MANAGEMENT OF PLANTATION. 



The principal aim in the management of this farm is stock raising ; 

 not alone for the direct profit derived, but also for the benefits which 

 will accrue to the lands from this practice. As a consequence much of 

 the land is pasture, the grasses consisting of native wild varieties and 

 some Bermuda grass. In addition to cotton and corn, other crops are 

 grown as follows : Peas, 10 acres ; corn with peas, 30 acres ; oats, 15 

 acres ; and sorghum, 10 acres all of which are used as grain and fodder 

 for the stock. There are on the farm 60 to 100 head of grade cattle 

 suitable for both dairy and beef purposes. These animals are stabled 

 from October until April and penned at night during the remainder of 

 the year. There are also 20 to 25 head of sheep, which are stabled the 

 same as the cattle ; 3 to 6 hogs, and a small flock of poultry. The 

 working stock consists of 8 mules, 4 horses, and 2 colts. The stable 

 manure is hauled to the fields in the spring and made to cover from 30 

 to 40 acres. In addition to the barnyard manure, commercial fertilizer 

 is also applied at planting time. This consists of cotton-seed meal, 

 rock phosphate, and kainit, combined so as to give 8.6 per cent phos- 

 phoric acid, 3 per cent ammonia, and 3 per cent potash. It is used 

 for the cotton crop at the rate of 200 to 300 pounds to the acre. 



The tillage is done chiefly with one-horse implements and much hand 

 labor is used in the operation of thinning and hoeing the principal crops. 

 No definite system of rotation of crops is followed. All of the upland 

 fields are occasionally changed from cotton to corn and back again to 

 cotton. Live-stock farming, such as is being conducted on this farm, 

 is seldom seen in Lancaster County, and there is no doubt that it will 

 prove highly profitable and be the means of greatly improving the pro- 

 ductivity of the soils. The methods undertaken are commendable, but 

 could be very much improved by the introduction of modern farm 

 implements for the better cultivation of the soil, by the adoption of a 

 suitable system of rotation of crops, and by the successful extension of 

 permanent pasture and the production of more forage crops for the live 

 stock. The acreage of cowpeas could be profitably increased, and 

 winter cover-crops of rye and barley would prove economical. 



RESULTS OF DIFFERENT MANURIAL TREATMENTS OF CECIL SILT LOAM. 



The method used in making the following determinations is known 

 as the wire-basket method, and consists of growing wheat plants in 

 small wire baskets containing the soil to be experimented with. After 

 the baskets have been filled with soil and planted to wheat, they are 

 sealed with paraffin, so that there is little loss of water directly from the 

 soil. By weighing the baskets periodically and adding distilled water 

 from time to time a favorable moisture content of the soil is maintained, 

 and the amount of water transpired by the plants is ascertained. The 



