Southern cultivator. (Augusta, Ga.) 1843-188?, December 01, 1870, Page 427, Image 17

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imal consumption or assimilation ; and hence, it is not like wheat or corn, a complete food. It must of necessity he fed together with other, lighter food, or it will soon pall upon the appetite and be obstinately refused by animals. It fol lows that the excrements of animals fed on cot ton seed in any form, possess an uncommonly high manurial value ; and so long as any portion of these excrements, liquid or solid, is allowed to go to waste, a serious loss of soil ingredients is sustained. How few farmers in our land collect even half the manure dropped by their cattle! A “ bale per acre” cotton crop withdraws from the soil about forty-two pounds of soil ingredi ents, of which only/<>?/;■ pertain to the lint, thir ty-eight to the seed. In other words, a crop of seed exhausts the soil to the same extent as nine and a half crops of lint; and it is a fact duly proven that the regular return of the whole seed to good cotton land, will sustain its productive ness sensibly undiminished, since the fallow sup plies the slight deficiency caused by the with drawal of the lint.—E. W. llilgard, In South- Land. EXPORTATION OF RAW PRODICE, GRASSES, Ar. IS IT WISE TO EXPORT RAW PRODUCE ?—CAN WE PRODUCE GRASSES IN THE SOUTH ?• —WHY CAN WE NOT PRODUCE WHAT ITALY, GREECE AND EGYPT PRODUCES? Editors Southern Cultivator : —To an swer these questions, we have to go back as far as the June number of the Cultivator. This number contains an article by C. W. Howard from the “ Plantation.” He cites an extract of an article written by Mr. Dodge, where he says: “ The idea of exportation of the raw product of the soil to the Old World from the heart of the American Continent, as a source of wealth to the entire State, should have its origin in an insane asylum, and if carried into practice, would make a county infirmary the principal local institu tion.” Mr. Howard endorses this language by saying : “ It is true as it is strong!” I for one, out of hundreds of thousands, beg to differ with Messrs. Dodge and Howard. We most respect fully decline the honor of having originated our ideas in an insane asylum ! We have never con tended that all our raw produce should be sent out of the country, but ice contend, that such ar ticles as cannot be manufactured here, without an unjust and oppressive tariff, must be sold to countries where they can be manufactured cheaper, and then be bought by us for 20 to 50 SOUTHERX CULTIVATOR. per cent less than if the articles were retained here and manufactured. Up to 1800, all our cotton, except a fraction, was sold and manufac tured out of our States, and although we had to pay from 10 to 25 per cent more for the manu factured goods than they could have been bought for if a reasonable tariff had existed, still we were not only prosperous, but rich ! If such re sults can be obtained by sending our cotton out of the country, “ insane asylums" ideas have their merits. Next we come to the question of grasses. — That grasses, and particularly clover, are valua ble fertilizers, we all know. The question arises, can we in our latitude, from 28 to 35 degrees North latitude, cultivate grasses, and especially clover, with success V This question cannot bo answered positively. There are locations —for instance, in the upper part of Georgia and Ala bama —where clover prospers well, mostly on account of its elevation above the ocean, but in the larger part of the Southern States, clover is very uncertain. But Providence has wisely al lotted different means for prosperity to the dif ferent climates. In our latitude, we can culti vate oats and peas with remarkable success, if we procure oats not subject to rust. Oats seed ed in October will be harvested by the first of June. Flush the land immediately after the oats has been removed, harrow well and lay oil* with bull-tongues, rows two feet apart. Sow peas— when high enough, run a bull-tongue through, or better, a gang-plough, which contains four bull tongues, and finishes two rows at a time. Late in the fall, let the hogs in the field for three or four weeks, then plough the peas under, and I warrant a luxuriant crop of corn and cotton the next year. By dividing the land into three fields, this operation can be repeated every third year, and'the fertility of the soil will increase. The question of “ A Subscriber,” Flemington, E. Fla., “why we cannot raise grain and grass es as they do in Egypt, Greece and Italy, is an swered by the fact that these countries are loca ted under from 38 to 42 degrees North latitude, whereas, East Florida is under the 29th degree— a difference of about 000 miles. L. A. HANSEN. Egypt, Miss., Oct. 1870. Whilst it is true, that Florida lies farther South than Greece, Italy, &c., it is also true, that on the Eastern shores of America, the climate is much cooler than in corresponding latitudes in Europe. Home and New York City are situated on nearly the same parallel of latitude, and yet how different their climates !— Eds. So. Cult. 427