20 



Walker, Ala. — The proKpcct of an iiriprovernont in tho ap;ii<;nlture of tliU section is 

 very tiatteiinpf. The diHtribution of irnprovinl seefls from tlio Department of A^^ricnl- 

 turo, and tho practical Hkill of a few good n<n'thern and Kriglish farmeiH arc waking 

 11]) finite an inten-wtin tliis important industry. 



Clarke, Ala. — Sorglinni and Hugar-cane are raised in a small way. More will be 

 planted next year, and crops will be more div»)rsi(ied. 



FaycUe, Tviin. — Two onconraging Hyinptoms have (exhibited themselves in this 

 connty this year; farmers sowed grass during the summer, and are now sowing wheat. 

 A diversity of crops, it is ho])ed, will prevail in a few years. 



Jf'oodton, Kann. — Tiie wheat sown incMcates a falling off in acreage from last year; 

 but this is owing to the fact that the farmers are cultivating fewer acres and farming 

 them better — giving to six acr<!S the labor formerly expende.d on ten — i)lowing deeper, 

 harrowing well, and drilling in the grain. This metliod of cultivating, together with 

 early sowing, shows largely in the gtxxl condition of winter wheat, as it is now uni- 

 formly above an aveiage. 



A(;i«icui,TUHAL chan(;k.s and divkhsikication. — I'eilis, Mo. — Wheat-raising is on 

 the decline and stock-raising on the increase; therefore, corn, oats, and other feeding- 

 grains are invariably from & to 10 cents per bushel higher in the country portion of 

 the county than at Sedalia, a shipping-statiou on the Pacific railroad, of 8,000 inhabi- 

 tants. 



Knox, Tenn. — There is a commendable spirit of enterprise growing up in this county. 

 Many iarniers' clubs have already been organized for the discussicm of (juestions f)f 

 practical value anil for the interchange of ojdnions founded on individual ol)servation 

 and experience. These meetings are well attended and are increasing in numbers and 

 interest. A f(>w granges have been organized. Altogether ctur pisople are making 

 progress, and 1 think they owe much to the Department of Agriculture. 



Oadndcn, fla. — The <;orn-crop of this year (average 1:5 bushels per acre) is a little 

 above the aveiage of formtr y(-ars, but no indication of what the land is capable of i)ro- 

 ducing, if our farmers couhl be induei;d to abandon an old an<l universal ju'ejudice 

 against thicker seeding. The prevailing custom is to have the rows live f(!et and 

 tlic stalks of corn threi^ feet apart in tlie drills, and but one stalk in a hill, thus 

 securing only 2,*.M0 stalks to the acre. The idea is that in our climate it is necessary 

 to give great distance between the stalks to ])revent the Jirinf/ of. the leaves. C<m- 

 \inc<'(l that this idea is erroneous, and that the iiiing comi)laini!d of is occasioned, not 

 by overcrowding, but by injudicious cultivation, 1 have made two ex))erim(!nts, both 

 of which i)roved successful. I selected a four-acre lot of high oak and hickory ridge- 

 land, which was (deared in 1H4'2, and had been annually cultivated in cotton and corn 

 ever since without any interval of rest. For several years anterior to the experiment 

 the average yi«dd of tliis lot had U> bushels per acre, one handful of cotton-seed to the 

 hill being ns(Ml for a fertilizer. This lot was thoroughly broken up in the month of 

 February, and about the first of March it was checked both ways with a narrow shovel- 

 plow, 'M by I! feet, (giving 4,'JOO hills to the acre,) and on<i grain of corn dropped in each 

 check. The fertilization was the same asin jtrevious years, one handful of cotton-seed to 

 thehill. In the intervals between the hills of corn on the drill I deposited oneground- 

 pea immediately after tlui first working. The cultivation was done exclusively with Al- 

 len's ''horse-hoc!," running once in each alley and three tinuis successively, at intervals 

 'of twenty-one days bi'tween each ])lowing. The result was a yiehl of 4.^)bushels of corn 

 and ()*20 jionnds of'fodder tot he acre, besides a good croj) of ground-pc^asc^, u])on which my 

 j)orkcrswerefattened,andanal>undantsupply left for the i-ooting of the stock-hogs. The 

 past season I adiled two acres to the lot, and observed the same i)rograninie as to distance 

 and fertilization ; but, owing to the blowing down of the corn after the first working, 

 1 was nnable to give it any further cultivation ; conse(|nently the yield was reduced to 

 ;{.^> bushels per acre, in Imth experiments the ears were large and fully developed, and 

 in neither case was there any indication ui firing. I design to repeat the experiment 

 annually Jintil 1 shall have ascertained the maximum number of stalks that the land 

 ■will sustain. 



MclHiffie, 6'rt.— The low price of cotton will make a great change in the farming 

 interest of this section ; nu)re wheat, oats, and rye sown this fall than in any season 

 since the war, and a large area will be planted in corn in the s^pring. 



Colib,Ga. — The decline in the price of cotton in November caused fanners t» ■sow- 

 larger croi)s of wheat this fall than in former years. The high prices of corn and 

 ■wheat have also had their influence. 



Fulton, (la. — The stringency of the money-market and low i»rice of cotton have 

 forced many of our farmers to stop following the flowing tide to financial rnin in 

 ])lanting nothing but cotton. There is a great change; we are now endeavoring to 

 raise more grain ; an increase of wheat has been sown this fall, the soil well prepared 

 f(U- its reception, and the results look very promising. The sanie is true of rye and 

 barley. 



Marion, Ga. — For the first time since the -war, farmers are turning their attention to 

 raising grain. There will be more small grain sown this fall in this connty than in 



