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2 THE SOUTHERN WORLD, MARCH 15,1882. JfgriqnUttqal jgtyarhn&tL Fertilisers-- Fertilisation. It was unfortunate, in some respects, that the first use of commercial fertilisers at the South was so nearly contemporaneous with the abolition of slavery. With the advan tage of the best system of unskilled labor in the world, in possession of the best money crop in the world, with a comparative virgin soil and a large reserve of uncleared land on nearly every farm, within easy reach of the rich prairie and river lands of the West, it is not surprising that men followed a'care less, improvident, wasteful system of clear ing, wearing out, and moving. There was no apparent necessity for the exercise of those arts of true husbandry which build up and improve the soil. The result was, when emancipation came, depriving us of our trained and reliable labor, leaving many in volved in debt, which had until then been a light burden—if felt ntall—we readily seized upon the apparently providential aid of commercial fertilizers to help us out of our embarrassments and to compensate for the greatly diminished eillciency of labor. The country was soon deluged with guano and other fertilizers.—good, bad and indifferent —cotton ruled high; and extravagant and reckless speculative cotton planting was the order of tlioday. Wo had not passed through that preparatory stage which occurs in older countries, during which the necessities of the situation have called for a careful study and application of theprinciplesof scientific agriculture. We skipped an important chapter in the lesson of true agricultural advance, nnd need to turn back and thoroughly learn • it before we can hope to mnkc satisfactory progress in future. From what bus been said it may be readily concluded that we strongly approve the judicious use of commercial fertilizers, whenever nnd wherever the indications ure favorable to their profitable employment; but tiie practice can not be too strongly con demned of wholesale and indiscriminate reliunce upon them as mere temporary ex periments—simply as plant fertilizers, to the exclusion of approved methods of amend ment nnd improvement of the soil itself, which marks the policy of the majority of Southern farmers. In the uso of costly commercial fertilizers, it should constantly be borne in mind that they arc, properly, only supplemental to the use of homo resources—stable manure, cot ton seed, marl, rotation, green manuring, or what not. Wo should also bo impressed with the importance of building up and in creasing the productiveness of the soil itself by what is called toil fertilization in contra distinction to plant fertilization. Keeping these ideas uppermost in the mind, we should seek to supply from abroad only those elements in which the soil is de ficient, and which can not be supplied from the farm itself. Among the elements which are absolutely necessary to the productiveness of a soil,phos phoric acid stands pre-eminent in import ance. It is tho only element that may nearly always bo safely applied to a soil which indicates by diminished crops that artificial help is needed to keep up Its pro ductiveness. It enters into the composition of all seeds, and is equally important to their perfect development as its presence in food is necessary to the proper nourishment of the brain, nerves and bony structures of animals. It is the one element that, more than any ( is selected by the animal economy to take a permanent place in the system. Respond ing to this want of animal life, Nature has provided that the plants and seeds upon which animals (including man) subsist shall draw from the soil these necessary constit uents. Where wheat, corn or other grain, cotton seed, cheeso and hay are sold off the farm, the soil will be rapidly impoverished of this scarce element unless supplied by manures containing it. Potaih is another element of not less im portance; perhaps, to the plants themselves; but it is generally more abundant—abso lutely and relatively—In the soil, and there fore not so soon exhausted as phosphoric acid. The want of potash in the original virgin soil is often indicated by the charac ter of the forest growth, and such want is generally apparent in those soils which are more or less distant from the feldspathlc or granite rocks which originally supplied the potash. Where the original growth con sists mainly of those kinds of trees, which, according to the common ath hopper test, are known to yield but little potash, it is safe to infer that this element was originally deficient and will soon be exhausted under cultivation. The remaining Important valuable ele ment of soil is ammonia or nitrogen. Here we are on threshold of a discussion as to the way in which plants assimilate* nitrogen> which chemists have carried on for many years, and on the other hand,| a difference between scientific farmers in regard to the policy of buying ammonia, orammoniated fertilizers. We do not propose now to enter in suoh discussion, butwillglvea few prac tical suggestions on this line in the next issue. R. J. R. The No Fence law. In his admirable address before the State Agricultural Convention of Georgia at Augusta, Col. A. P. Butler, Commissioner of Agriculture of South Carolina, held that the agricultural interests of the country were so much greater than the stock, that the latter must give way to the former. The cost of boundary fences alone, in South Car olina, wns $14,090,410, kept up at an annual cost of $2,505,371. The abolition of fences in South Carolina amounted to two years remission of all the taxes in the Stutc. Ho thought the abolition of fences would be equally advantageous to Geor^a. He had no doubt that the annual cost of building nnd maintaining fences in Georgia amounted to, if it did not exceed, the value of all the stock in the State. The no fence law had now become so popular in Anderson county, where it wns first adopted, that not a voice can be found in favor of its repeal. The no fence law encouraged the breeding of better stock. He believed that the general adop tion of the no fence law would greatly pro mote the interests of agriculture. Watermelon Culture. Mr. Fred Little, of Allen’s station, Rich mond county, Ga., said in his essay at the GeorgiaAgricultural Convention inAugusta: In his opinion the best land for watermelon culture, was a sandy loam, and if possible, a piece which had laid out for some time and had grown up in small pines and broom sedge. He then proceeded to give his method of culture. When the plants are well es tablished they should be thinned down to one plant to a hill, if large melons are de sired, and tills is very requisite if ,the mel ons are intended for sale. There are two va rieties very popular in Augusta—the old rattlesnake and the scaly bark. He had known melons to be sold in Augusta that weighed over seventy pounds each. These always bring fancy prices. He 6aid in an swer to the question of a delegate that the first of April is early enough to begin plant ing the seed. Value of Soil Analysis. Popular Science Monthly condenses from a valuable paper in the American Journal of Science, on “The Objects and Interpreta tions of Soil Analysis,’’ by Prof. E. W. Hil- gard, excellent authority, in which the author accepts as correct the principle that other things being equal, productiveness is, or should be, sensibly proportional to the amount of available plant-food within reach of tho roots during, the period of the plant’s development, provided that such supply does not exceed the maximum of that which the plant can utilize, when the surplus simply remains inert. The gist of the matter is as follows: For finding the exact value of the soil from analysis, it is necessary, however, not so much to find the actual amounts of the con stituents in the soil, as to find the amounts which are accessible to and assimilable by the plants. The problem is, then, to find a solvent which shall as nearly as possible represent the action of the plant itself. Analyses of European soils fail because virgin soils do not exist in Europe, and no generalizations can be drawn from the examination of any spot. In the United States we still have perfectly natural soils in nearly every part of our territory, with the original vegeta tion, which reveals so much to the farmer, still growing upon them. Frof. Hilgard’s method of analysis starts from the observation of the productive qualities of the soil as Indicated by the na tive growth. He then tries to ascertain what are the peculiarities of the soil that favor this kind of growth, as distinguished from some other growth on some other soil. As a rule, a soil showing a high percentage of plant-food is fertile; but the converse is not always true; a soil having a low percent age is not necessarily poor. A loose soil, by enlarging the sphere of expansion of the roots may enable them to reach as large quantities of food, even when it Is more widely scattered, as they can find in a more highly charged, but more compact and less penetrable soil. Hence mechanical con ditions should always bejtaken Into account. The analyses so far instituted, prove that other thingtf being equal, the thriftiness or present productiveness of a soil is measur ably dependent on the presence of a certain minimum quantity of lime. The evidence on this point Is “overwhelm ing.” The lime operates by effecting the more rapid transformation of vegetable matter into active humus, by retaining the humus against the oxidizing Influence of hot climates; by rendering minute percent ages of phosphoric acid and potash effec tive; hy a tendency to secure the proper maintenance of the conditions of nitrifica tion; and, physically, by promoting the flocculation of the soil. After that of lime, the proportion of phosphoric acid seems to be the most im portant factor in the productiveness of soils. A certain percentage of potash is required, but it is present in most soils; and Professor Hilgnrd infers, generally, that '’’potash ma nures are not among the first to be sought for after the soils have become ‘tired’ by ex haustive culture.” Iron, in the shape of ferric hydrate finely diffused, appears-to be an important ingredient, valuable on ac count of its physical, and partly also of its chemical qualities. It has a high absorpti ve power for gases, and soils in which it occurs resist drought better than others; and the universal preference given by farmers to red lands, shows the results of experience in this respect. The efficiency of the hydrate depends essentially upon a state of fine di vision; and when merely incrusting the sand grains, or aggregated into bogore grains, it exorts little or no influence, although the analysis may show a high percentage. On the other hand, ferruginous soils are the first liable to damage from imperfect drainage, overflows, etc. The foregoing if read carefully, will be found of especial advantage to horticultur ists, and also by those devoting themselves exclusively to husbandry. A Hancock County Farmer’s Letter. Editor Southern World.—Your letter, asking for the result of my experience in the cultivation of oats, was received some little time since. Other engagements have prevented an earlier reply. Until 1876, 1 pursued the farm policy usu- ually adopted in this section. I let out my land to “croppers and tenants.” I found that I did not realize any Income from my plantation, and I determined to change my policy. I took ray freedmen “for wages.” I found at the end of the year, after having kept an accurate account of my farm expen ses and the income received therefrom, that I was still without revenue from thlsaource. The next year I determined to make one further change. Being satisfied that the character of my labor had been much im proved by hiring for wages, I thought it only necessary to find paying crops to moke form ing both pleasant and profitable. I then began the practice of keeping an account of the expenses of each crop raised and, knowing the products, I found It quite an easy matter to determine Its availability as a money crop. Under this system I have uniformity found oats the best paying crop upon my farm. I do not, of course, exclude other crops, but make oats the central idea, and others altogether secondary. To be plain, the acres devoted to corn and cotton on my farm added togethe and then multiplied by 2X will give the number of acres sown to small grain. Fall sown oats I have found much the most profitable. I have raised them at twelve and one-half cents per bushel, they usually cost me from eighteen to twenty cents. The most expensive oats I raise are those sown in the spring. Upon these, however, I have never realized less than fifty percent., more frequently I have received one hundred. My spring oats of the last season, were, prob ably, the most expensive I have raised, cost ing me fifty cents per bushel. I sold them for $1.10. I sell my cotton as often a frac tion under the cost as I do for a small inar- gin of profit. I have been looking for a spring oat that would not rust., I think I have probably found it in the Probistier. I I am sowing it now for the second season and I am quite pleased with It. May I call attention here to the great bene fit I have received from keeping an accurate account against all my fields and their crops. The land upon which I design making my principal yield of oats I sow to peas. From the middle to the latter part of September I begin turning the vines with two-horse plows. I then apply manure made of cow and sheep droppings and cotton seed broad cast. This I have not been able to do satis factorily until this season. I am now using Kemp's Manure Spreader and I could not ask the work done better. I sow my oats on the manure and then put them In with an ’•Acme” harrow. The land is left thorough ly pulverized and perfectly smooth. I am using this harrow to-day, February 20, put ting in oats on a meadow thickly set in Ber muda. I am tearing the grass all to pieces. I know it seems late to be so wing oats. Sown, even later than this, last season, they paid me over seventy-five per cent, and as cot ton, nor, indeed, any other crop has paid me anything like such money, I am giving the time and labor to oats I have heretofore given to less profitable crops. I have (teen sowing continuously since, early fall, when ever the weather would allow. I, of course, cannot manure ray entire crop, but only where I think it will pay best. I use reapers in saving my crop, nnd take very great pleasure in managing one ray- self; nothing in business lias ever charmed me so completely as driving a reaper into a field of grain andlaying large gavels of beau tiful grain at every turn of the rake. Notli- ingln cotton, Iain sure, will ever approach it. I never bind my oats; necessity led me to this and I have grown to prefer it. In fol lowing the machine freedmen had no time to stop and they complained of sore fingers and too much work. I just set them aside and left the gavels lying loose on the stub ble and they cured so beautifully in a very short time that I was delighted with the re sult and I have practiced the plan since. I drop the gavels from the table ut such points as I desire about opposite each other. When I go out to draw’ them in, the team is driven between the rows of gavels and one boy from one side gathers a gavel and places it in the rack, another boy from the opposite side places another gavel with the heads lapping upon the first, and so on,until too high for them to reach. The driver then receives the gavels and places them in the rack. In unloading, the oats are caught by the bqtts and shocked in good largo stocks, as though they were bound, to be threshed. I thresh all my grain. Put up in this man ner they keep perfectly, until I get ready to thresh them. The advantages in not binding, I dare say, will readily suggest themselves. It induces more careful handling and much less of it. After the usual manners of binding, shock ing, re-shocklng and cutting bands the bun dles receives from five to seven hard knocks against the ground or rack, and much of the grain is unnecessarily wasted. It relieves the great labor of cutting bands in thresh ing, Furthermore, in adopting this plan it gives the grain cut a little before mature, an opportunity to cure thoroughly before be ing shocked, making it more palatable for stock than if bound and suffered to mould. The great advantage, however, is in case of rain. If the gavels spread open are made wet, they dry so much more readily than when bound) indeed, abundleof wet oats re quires along time to dry unless unbound. This causes trouble and great waste. A little sun upon the gavels will dry the top and it is an easy matter to turn them and they soon dry thoroughly. I would not feed a man to bind my oats. I certainly would not payan additional amoun t for a reaper, simply because it had an attachment for binding. I have been sowing the same land to oats for several years, following with peas to be turned under. I have all my cattle and sheep driven to my barn every night. Cows giving milk are put in stalls and well fed. In this way I make quantities of manure. This, to gether with cotton seed I give in addition to pea vines. The manure from my horses and mules I give to my corn and cotton. After this I shall compost my lot manure for all my crops with muck and rich earth and ap ply with Kemp’s Manure Spreader, and I confidently expect large increase in yield. My land is poor but it is being rapidly im proved under my present system. Hancock Co. w. J. Norths*. The first ground was broken for the erec tion of the Huguenot Mills yesterday by the President. Mr. T. Q. Donaldson, the sod be ing broken for the purpose of digging the foundation. Mr. T. C. Markley, one of the directors, and Mr. C. H. Lanneau, treasurer then took a turn at wielding the pick and 'Shovel, and loaded-the first wheelbarrow of dirt that was carried off. The contract was awarded yesterday to Mr. J. W. Cagle and the buildings wlU, no doubt, be begun as soon as the foundation is dug.—[Greenville vo. V/.) flews.