this difficulty. The Villa Franca is the princi-

V

o

<

FRUITS 263

pal market variety. In a general way lemons are
subject to the same diseases and insects as oranges.
They are, however, very susceptible to scab, and
lemon orchards will have to be sprayed with Bor-
deaux mixture to secure smooth, marketable fruit.

Limes (^Citrus Limett a). — Although closely related
to lemons, botanically and in the purposes for which
they are used, limes are really quite distinct. They
are also quite tender to frost. They occur abun-
dantly in south Florida and most parts of the Ameri-
can tropics. They have long been one of the chief
crops in certain of the smaller of tlie British West
Indies, where they are grown for pickling and for
making commercial lime juice and citric acid. They
are also shipped to some extent in the fresh state.
It is really remarkable that limes are not more
widely known and used at the North. They almost
entirely replace lemons for local use in the tropics,
and every one who goes there soon learns to greatly
prefer them. They have an aromatic quality that
makes the lemon seem flat and flavorless by compari-
son. Some trouble has been experienced in ship-
ping them, since they do not keep as well as lemons,
but this is largely due to crude methods in handling
them. When the matter of proper handling and
curing shall have received sufficient attention, fresh
limes will doubtless become a much more important
commercial factor. In general, limes are subject to
the same diseases and insects as the orange. They are
particularly susceptible to a fungous disease known
as "wither tip" (^G-loeosporium)^ which also attacks
many of the other citrus fruits. It causes a spot-

264 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

ting of the leaves, attacks and kills the young twigs,
and blasts or rots the young fruits. It can be con-
trolled by Bordeaux, and spraying may prove neces-
sary in commercial lime growing.

Commercial citron is the thick preserved and
dried rind of another large lemon-shaped citrus
fruit (^Citrus medico). It is found occasionally in
south Florida and the islands, but it is nowhere
cultivated on a commercial scale.

Tropical Fruits

Among the great numbers of tropical fruits only
pineapples and bananas are as yet of any real com-
mercial importance outside of the local markets.
Mangoes and avocates are, however, beginning to
receive considerable attention, and without doubt the
better varieties of them will soon be widely planted
for Northern shipment.

Pineapple (^na^ias). — This fruit is extensively
planted for market in south Florida, the Bahamas,
Cuba, and Porto Rico, and it is locally important in
all the other tropical countries. It will not endure
much frost and in Florida it is largely grown under
the protection of lathe houses. The partial shade
thus afforded seems congenial and adds to the vigor
and productiveness of the plants. In the tropics they
are usually grown in the open. Occasionally, how-
ever, they are shaded by bananas.

Pineapples will grow on a great variety of soils,
provided only they are dry and well drained. On
damp, heavy soil the plants are short lived and the
fruit is lacking in flavor. In Florida most of the

FRUITS 265

pine plantations are on what seems to be an old sand
dune, and the soil is an almost pure white sand. Of
course, large quantities of fertilizer are required.
In Cuba, on the other hand, they are grown on the
heavy red cane lands without the use of fertilizers.
This is possible on account of the remarkable natural
underdrainage of these red lands. The additional
precaution is also taken of planting on ridges in order
to more quickly run off the surface water after rains.
In Florida, in order to economize space under the
expensive lathe houses, pines are planted very closely
on wide beds with narrow paths between the beds.
In Cuba, they are planted in single rows with the
plants about fifteen inches apart in the row. The
sets used for planting are of two kinds, suckers and
crowns. The first are side branches. These are
broken off and planted during late spring or early
summer, and they will produce a crop in twelve
months. They are only produced in small numbers,
however, so that most of the plantings are made with
crowns ; a circle of these offshoots comes out at the
base of each fruit. They are smaller than the
suckers, and it requires eighteen months for them
to produce fruit. They are usually planted in late
summer or fall.

For distant shipment it is necessary to pick the
fruit while it is still quite green. This is unfortu-
nate, since the pine only develops its full sweetness
and flavor when allowed to ripen on the plant.
Those who have only eaten pines as they appear in
the Northern markets can have no idea of what a
delicious fruit it really is. A fully ripe pine is, how-

266 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

ever, too delicate to stand ordinary shipment. Heavy
losses often occur in handling even the green ones,
especially if they are picked during or after very
wet weather. This loss could doubtless be largely
avoided, -and the fruit be at the same time marketed
in a riper condition by the use of proper refrigerator
transportation.

A considerable number of varieties of pines are
known, but only a very few are of commercial
importance. The one most generally planted for
the Northern market is the Red Spanish. This
is a small or medium-sized acid pine of rather
poor quality, but it is hardy and productive and
ships better than any of the others. The Smooth
Cayenne and the Porto Rico or Cabazona are two
very large pines that are grown in a small way for
the fancy trade. While very showy, both are rather
acid and cannot be classed as of the best quality.
Unfortunately the sweetest, highest-flavored kinds,
that are most prized for home consumption, like the
Ripley and the Sugar loaf or Piiia Blanca, are so
delicate that they will not stand ordinary transpor-
tation.

As a rule pines are comparatively free from diseases
and insect pests. Whilethej^havetheir troubles, these
are mostly obscure and unimportant and space cannot
be taken to discuss them.

Bananas {Musa). — In the space of a single gen-
eration the banana has passed from a rare luxury to
an article of common everyday necessity, and its
production and marketing has developed into an
immense industry. The business is largely in the

FRUITS 267

hands of a single corporation, the United Fruit
Company, and this concern alone constantly employs
from one to two hundred steamships in carrying
bananas from various tropical ports to the United
States.

The banana is strictly tropical and will not endure
frost. It grows everywhere in the tropics under a
great variety of conditions, and it is an important
factor in the local food supply. It grows best,
however, in deep, rich, alluvial soils, and it is particu-
larly partial to sheltered valleys along streams. The
greater part of the bananas grown for export are on
river-bottom lands. Jamaica was originally the chief
source of supply for the banana ships, and for many
years this has been the principal industry of that
island. Plantations at various points on the Central
American coast have, however, constantly increased
in importance, and the larger part of this fruit reach-
ing the United States now comes from that quarter.
Cuba produces some commercial bananas, but the con-
ditions are less favorable than in these other countries.

Bananas are propagated by means of suckers that
spring up freely from the roots. The usual distance
for planting is about fifteen feet apart each w^ay.
Cultivation is very simple, consisting simply in keep-
ing down grass and weeds with the hoe or cultivator.
Kew lands are preferred for bananas, when possible,
'.'he timber is cut down and burned and the plants
are set among the blackened stumps without plowing
or other preparation of the soil. A great effort is
usually made to keep these new-land plantations free
from grass. Men go around with sacks and pull up

268 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

and carry from the field every bunch of grass that
makes its appearance. Tliis is much cheaper than
attempting to cultivate in lands that are already in-
fested with grasses, and it is astonishing how large
an area a single man can keep absolutely clean by
this method. In the older districts suitable new
lands are no longer available, and this method can-
not be employed. Each sucker produces a bunch of
fruit in about fifteen months. When the fruit is
cut, the stalk dies and makes room for the growth of
the new suckers that have sprung up from its roots.
The same plantation thus produces fruit continu-
ously for many years, but constant care is needed in
thinning out the suckers or they will soon become
too crowded to produce salable bunches. The crop
is a continuous one throughout the year, but it is
much heavier at some seasons than at others, this
mainly depending on the distribution of the rainfall.
The time of fruiting can also be controlled to some
extent when thinning the suckers, by saving only
those of a certain size which will naturally bear at
the desired season.

Bananas are always cut green even when intended
for home consumption. If allowed to hang on the
stalk, they ripen unevenly, so that many are wasted
and the quality is no better than when house ripened.
The bunches are handled and loaded in bulk without
packing of any kind. Ships for the banana trade
need to be especially constructed so as to allow for
a free circulation of air below decks and to be abun-
dantly provided with ventilator funnels. More than
one cargo has rotted and been dumped overboard

FRUITS 269

for lack of these requirements. Bananas do not
carry well under refrigeration, but tend to blacken
and soften quickly. Good ventilation is, however,
very essential.

A great number of varieties are known, but there
is great confusion in regard to their proper names.
Only one is ordinarily planted for Northern shipment.
This is known as the Dominica in Jamaica, as the
Johnson in Cuba, and as the Jamaica in some of the
other countries. A large red banana is also some-
times seen and seems to be gaining favor in the
markets. The dwarf Cavendish variety, or "Enana,"
is a favorite in the English market, but this is more
delicate and each bunch is usually crated separately.
The " Datil," or date banana, is a very small, high-fla-
vored kind that is much prized for home consumption,
but is practically unknown at the North. It is quite
firm and would carry well. By a little effort it
might easily be introduced to the fancy trade, but it
is not prolific enough and is too small to ever com-
pete with the Dominica in the general market. The
" Manzana," or apple banana, is a medium-sized kind,
having a trace of acid which gives its flavor a supposed
resemblance to that of an apple. It is much relished
by some and is the leading kind in the Havana
market, but it is seldom shipped as it does not carry
well. The various cooking bananas or plantains are
an exceedingly important article of food throughout
the tropics, where they are used both in the green
and ripe stage. They are either baked or fried.
Thev are sold to some extent in New Orleans and
the Florida cities, where there are many Cubans and

270 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTL'RAL CROPS

other Latin Americans who are accustomed to them,
but they are practically unknown at the North.
Their quality as a vegetable is really so good that a
demand could doubtless be created for them by a
little properly directed effort. In most tropical
markets they sell for double the price of the table
kinds.

Bananas are singularly free from fungous and insect
troubles. A bacterial top rot attacks the stalks in
some parts of Cuba and a serious disease of an un-
known character has appeared at a few points in
Central America. The decay of the fruit is some-
times hastened by the attack of an anthracnose
QGrloeosporium)^ but little study has been given to
these troubles and no remedies can be suggested.

Nut Crops

Pecans and cocoanuts are the only ones of suffi-
cient importance to require specipJ mention. Peanuts
have already been referred to under forage plants,
but on some of the lighter soils in the middle South
they are grown extensively as a market crop. They
can be grown successfully in all parts of the South
on the lighter, drier soils and also in most tropical
regions. They do not thrive on wet, heavy soils.

Pecans QHicoria Peean). — This is a native forest
tree in many parts of the South extending north
along the river bottoms as far as southern Illinois.
The large, thin-shelled or so-called paper-shelled
types that are now in cultivation came originally
from Texas and Louisiana. They can be grown in
practically all parts of the cotton belt, but the large

NUT CROPS 271

commercial plantings are mostly confined to the
coast region. Few of the planted groves have yet
reached full bearing, and most of the commercial
supply still comes from wild trees. The pecan is
very variable and does not come true from seed.
Much disappointment has followed the planting of
even the finest selected seeds, since more than half of
the trees produced are likely, after years of waiting, to
produce only ordinary inferior nuts. Pecans are very
difficult to propagate by the ordinary methods of bud-
ding and grafting. A fairly successful method of patch
budding or inlaying has, however, been devised, and
budded trees of named varieties may now be secured
from the leading Southern nurseries. The price for
these budded trees' is quite high, owing to the diffi-
culty of production, but it is better to use them for
commercial planting rather than to risk the uncertain
quality of seedlings. Since the pecan groAvs into a
large forest tree, it is necessary to plant them at a
considerable distance ; forty to fifty feet is none too
much, but the space between may be utilized for
other crops or for planting peaches or other orchard
trees. Heavy applications of nitrogenous fertilizers
should be used in order to hasten growth and bring
the trees more quickly up to the bearing size. Tlie
worst drawback to the pecan industry is the length
of time that must elapse before returns can be
expected. Well-grown trees may produce a few
nuts when six or seven years planted, but profitable
crops cannot be expected for a much longer period.
A number of insect and fungous pests occur, but no
discussion of them can be attempted.

272 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Cocoanuts (^Cocos). — Cocoanuts are widely planted
in most tropical countries. Formerly they were
an important crop at many points in the West
Indies, but the wide spread in recent years of the
disease known as " bud rot " has practically wiped
out the industry at many points where it was once
most flourishing. At the present time it would be
an unsafe investment to plant cocoanuts in any of
the islands where the disease is known to occur.
The few groves in southern Florida have not as yet
been attacked by it. Cocoanuts will grow under a
great variety of conditions, but they thrive best near
the sea, and they will grow and bear well even where
they are occasionally drenched with salt spray.
Their cultivation is very simple. The fully ripe
nuts are gathered as they fall and are placed close
together in nursery beds for germination without
removing the thick outer husk. They germinate
best when only partially covered witli soil. After
two or three leaves have formed the young tree,
nut and all, is moved to its permanent location.
It is hoed around a little for the first year or two,
after which it practically shifts for itself. Nuts
will be produced in from six to ten years accord-
ing to location and care. The nuts are produced
in large clusters at the top of the tree. These
are produced in constant succession, several bunches
with nuts of different sizes being seen on the tree
at the same time, so that the crop is a perpetual
one. The nuts fall as they ripen, when they are
picked up, the thick, fibrous outer husk is cut
away, and they are ready for market. Besides their

NUT CROPS 273

use in the fresh state they are largely used for oil
making. Some well-marked varieties occur and
individual trees are known to vary greatly in pro-
ductiveness and in the size and quality of the nuts,
but as is the case with so many tropical products
almost no attention has been given to selecting these
better strains for propagation.

Cocoanut bud rot is one of the most destructive
of known plant diseases. The foliage on a thrifty
bearing tree suddenly turns a little yellowish and
the petioles of the great leaves will droop a little
and stand at a slightly wider angle, and the imma-
ture nuts will begin to fall. It takes a keen e3^e to
catch this first symptom of trouble in the leaves and
to differentiate it from the yellowing caused by scale
insects or other troubles, but the falling of the
young fruit is an almost certain symptom of in-
cipient bud rot. As the disease progresses the
yellowing and general demoralization of the foliage
becomes more pronounced, until finally the entire
top of the tree suddenly blackens and falls away,
leaving the trunk standing as a leafless stump.
Sometimes the oldest leaves will not be affected, but
will remain green for a time after the bud and
upper younger leaves have rotted and fallen. The
disease seems unquestionably to be a bacterial one,
although this has not as yet been absolutely proven
by successful inoculations with pure cultures of the
germ. Dissections of the diseased trees at any
stage will show more or less extensive areas where
the young tissues are being attacked by a soft
watery rot. When this finally reaches the large

274 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

central terminal bud, the whole mass of soft tissue of
which it is composed is quickly reduced to a stink-
ing pulp and the upper leaves topple over and fall.
The disease, when once established, spreads gradually
from tree to tree in ever widening circles. The
exact manner in which the contagion is conveyed
is not known, but it is probably carried by insects.
It has been observed that the disease advances
faster with the prevailing wind than against it.
All ordinary remedial measures are powerless to
reach a disease of this character and so far the
planters have been helpless in trying to stay its
progress. Some claim that touching a match to
the dead leaves and trash always found hanging
in the top of a cocoanut tree and thus disinfecting
it by fire will often arrest the disease in its incip-
ient stages. The observed facts indicate that this
may be the case, but exact experiments are lacking.
Theoretically tlie prompt cutting out and burning
of all infected trees as soon as the disease can be
detected should arrest the disease and perhaps
ultimately stamp it out from any given locality, but
the experiment never seems to have been tried on a
sufficiently thorough and extensive scale to afford a
demonstration.

Scale insects of various kinds often attack the
cocoanut and do considerable harm. The leaves turn
yellow when attacked, and the tree loses vigor and
in some cases even dies, but this is very rare.

The leaves are also often spotted and discolored by
the growth of various fungi. It is probable that
some of these fungous parasites are responsible for a

TRUCK CROPS 275

peculiar wasting disease that is sometimes observed
when the leaves gradually grow smaller and smaller
and finally dwindle away entirely. These other
troubles are, however, all insignificant as compared
with the bud rot.

Truck Crops

The name of truck farming has come to be applied
to the growing of the different garden vegetables on
an extensive scale for distant shipment. This is a
business of great magnitude in many parts of the
South, and since the American occupation it is
coming to be of considerable importance in Cuba.
Vegetables also are shipped North in a limited way
from certain parts of Mexico.

A great variety of soils are successfully employed
for trucking, but light, sandy loams are usually pre-
ferred, and most of the great trucking centers are on
lands of this character. Alluvial and muck soils are
also suitable for most of the truck crops. Other
things being equal, of course, naturally rich soils are
to be preferred to poor ones, but a suitable mechanical
texture seems to be more important than chemical
composition and many of the most extensive trucking
districts are located on what are naturally very poor
lands. Such soils, of course, require heavy manuring
or the free use of chemical fertilizers combined with
leguminous restorative crops. In fact, a proper un-
derstanding of the use of fertilizers is one of the first
requisites for a successful truck farmer.

Of even greater importance than the proper selec-
tion of soils and fertilizers is the question of trans-

276 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROrs

portation. Some at least of the truck crops can be
grown successfully by proper management under al-
most any soil and climatic conditions that permit of
agricultural operations of any kind, but they can
only be profitably marketed from those points that
have the most adequate transportation facilities. It
thus follows that the trucking industry has clung
close to the Atlantic seaboard within reach of cheap
steamer transportation and to certain of the great
North and South trunk railroad lines, where the man-
agement has been intelligent enough to recognize its
importance and to give it the necessary facilities and
encouragement. So large has the annual movement
become that it now constitutes one of the most im-
portant items of business on a number of the leading
Southern railroads and of the coastwise steamship
lines.

A large number of vegetables are grown and
shipped as truck at different points in the Southern
states. The following alphabetical list, while by no
means complete, covers all that are of much impor-
tance.

Asparagus

Peas

Beans

Peppers

Beets

Potatoes

Cabbage

Radishes

Cantaloupes

Spinach

Carrots

Squash

Celery

Sweet Potatoes

Egg Plant

Tomatoes

Kale

Turnips

Lettuce

Watermelons

Onions

TRUCK CROPS 277

It is impossible within the limits of this volume
to attempt a detailed discussion of each of these
numerous crops. A few remarks of a general nature
must suffice. For most of them, of course, the seed
is simply planted in the field where it is to grow.
Unlike the others, asparagus is a perennial. The seed
is planted in seed beds or nursery rows, where the
plants are allowed to grow from one to two years.
The old and expensive plan of deep trenching for
asparagus is unnecessary except perhaps on very
heavy lands. Its chief requirements are a good per-
meable soil and the very abundant use of manure and
fertilizers. Cabbages, celery, egg plant, peppers, and
tomatoes are usually planted in seed beds or in cold
frames and the plants are moved to the field when
from four to six weeks old. In the more northerly
districts it is usual to sow the seed of the last three in
hotbeds that are heated by manure or other artificial
heat and are protected by glass frames or sash. When
the first rough leaves appear, the seedlings are pricked
out into cold frames that are protected by glass or by
cotton cloth which is reenforced by hay or other cov-
ering during cold snaps. These frames are, of course,
opened during the day when the weather will permit.
The proper care of such plant beds is a matter re-
quiring experience and good judgment. From the
cold frames the plants are carried to the field, usually
with a ball of dirt, as soon as the danger of frost is
over. By this method it is possible to secure crops
from four to six weeks earlier than when the seed is
planted in the open air. In southern Florida and the
tropics these methods are, of course, unnecessary.

278 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

The seed of these crops may there be planted directly
in the field and the plants then thinned to a stand,
but even here it is more usual to plant in seed beds
and move them to the fields when from six to eight
inches high.

Sweet potatoes {Ipomoea) deserve a word of special
mention, not only because they are widely grown as a
truck crop, but from their importance in the home
economy of every Southern farm. They are grown as
universally as are Irish potatoes at the North, and not
only furnish a standard vegetable for the table but are
much used for stock food. The vines, too, make a
rich forage. They are particularly useful for hogs.
These animals are turned into special fields, planted
for the purpose, to dig for themselves, or after the
crop is harvested they are allowed to glean the roots
and small potatoes that have been missed in digging.
The small potatoes that are unfit for market make
excellent feed for milch cows and horses.

At the North sweet potatoes are always propagated
by bedding the small ones in the spring and pulling
up the numerous sprouts that spring from them to
take to the field. At the South a small field is usually
planted in this way in the spring, but the main
plantings are made at midsummer with vine cuttings
taken from this early field. In the tropics vine cut-
tings only are used, since they are available all the
year round. This custom lias, however, led to the
gradual loss of productiveness. Experiments have
shown that by occasionally returning to the Northern
method and planting the suckers that spring from the
potatoes themselves the yield can be very considerably

TRUCK CROPS 279

increased. They are always planted on raised beds
or ridges.

Sweet potatoes are rather difficult to keep through
the winter. For best results a rather warm uniform
temperature and a dry atmosphere are required. In
the large trucking districts special storage houses are
provided with some means of artificial heating. The
ordinary small farmer at the South, however, keeps
them with considerable success by " holing them up "
in the ground as is done with apples and Irish potatoes
at the North. The hole must, however, be thoroughly
drained and the potatoes kept from actual contact
with the dirt by the free use of dry grass or pine
straw. A ventilating pipe must also be left in the
top of the pile, and it is best to provide some tempo-
rary shelter to keep off the rain.

In Cuba the number of truck crops is much more
limited; only potatoes, onions, tomatoes, egg plant,
and peppers are of much importance. These are all
strictly winter or dr3^-season crops. They are mostly
grown with irrigation, but some of the sandy lands
in Penar del Rio province have such good moisture-
holding capacity that good crops can be produced
without it. Potatoes yield less than at the North, for
though usually of good size they are few in the hill.
Only the Bermuda onion is grown. Sets imported
from the Canary Islands are used, since but poor
success has been had in growing them from seed. To-
matoes grow well and yield well for a time, but profit-
able picking can usually only be secured for from three
to four weeks, when the foliage is attacked by leaf
mold and the fruit becomes too small for shipment.

280 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Successive plantings are necessary in order to keep up
continuous shipments. Egg plants and peppers grow
and yield well for a long period, but the former are
subject to a stem blight or wilt that frequently
causes heavy losses.

Among the distinctively tropical vegetables there
are three that deserve some especial mention from
their importance in the local markets and as a
source of home food supply, though as yet they are
unknown in Northern commerce. These are yams,
cassava, and malangas, or yautias.

Yams (^Dioscorea) . — The true yams are the large,
irregular starchy tubers of tall-growiiig vines belong-
ing to various species of Dioscorea. Sweet potatoes
are often called yams in the Southern states, but this
is not the proper use of the word. Yams require a
moist, rich soil that is well supplied with vegetable
matter. They are planted in large hills or in rather
high ridges in order to secure perfect drainage, and
tall stakes are necessary for the vines to climb on.
Pieces of the tubers are planted for seed the same as
with the potato. It requires about twelve months
for the crop to mature. The tubers are large, often
weighing several pounds each. They are used in
the same manner as potatoes, but they are more
nutritious and constitute one of the most important
of the tropical food crops. The tubers keep indefi-
nitely while undisturbed in the ground, but they
cannot be kept long after digging.

Cassava QManihot). — The sweet cassava, or
"yuca," as it is called in Spanish-speaking countries,
is another tropical food crop of much importance. The

TRUCK CROPS 281

term " cassava " in Spanish is applied to a kind of bread
made from the starchy roots and not to the plant
itself, as in English. The roots of the bitter cassa-
vas, which closely resemble the sweet varieties in
appearance, contain hydrocyanic acid and therefore
are poisonous. They are, however, largely employed
in starch making. Cassava starch is of superior
quality. As the yield per acre is much greater
than with potatoes, there is reason to suppose that the
starch industry of the tropics will ultimately prove
to be of great importance. The long, fleshy roots
(not tubers) constitute the edible part of the plant.
They are cut up in sections and boiled like potatoes.
They do not become mealy, but remain wet and
soggy, and though on account of their easy produc-
tion they are very widely used, they do not com-
pare as a food with either yams or malangas.
Besides its use for food and in starch making cassava
furnishes a good stock food, being eaten by both
hogs and cattle. It can be grown with some success
in Florida and along the Gulf coast, where it has
attracted considerable attention as a forage plant.
It is propagated by means of cuttings of the stems.
These grow very readily. The plant is not particu-
lar as to soils, but will thrive on a great variety of
them and will give fair yields on land that is too
poor for most other crops. The plant is perennial,
and the roots continue to increase in size for a
number of years. They soon begin to get woody,
however, so the crop is usually dug in from twelve
to eighteen months. Roots of edible size are pro-
duced in six to eight months if conditions are favor-

282 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

able. The number of varieties both of the sweet
and bitter kinds is very great, and there is always
some danger of the two becoming confused. Acci-
dents from this cause are, however, infrequent since
the bitter taste serves to distinguish those that are
poisonous.

Malangas or Yautias (^Xantliosoma). — These are
the names used in Cuba and Porto Rico, respectively,
for the edible tubers produced by various species
of XantJiosoma, plants closely related to, and greatly
resembling, the common Caladium^ or elephant's ear,
of Northern conservatories and gardens. " Taro "
QColocasia sp.^, the famous food plant of the Hawai-
ian Islands and the East, is a very similar plant, that
also occurs in the West Indies, and is often confused
with the others under the same names. Other local
names are applied to these plants in different Ameri-
can tropical countries, and everywhere they consti-
tute an important local food supply. They grow
well on almost any good soil, but are particularly
adapted to moist, rich alluvial lands. In favorable
locations they yield enormously. They are used the
same as potatoes; they are even more nutritious, and
the better varieties are equally palatable. Unlike
yams and cassava the tubers keep almost indefinitely
when dug if stored in a dry place. They are propa-
gated by cutting up the old or so-called "mother"
tuber, which, though still edible, is not equal for food
to the new offshoots. Forty or fifty distinct varieties
have been recognized, though most of them are very
local, usually only a few kinds being known and
planted in any given region.

F0RE8TKY 28

Q

«

Forestry

While forestry is, perhaps, not strictly a branch
of agriculture, yet the influence of forests on agri-
cultural conditions is so great that a few words on
the subject will not be out of place. Until the last
very few years this vitally important question has
received no attention whatever at the South. The
great natural pine and hardwood forests have been
ruthlessly cut down for lumber, or to clear the land
for farming, with no thought for the future timber
supply, or for the bad effect of this wholesale de-
forestation on the climate ; and annual fires have
prevented the growth of new forests on what are
otherwise waste lands. In the tropical countries the
story is the same.' Countless acres of valuable hard-
woods have been cut down and burned to make
room for sugar and coffee plantations, and the re-
maining forests are being ransacked for cedar and
mahogany. The time has at last arrived when the
general public is beginning to realize the immense
importance of preserving forest conditions in all
rough, mountainous regions that are unfit for culti-
vation, and even some of the large lumber companies
who, in the past, have been among the most ruthless
of destroyers, are beginning to adopt means for har-
vesting their mature timber without ruining the
young trees and preventing the reforesting of the
land. The Europeans long ago learned to so manage
forests as to make them a perpetual source of income.
No lesson is more needed in all the American coun-
tries than this one.

Deforestation has already reached the point

284 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

where the future timber supply is seriously threat-
ened. The commercial planting of forests to meet
this prospective demand has already begun, and it is
destined in the near future to reach much greater
proportions. Persons embarking in this business,
however, at the South, will be greatly handicapped
by lack of knowledge as to the cultural possibilities
and needs of the principal Southern timber trees.
Very little data is at hand as to the best methods of
propagation and management, or as to the rate of
growth and time required for maturity of the different
species. In the American tropics this lack of knowl-
edge is so great as to be almost absolute. Whether
or not such valuable timber trees as West Indian
cedar and mahogany can be profitably grown on
what would otherwise be waste land in those regions
where they are native, but where they are now so
rapidly vanishing, is a question of vast economic
importance, but it is one that will require years of
expensive experimentation to determine. Questions
of this kind, which require so many years before
practical results can be expected, are difficult of
solution by private enterprise, but they are preemi-
nently suitable subjects for research stations that re-
ceive government support. The time has now come
when extensive scientific experimentation in both
forest planting and forest management is urgently
needed at the hands of each of the American
governments.

Domestic Animals

No general agricultural treatise can be considered
complete without at least some reference to those

DOMESTIC ANIMALS 285

domestic animals that play so important a part in all
farm economy. A full discussion of this subject as
it applies to the South and to the tropics would,
however, require a separate volume or rather a series
of volumes. Space here will only permit of a few
general remarks and considerations.

Climatic conditions favor animal husbandry at the
South, since expensive shelters are not required and
pasturage and other green forage can be furnished
for the greater part of the year, thus avoiding the
necessity for curing and storing large quantities of
hay. It is true that the familiar Northern pasture
and hay grasses cannot be successfully grown, but
there are many others to take their places. Ber-
muda is as good as bluegrass for permanent pastures,
while cowpeas, vetch, crab grass, and Johnson grass
can be made to take the place of timothy and clover
for hay. Under these circumstances it is an eco-
nomic anomaly that the South has been for so long
a time dependent on the North for her supply of
horses and mules, beef, butter, lard, and pork, when
as a matter of fact she might be producing them
cheaper than is possible in the regions from which
they are imported. This condition has probably
largely come from the pernicious system of annual
leases that prevails so widely throughout the cot-
ton belt. The poor ignorant negro farm hands are
usuallv each allotted a certain number of acres to be
cultivated on shares. As cotton is the chief money
crop, he is required to plant it all in cotton and is
furnished a mule and is given credit at the store for
his meal and pork. He has no incentive for building

286 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

up the fertility of the soil and neither the knowl-
edge, the inclination, nor the means for embarking in
stock breeding. In those sections where the farmers
own and work their own lands attention is being
rapidly turned to more diversified farming and the
production of home food supplies.

In Cuba and other parts of tropical America the
cattle industry has long been an important one.
Here cattle graze throughout the year and receive
no feed, aside from the luxuriant pasturage. If
means were taken to improve the breeding of these
herds and some provision were made, which might
easily be done, for growing some forage with which
to supplement the pasturage during the pinch of the
dry season, the beef from these wonderful Guinea
and Para-grass pastures might quickly become an
important factor in the world's markets.

A word in regard to each of the more important
kinds of live stock must close this very inadequate
treatment of a most important subject.

Horses and mules thrive well in all parts of these
Southern countries. They are subject to no serious
diseases that are not familiar at the North, though
horses when first taken South require a few months
in which to become acclimated before they are fit
for very heavy work.

The heavy draught breeds of horses do not seem to
stand hard work in hot climates as well as mules, and
for all heavy work these animals largely take their
place in Southern countries. Millions of dollars are
spent annually by Southern farmers to buy mules in
the middle West. Even in tropical regions the

DOMESTIC ANIMALS 287

mule is gradually but surely crowding out the ox as
a work animal. With abundant cheap pasturage it
costs but little more to raise a two-hundred-dollar
mule than a forty-dollar ox, and it is most surprising
that the subject of mule breeding is not receiving
more attention in all of these Southern countries.

At the South and in the tropics cattle imported
from the North are attacked by the serious disease
variously known as Texas fever, tick fever, or
splenic fever. It is caused by a minute parasite
of the red blood corpuscles that is very similar to the
one causing malarial fevers in man. In the case of
the cattle disease, however, the parasite is carried,
not by mosquitoes, but by certain species of cattle
ticks. Native Southern cattle have all become im-
mune to this disease although the parasite is still
present in their blood, and hence they are constantly
infecting the ticks which bite them. The presence
of even a few of these ticks on imported Northern
animals will quickly induce the disease. A method
of artificial immunization has, however, now been
devised which consists in inoculating the animals to
be treated with fresh blood serum taken from an
animal that is known to be immune. The toxine
contained in this serum induces a slight attack of the
fever, which renders the animal immune to future
natural tick inoculations. By previously immuniz-
ing young Northern cattle in this way they can be
taken South or to the tropics with the loss of not
over 10 per cent and frequently of less than 5 per
cent, while without this treatment the loss would
run from 50 per cent to 90 per cent. It is now,

288 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

therefore, perfectly possible to import breeding ani-
mals of the best strains for grading up Southern
herds for both beef and dairy purposes. These
ticks, though not able to cause disease in native or
immunized cattle, are often so abundant as to prove
a veritable scourge and to greatly retard growth.
The animals may be cheaply freed from these pests
by running them occasionally through dipping tanks
which contain contact insecticides. A thin skim of
crude petroleum floating on water is often used for
this purpose, but for hot weather some of the arseni-
cal dips are found to give less discomfort and to be
equally effective. Practical methods have also been
devised for permanently freeing pastures from ticks,
and they are being adopted by some of the more
progressive Southern cattle men.

The opinion prevails quite widely that the South
is not adapted to dairying. This is a great mistake,
for by the use of centrifugal separators most excellent
butter can be made at any point in the South or the
tropics, where a small amount of ice can be secured
for cooling and ripening the cream. The fact that
more butter and cheese are not made in these regions
of cheap and perpetual pasturage only indicates a
lack of knowledge and enterprise on the part of the
stockmen and farmers.

Hogs, too, should be much more largely raised at
the South. There is no excuse for the unnumbered
trainloads of bacon, hams, and lard that are constantly
pouring into a region where besides corn such useful
hog foods as cowpeas, peanuts, chufas, rape, and
sweet potatoes are so easily and cheaply grown. In

DOMESTIC ANIMALS 289

Cuba and the other regions where the Royal palm is
abundant, its rich, oily fruits or nuts furnish a nutri-
cious hog food which is always in season, each tree
ripening from nine to twelve large bunches in suc-
cession during the year. This is practically the only
hog food used in tliese countries, but it might easily
be supplemented not only by the crops mentioned
above, all of which grow readily in tliese regions,
but by sugar cane, the stalks of which are greedily
eaten by hogs, and by the very productive cassava
and malanga as well. Notwithstanding these obvi-
ous advantages for hog raising, every steamer bound
southward carries lard, hams, and other hog products
as an important part of her cargo. There seems to
be no special hog disease at the South. Cholera is
sometimes a great scourge, as at the North, but out-
breaks can usually be controlled by proper isolation
and quarantine.

Sheep raising is another industry that should re-
ceive more attention. Much of the hill lands that
are comparatively worthless for other purposes are
admirably adapted for sheep, and even the low, sandy
savannahs near the Gulf coast, contrary to the ordi-
narily accepted belief, make most excellent sheep
ranges and support considerable flocks throughout
the year without any other food. Besides the an-
nual clip of wool the early spring lambs are always
in demand at good prices. The worthless dogs that
so infest the South are the worst enemies of the
sheep raiser but wherever this industry has gained
much importance means are readily found for their

destruction. While the usual sheep diseases occur,
u

290 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

they are no more troublesome than in more north-
erly latitudes. In the tropics sheep soon lose a
part of their woolly coating and hence are only val-
uable for mutton. They thrive there fairly well, how-
ever, and as they can be raised with a minimum of
care and expense, they deserve more attention for this
purpose than is generally given them.

Goats are very hardy, prolific animals, that are
particularly well adapted to all warm climates. In
southern Europe they play an important part in the
agricultural econoni}^, but here they are usually looked
upon more as a nuisance than a source of profit. They
will, however, live and thrive where the pasturage is
too poor to support any of the other domestic animals.
The flesh, especially of the young animals, is very good
food, notwithstanding the American prejudice to the
contrary, and the skins furnish a valuable article of
commerce. The number and aggregate value of the
goatskins annually imported into the United States
are so great as to be almost unbelievable. The best
milk strains produce a very large quantity of milk
and butter fat when compared with the quantity and
value of the food consumed. It seems probable,
therefore, that in the future these animals will occupy
a much more important place in Southern agriculture
than they do at present.

Poultry and eggs are universally raised in the
South and in the tropics for home consumption, and
their sale in the local markets adds materially to the in-
come of many households. Their attempted commer-
cial production on a large scale has often resulted in
failure, since to be successful it requires a large

DOMESTIC ANIMALS 291

amount of special knowledge and experience and the
closest possible attention to details. There is probably
somewhat more trouble from mites and other parasites
than at the North, and some diseases occur that are not
known there, like the so-called ^' sore head " that is so
troublesome with young chicks hatched during the
rainy summer season. These disadvantages are, how-
ever, more than offset by the mild climate that allows
poultry to range throughout the year and by the
cheap and varied food supply. The entire region
offers an inviting field for chicken fanciers and expert
breeders. Every farm should unquestionably pro-
duce an abundance of chickens and eggs for house-
hold purposes with a margin over for the grocer, and
much more attention should be given to the breeding
of improved strains and races ; but those without ex-
pert knowledge of the business should make haste
slowly in embarking on large commercial poultry
enterprises until this knowledge has been gained by
considerable practical experience.

INDEX

Agriculture defined, 1.
Alfalfa, 167.

Altitude, effect on climate, 3.
Ammoniacal copper carbonate,

107.
Apple bitter rot, 222.
Apple blight, 223.
Apple codling moth, 221.
Apple green aphis, 223.
Apple leaf rust, 224.
Apple scab, 221.
Apple woolly aphis, 220.
Apples, 219.
Arachis hypogcea, 168.
Arsenate of lead, 100.
Arsenite of lime, 106.
Asparagus, 277.
Aspidiotus perniciosus, 214.
Arena sativa, 155.

Bananas, 266.
Bedding, 28.
Beggar weed, 77.
Bermuda grass, 160.
Blackberries, 230.
Bordeaux mixture, 107.
Broom rapes, 102.
Burr clover, 166.

Cacao, 205.
Calyx, 96.
Carpet grass, 164.
Cassava, 280.
Castilloa elastica, 206.
Cattle, 286.
Chlorophyll, 94.
Circling the rows, 44.
Citron, 264.
Citrus aurantium, 244.

Citrus decumana, 260.

Citrus Limetta, 263.

Citrus Limonum, 262.

Citrus medica, 264.

Citrus nobilis, 244.

Clearing, 15.

Climate, effect on agriculture, 2.

Cocoanut bud rot, 273.

Cocoanuts, 272.

Coffee, 201 ; diseases and insects,

203.
Coffee leaf miner, 203.
Coffee leaf spot, 204.
Coffee root rot, 204.
Cold frames, 277.
Commercial fertilizers, 79.
Corn, 141 ; botanical features and
varieties, 149; chief uses, 149;
climate and soil, 141 ; diseases
and insects, 151 ; harvesting,
147 ; manuring, 142 ; methods
of planting and cultivating,
143.
Corn smut, 151.
Corolla, 96.

Cotton, 172 ; botanical features :
varieties, 179; chief uses, 178;
climate and soil, 174; diseases
and insects of, 180 ; fertilizers
for, 174; harvesting, 177;
methods of planting and cul-
tivating, 175; shedding bolls
of, 188.
Cotton anthracnose, 187.
Cotton boll rot, 187.
Cotton boll weevil, 180.
Cotton boll worm, 182.
Cotton caterpillar, 183.
Cotton root rot, 186.

293

294

INDEX

Cotton rust, 184,

Cotton wilt, 185.

Cotyledons, 91.

Cowpea, 68.

Crab grass, 158.

Crimson clover, 63.

Crops, preparation for, 15 ; ro-
tation of, 87.

Cultivator, five-toothed, 37 ; rid-
ing, 37.

Cynodon Dactylon, 160.

Desmodium molle, 77.

Dewberries, 230.

Diatrea saccharalis, 137.

Diseases, bacterial, 100 ; caused
by fungi, 101 ; caused by slime
molds, 101 ; environmental,
98; functional, 98; of plants,
groups of, 99 ; parasitic, 99.

Ditches, 40.

Dodders, 102.

Domestic animals, 284.

Dragging, 27.

Drainage, 40.

Drains, open, 41 ; tile, 43 ; under-
drains, 42.

Embryo, 91.
Endosperm, 91.
Epiphytes, 100.

Farm policy and management,
112.

Fecundation, 96.

Fertilizers, application of, 85 ;
commercial, 79 ; nitrogen in,
80 ; phosphoric acid in, 83.

Fiber plants, 170.

Fig borer, 244.

Fig nematode root gall, 243.

Fig rust, 243.

Figs, 241.

Flowers, office of, 95.

Forestry, 283.

Fruits, subtropical, 241 ; tem-
perate, 207 ; tropical, 264.

Furrowing, 28.

Gang plow, 18.

Germination, 91.

Goats, 290.

Gossypium, 172.

Gossypiurn Barhadense, 179.

Gossypiuni hirsutum, 179.

Grains, 141.

Grape black rot, 237.

Grai^e downy mildew, 237.

Grape fruit, 260.

Grape phylloxera, 239.

Grape powdery mildew, 236.

Grape ripe rot, 237.

Grape root rot, 239.

Grapes, 230 ; aestivalis varieties,
235 ; Bourquineana varieties,
235 ; insects and diseases, 236 ;
Lahriisca varieties, 234 ; Lin-
secomii varieties, 236 ; propa-
gation, 231; pruning, 232;
rotundifolia varieties, 235 ; vini-
fera varieties, 234.

Green manures, 61.

Green manuring, crops for, 62.

Growth of the plant, 91.

Guinea grass, 162.

Hairy vetch, 66.

Harrow, acme, 24 ; disk, 25 ;

smoothing, 23 ; spring tooth,

24 ; V-shaped, 23.
Harrowing, 22.
Heel sweep, 38.
Heliophila unipuncta, 138.
Hevea Brasiliensis, 206.
Hicoria Pecan, 270.
Hogs, 288.
Horses, 286.
Hotbeds, 277.

Indigo, 78.

Insects, 102 ; and diseases, 97 ;

Irrigation, 46; by pumping, 50;
by tunneling, 51 ; dangers of,
54 ; from artesian wells, 50 ;
from reservoirs, 49 ; from
streams, 48; methods of, 51.

Japan clover, 165.

INDEX

295

Johnson grass, 161.
June berry, 229.
Jute, 171."

Kaffir corn, 158.

Kerosene emulsion, 106; me-
chanical mixture, 106.

Latitude, effect on climate, 2.

Leaves, function of, 93.

Lemons, 262.

Lespedeza striata, 165.

Life zones, 2.

Light, effect of, on plants, 94.

Limes, 263.

Liming, 56.

London j^urple, 106.

Loquat, 229.

Malangas, 282.

Manure, stable, 58.

Manures, chemical, 79 ; green,

61.
Manuring, 58.
Marasrnius sacchari, 139.
Marketing products, 107.
Medicago maculata, 166.
Medicago sativa, 167.
Melanconium sacchari, 140.
Melilotus alba, 78.
Mexican clover, 165.
Millet, German, 157 ; pearl, 157.
Millets and sorghums, 156.
Milo maize, 158.
Mites, 102.
Mucuna utilis, 72.
Mulching, 39.
Mules, 286.

Nematodes, 102.
Nicotiana tahacnm, 190.
Nitrogen, sources of, 87.
Nut crops, 270.

Oats, 155.

Ohves, 244.

Orange die back, 252.

Orange fertilizers, 246.

Orange foot rot, 253.

Orange injuries caused by ants,
259.

Orange packing, 250.

Orange root grub, 258.

Orange rust mite, 254.

Orange scab, 254.

Orange scale insects, 255.

Orange sooty mold, 254.

Orange stocks, 248.

Orange white fly, 257.

Orange wither tip, 263.

Oranges, 244 ; insects and dis-
eases, 252 ; soil and climate,
245.

Oryza sativa, 152.

Ovary, 96.

Panicum niaximuin, 162.

Panicum molle, 163.

Panicum sangxiinale, 158.

Para grass, 163.

Paris green, 106.

Paspalum compressuvi, 164.

Paspaluni dilatatum, 164.

Pasture and forage crojjs, 158.

Peach borer, 217.

Peach curculio, 213.

Peach rosette, 218.

Peach yellows, 218.

Peaches, 208; brown rot, 212;

diseases and insects, 212.
Peanuts, 168.
Pear blight, 226.
Pear leaf spot, 226.
Pears, 225.
Pecans, 270.

Pennisetum typhoideum, 157.
Perkinsiella saccharicida, 138.
Persica vtdgaris, 208.
Persimmons, 240.
Petroleum, crude, 106.
Phosphoric acid, sources of, 83.
Photosynthesis, 95.
Pineapples, 264.
Pistil, 96.

Plants, the growth of, 91.
Plow, Cuban, 17; gang, 18;

steam, 20; sulky, 18; turning,

17.

296

INDEX

Plowing, 16.

Plum black knot, 219.

Plums, 218; Chickasaws, 218;

European, 218 ; Japanese, 218 ;

Wild Goose class, 218.
Plumule, 91.
Pollen, 96.

Pollination, cross, 97 ; self, 97.
Pomelo, 260.
Potash, sources of, 84.
Potassium sulphide, 107.
Poultry, 290.
Primus Americana, 219.
Primus angustifolia, 218.
Prunus domestica, 218.
Primus hortulana, 218.
Prunus nigra, 219.
Prunus triflora, 218.
Pyrtis malus, 219.

Quince, 229.

Radicle, 91.

Ramie, 170.

Red clover, 63.

Remedial measures, 100.

Resin mixture, 106.

Rice, 152 ; botanical features and
varieties, 154 ; chief uses, 152 ;
climate and soil, 153 ; diseases
and insects, 155 ; manuring,
153 ; methods of planting and
cultivation, 153.

Richardsonia scabra, 165.

Rolling, 27.

Root hairs, 92.

Roots, function of, 92.

Rotation of crops, 87.

Rubber, 206; Brazihan, 206;
Mexican, 206.

Rye, 156.

Saccharutn officinarum, 118.

San Jose scale, 214.

Secale cereale, 156.

Setaria Italica Germanica, 157.

Sheep, 289.

Sisal, 188.

Soil, improvement of, 40.

Soils, biological activities in, 9 ;
chemical improvement of, 56 ;
composition of, 8 ; formation
of, 5 ; inoculation of, 64 ; kinds
of, 7 ; management of, 15.

Sorghum Halepcnse, 161.

Sorghums, 156.

Spraying, 104.

Sprays, formulas for, 105.

Spring vetch, 68.

Stable manure, 58.

Stamens, 96.

Steam plows, 20.

Stem, function of, 93.

Stigma, 96.

Strawberries, 230.

Subirrigation, 54.

Sugar cane, 118; army worm,
138 ; bacterial top rot, 139 ;
botanical features and varieties,
136; chief uses, 119; climatic
conditions, 120 ; diseases and
insects, 137 ; leaf hopper, 138 ;
mealy-bug, 138 ; methods of
cultivation : Cuba, 128 ; Ha-
waiian Islands, 126 ; Louisiana,
122 ; other American countries,
135; rind disease, 140; root
rot, 139; soils, 121.

Sugar-cane borer, 137.

Sweep, 38.

Sweet clover, 78.

Sweet potatoes, 278.

Sulky plow, 18.

Sulphur, 107.

Sulphur-lime mixture, 107.

Terracing, 43.

Theobroma cacao, 205.

Tillage, 30 ; implements of, 35.

Tobacco, 190 ; botanical features,
198; curing, 197; damping off,
199 ; diseases and insects, 199 ;
fermentation of, 197 ; flea-
beetle, 199 ; harvesting, 196 ;
mosaic disease, 200; planting
and cultivation, 192 ; shade
grown, 195.

Tobacco extract, 107.

INDEX

297

Tobacco seed beds, 192.
Tobacco sphinx, 200.
Topography, effect on cUmate,

3.
Transportation, 95.
Trifolium incarnatum, 63.
Trifolium pratense, 63.
Truck crops, 275.

Vegetable physiology, 91.
Velvet bean, 72.
Vicia sativa, 68.
Vicia villosa, 66.
Vig7ia Catjang, 68.
Vigna unguiculata, 68.

Vitis cestivalis, 233.
Vitis Bourquineana, 233.
Vitis Carabaa, 234.
Vitis Labrusca, 233.
Vitis Linsecomii, 233.
Vitis rotundifnlia, 233.
Vitis vinifera, 233.

Water grass, 164.
Whale-oil soap, 106.

Yams, 280.
Yautias, 282.

Zea mays, 141.

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