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
