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ion. .
Southern Farming—Reflections of the
c our.
The intelligent farmers of the south are
no doubt as much puzzled at this time in
regard to the setting of the year’s crops as
they have been any time in the past twenty
years. To the vary large majority of term
ers there has been little proflfin their last
year’s work. We have no doubt it is tree
that tor one who made any "clear money”
there were a dozeu who failed to come out
square on tho year’s work. Among the
Urge number of tenant farme:s what pe. -
wutage probably did even -a well as this?
How many by close economy managed to
live and bnd at the end of the year that
they bad not increased their indebtedness*
tVe tiava made it a nusinesi to ques
til 'ii SUfuirrs of every degree from the i-or
tenant farmer up to the 6, 8
or 10-horse farmer m our sec
tion and the burden of the
testimony elicited from them will easily
sustain the statement that no year in the
past ten has given 9 little reward for their
work as lSOti has done, in the majority of
cases the viekl was c. osid rably below the
average and yet at the same time the prices
received for their products, such as they
had to sell was also below the average. For
the majority the advance iD the price of
cotton came after they had disposed of one
half or three-fourths of what was made.
The small farmer derived very little benefit
from the. advance. Those that were in the
bands of tbeir oreditors, so to speak, were
forced to sell just as fast as it was picked
and ginned. (Surely “the destruction of
the poor is their poverty.”) Avery large
number of farmers would have held their
early pickings of cotton through September
and October tbe past season if they had had
a > option in the matter, but as they had
made their obligations fall due iu those
months they were forced to sell.
Of course farming is done at a great dis
advantage “under a mortgage,” but it
seems that much of the farming or tbe south
caD only be done in that way. This is the
misfortune of our farmers rather than any
one’s fault. But for this poverty, a hei Stage
left to tbe.u as a result < f the war, he mass
of southern farmers would doubtless at this
time be f‘llowii g a diversified system of
farming that would have brought them a
comtortable living and pleasant surround-
Inc*even if it bad not bi ought them very
great riches. It a not necessary to paint
toeir piesent condition—the cumulative
effect of the “cottou and corn” system that
lias beeo so persistently followed for these
m tuy years. It ts necessary though that
we should give serious consideration
to tbe future. The errors of
the past we must suffer for,
to he sure, tut tl ey should fce fraught with
teachings for tbe future. The best, lessons
of life are to be learned from cur failure.
Success is not the only teacher. We should
ail prefer to sit at tbe feet of success as a
teacher rather than failure, but frequently
we have no option in the matter.
Ts it not true tbat by far tbe large ma
jority ba\ e steadily been growing poorer
lor a number of years—poorer in purse and
in the quality of their land. Some moralists
urge that the farmers are poor—most of
them—simply because they are and have
been extravagant and wasteful—wasteful
not only of 'he money they have made, but
constantly wasteful of their time, a waste
that might tie converted into money, the
moralist claims, if the farmers would only
choose to have it so. While there uiav be
Some truth in this allegation, and in
reference to a certain class of farmers,
mostly tenant farmers, it does not embody
ti.e chief reason for the poverty of southern
farming. It comes nearer the truth to say
that too many farmers are engag’d in pro
ducing one or two products to the neglect of
other things that enter iptoa diversified aid
prosperous sv stem of agriculture. They are
attempting to carry on “special” farming
on soils that are now aimest worn out (if
not entirely so) from having their humus
exhausted. This they will learn sooner or
'ater cannot be done. This gn at truth is to
bs learned by our southern farmers. When
ft country or section of country has ex
hausted tbe resources of a system of agri
tul'.ure, based almost entirely upon hoed
crops, the next step involve’ a change to
' tsstoral farming.” In other words, grass
and stroke must in a great measure be sub
stituted for cotton and corn in the south
if we would see our lends restored to a con
dition that invests them with any agricult
ural value. Let us consider this matter, for
it involves a question of much more signifi
cance to the masses than any involved in
pohtios. “The next President will be a
democrat,” hut bat will he the next harvest
of the southern farmer?
Asparagus.
There are few vegetables tbst bring bet
ter returns for the care and labor expended
upon it than asparagus does. While it is
not tho “substantial” vegetable tbat soma
are and consequently not ao much a poor
man's vegetable, still it is liked by every
°ne. It is the most delicate of vegetable
tod is always relished by persons of means
wh i may care but little for other vegeta
bles. Asparagus cannot, or course, he pro
duced in the cheep and off band way that
turnips, beans and potatoes can. There is
move care and expense attendant upon
establishing a bed of asparagus than at
tends upon most other crops, hut whou a
“te is (,: ce well established it requires very
little labor t" keep it iu a hearing condition
for many years. •
It pays o u-o all necessary care to have
the hod ret perfectly end gotten iu good
shape for be .ru g, and after that it will ro
fiuire very little mix r to enable it to supply
■ts succulent stems annually for many
Tears.
Conover’s Colossal is the variety most
need, perhaps, but there are other good
forte. The Palmetto is a good sort, but any
’ nd that is properly cared for will give
satisfaction.
1 ii^# # ’ vaar ‘°ld plants are the most desira
can he at * a had, but 2-ycar-old plauts
T base soouid 1 e set out in the fall or very
•a lu tho winter—any time, though, when
the roots are dormant.
,n a, Para.;u Lied may hs expected to
J or twenty years ■-r more, tba soil
“ and he thoroughly prepared as deeply as
url I*’ jhOOfporaUng wlt.t It a bountiful
u ti Vu * < ‘tahla matter and broken boot
‘ne depth of 2.1 inches or a little mors.
H i, ** J 5 "PPlioatiou of regular bona meal
a i.,..! 1 ' •’‘vantage to apply bone as large as
u -kory hut tbat will deoom;>o#a slowly Iu
the soil and supply food for a number of
years to the plan's.
A beil 4 feet wide and 40 feet long, pron
erly cared for. will suoplv a good-sized
family abundantly with this delightful
vegetable. O. e-year fid roots can be ; ro
cured from these who make it a business to
grow plnnts for sale from 84 to }<S per
thousand. In setting out the roots prune
off all the bruised roots and spread them
evenly in every direotion.
Irish Fotatoes.
In planting Irish potatoes they should be
planted deep if tbe soil is deep, but it will
not do to put tbe seed down in the subsoil.
If the soil is shallow the potatoes must be
planted shallow, but such soil cannot be ex
pected to make heavy crops. Ou deep soil
rich in humus, 701) or 800 bushels have been
made per acre time and again, and even
more than this, but our common soils do
not turn out more than one-tentli of this
usually. On our best soils 300 to 400 bushels
can be made under proper man ring and
cultivation. Do not let rank, unfermented
manure, either stable or green cotton seed,
come into contact with the youi g
potatoes. It makes them scabbv. We
prefer good old com nost or a first
class commercial fertilizer. Nitrate of
soda is a good application for any potato
land that needs nitrogen. It should not
come into contact with the seed however.
It should be broadcasted over tbe furrow
after the potatoes have been plaited and
lightly covered. In planting potatoes in
deep furrows do not cover the seed by level
ing the soil but merley draw on two nr three
inches of -oil. As the potatoes grow out of
the furrows draw.tbe soil toward them in
cultivating them, bat do not bank tbe dirt
high against the vine. Keep the soil very
nearly level. At the last hoeing or sweep
i g some soil may be thrown up against the
vines.
Making Small arms Pay.
American farmers almost always desire
more laud than they can work, says tbe
American Cultivator. If they do not make
money they generally thiuk the reason is
they have not land enough, and often run
in debt tor more. But tbe mortgage runs
on unceasingly while the laud producesonly
in the growing season. So in the end the
mortgage usually "ins, someone else takes
the farm, and the old process is repeated
with new actors in the programme. This
fact oft repeated has set ma <y farmers t
thinking. Possibly ihsy have bean mis
taken in believing that more land was the
requisite condition of prosperity. Fe wer
acres and better tillage gives better promise
of success.
Unless farm methods radically change the
advocates of the large farm are right, if
the so all farm is only half tilled its prod
uct will not meet the necessary expenses of
even the most economical living, aud the
mau, be he farmer or e gaged in any other
business, whose expenses regularly exceed
his income, is sure some time to fail. Tern
porarv causes may postpone failure, but the
end is certain.
It is entirely true that if the small farmer
grows oniy the crops which m dern har
vesting machinery enables the large farmer
to grow successfully, he cannot couipe e. In
the cost of such tite.cbiiiery the small farmer
has to pay a much as one who owns several
hundred acres. He does not get a tenth
part of the use from it. Hence he is at a
great di advantage, the o ly relief from
which is a co-operative owning of such ma
chinery by a cumber of small farmers, and
devo mg most of the land to crops where
more labor may be required, but where
such expensive machinery need not he pur
chased. There may be, probably will be,
far more expense per acre, bu: it will result
in enough larger sales to make it a profit,
which cannot be done on the large iarm, as
such farms must almost necessarily be man
aged.
Most of the abandoned farms of the east
ern states, and, indeed, we may say ah of
them, were made unprofitable by attempts
to grow grain or other crops in compeiitio<>
with tbe west. Tbe eastern tarmer has lost
in such competition. Yet bis land is worth
more if equally fertile tbau that of the west
ern farmer. Not w irth more, perhaps, for
growing grain, but for gro - tog something
in which the man cultivating hundreds of
acres is less likely to compete. For that
most eastern tarn s, especially those that
have been long cropped w ith grain and thus
depleted of fertility, are not rich enough.
All through the eastern states farmers are
beginning to realize tbat keeping tbe best
stock is the basis of any permanent improve
ment. True, in this tbe small eastern farmer
is competing with the western man owning
hundreds, and even thousands, of acres.
But tbe small farmer makes bis farm rich
faster, and when he has fe tilized it be can
make tietter use of the land than is possible
to the man owning hundreds or thou
sands of acres. Tbat is his advantage, and
if ha makes tbe most of it be can compete
in stock growing with the western farmer,
as he cannot compete in graiu growing.
One exhausts soil, the other increases fer
tility.
Borne kind of intensive soil culture should
be combined with improved stock breeding
to make both most profitable on tbe small
farm. In other words the eastern stock
grower looks to bis manure pile and what
he can do with it for a considerable part of
his profits. The western stock grower cares
less for the manure pile. He has so much
land in proportion to his stock that he can
not make the soil very rich. If be did he
could only afford to crop it in competition
witb grain growers on virgin soil, aud 01 ly
as that bee tine exhausted would his profit
from grain growing begin.
Treatment of Chicken Cholera
It is quite important in the diagnosis of
the case cf a patient, whether human or
among the lower animals, says the Western
Rural, to first search for the symptoms, but
not to pursue the course of the av erage doc
tor to undertake to treat the symptoms re
gardless of the causa which needs removal,
'i bis applies as well to the care of poultry as
anywhere else. The symptoms of chickeu
cholera are as follows: The fowl droops and
mopes about, witb the feathers staring; the
comb and wattles turn dark or paie, usually
the former; there is a great weakntss and
manifest symptoms of distress digestion 13
arrested, food refused, the orop filled with
sour and fermenting food, diarrhcea of a
mild tvpe at first, increasing in severity to
the end. droppings at first of a greenish
yellow color, becoming mere frothy and
sulphurous as the disease progresses; pulse
rapid and feeble; high fever and great
thirst. sleepiness is a obaraeteris.ic symp
tom. The disease is produced by a micro
j seopic organism.
In treating this disease, as it is highly in
fectious. the first thing to be done is to re
move all the affected birds from the flock,
and immediately clean up tbe premises—
house aDd yard, drecchiog everything with
water acidulated with suiphuric acid. Then
keep things clean and sprinkle daily, for a
few days, with water with which .a small
Quantity of sulphuric acid has beeu mixed.
The following treatment for the sick fowls
is recommended by Dr. Michie. Take blue
mass, 00 grains; pulverized camphor. 80
grains; cayenne pepper, 80 grains; pulver
ized rhubarb, 48 grains; laudanum, SO
drops. Mix and make into 30 pills. Give
01 e pill to each sick fowl every three or four
hours until they act fully on the t owels.
When thev have aoied give one-half tea
spoonful of castor oil ami ten drops of laud
anum to each. Let the drink be scalded
sour milk. wiib fifty drops of
sulphuric acid to the pint, well
I stirred in. As soon as the evac
uations change to a more solid and less ehor
-1 acteristio appearance, givestroDg white oak
bark ten < r water in which some tannic
I acid is mixed and allow no other drink.
I Tbe dropping* must be drenched with the
I water and sulphuric acid to kill tbe germs
Fortunately this terrible disease is not
common in the oooler portions of our coun
try. but in the warmer sections It la l often
very destructive, sweeping off b<detl<>cks
A hen deed from this disease Is capable of
spreading it through
,1 o,i(J beus should he bur _ ed, or , If n
burned, ururf several feet beneath the sol
where there is no danger of their being dug
IHE MORNING NEWS: MONDAY. JANUARY 16, 1893—TEN PAGES.
up by a stray dog. Burning is tbe surest
way of destroying the bodies. Oir they
might be treated by pouring over them
water, to which a liberal am mot of suU
pl uric acid had been added, and then
buried.
Cteap I one.
From the Texas Farmer is quoted the
following brief letter on this subject;
“How to make a bog weigh 200 pounds at
the least expense: First, have your oat
patoh—say a lot with a few acres, owing to
the number of hogs. Plant sorghum to come
in as early as you can. Then arrange to
have your pigs come about June 1, turn
them out on the oats in a few days, let them
remain there until the oats be
gin t get scarce, then give them all the
s irghum they will eat. ff ben they are about
4 months old give tbem corn soaked twenty
four hours in water, all they will eat, for
tour or five months, and I believe you will
get more meat for less feed than in any
other way. I would suggest that they
have access to your wheat field
as soon as it can be grazed on.
This will help very much to rave your corn,
and will pash aud develop your pigs. I
think in tnis way you might get 200pounde
of meat at a cost of cents per pound.
The o:d way of raising hogs would ooet you
sto 6 cents. As to other seasons; In May
you can have oats; in November you can
have wheat or barley for your sows. Much
of your success as to cheap meat depends on
the amount of green pasture you can use.
W.’H. Harris,
It is bard to answer your query as to wbat
sh uld be the average cost to produce hogs
weighing 200 pounds. I have never made
any experiment in t at line. I; basal "ays
been cheaper for me to raise ray meat than
to buy it. That much I know. I find
tbat spring pigs make the cheapest
bogs. You can make one weigh
200 ppunds at killing time by letting him
run a pasture, or by feeding grain f od oc
casionally, so that hta stomach will expand,
ibis will make him grow much larger than
he would fed ou only corn. I allow my
pigs to run in my orse lot and upon my
oat crop. I fence all so as to keep hogs in.
After the oats are no good, a bog will do
wed on them with out little other feed. As
they get larger a hog will then keep iu Cne
fix. I never take my hogs off my oats, as
ti.ey never damage them much—at any rate
not so muen as tbe profit is ou the hogs.
This brings in your hogs fat early in the
fall, which is a good time to sell on
foot. I sold some this fall at 5% cents
gross, and could have sold many more but
did not have them. A 9 months hog does
not go hrough the winter, he grows faster
and oenee much cheaper. 1 do not raise
hogs for sale, and have lodz since learned
t at a lew good hogs on a farm are better
tha i many half fed. Tb.oo h gsforasmal!
lamily furnishes enough meat, and often
two will answer. I havo the Berxshiro, as
they will fatten at any age. While I can
not give accurate figures as to cost. I can
say that there is money in raising our own
meat and lard at home. A. J. Sharp.
A Plea (or Merino Sheep.
Galen Wilson, writing iu American Cul
tivator, says; Over forty years study of the
sheep have resulted in views, some of which
are very much at variance w ith the beliefs
of a majority of flockmasters, most of
whom assign some reason satisfactory to
themselves why they grow the breed they
have iu band. Come to question them
losely. it is learned that a very large ma
jority acknowledge tbat for the faith that
i in them they are ind bted to “heatsay,”
and not to their own observation and ex
perience. It is to this ciass, who are en
gagod in genera! sheep farming, that this
communication is add; eseed, free from in
terest or prejudice, for the writer is not en
gaged in sneep husbandry in any manner.
Several comparisons will be adduced
which may surprise some and result iu tbeir
benefit. The rule of tbe scituti ts tbat,
other things being equai, it costs as much
to grow a certain number of pou ds of car
cass of one breed as another will be one of
he base- of these compariso s: and another,
tbat on tbe average it costs about 2 cents a
pound annually to maintain a sheep car
cass. With this da.a true comparisons can
be drawn.
“The little Ohio Merinos” have long been
SD .ken < f sneeringly by breeders of larger
sheep. It is proposed to see now if this ad
verse criticism is justifiable. Tbe average
Shropshire weighs 130 pounds and shears
6. It. therefore, touts |2 40 to main!a nit
a year. The wool teds for 80 cents, or 8180.
The Ohio Merino weighs 80, costing II 60
for maintenance. It shears 8 p Hinds,
which sells for 25 ceuts, or $2. Thus the
Merino casts 80 cents less for maintenance
and yields '.'o cunts more for it. wool, plac
ing it just 81 ahead of the Shropshire.
There is not much opportunity here to
sneer at tho little Merino, It cannot be
objected that the comparison is wrongly
drawn, for the figures are about as flocks
average, as generally kept by farmers, and
as I see them all about me. Nor would the
claim hold good that lamb production of
the Shropshire is the more valuable, for in
this calculation tbe Merino, being one
third smaller, would be entitled to credit
for a lamb and a third, which would oer
tainly equal tne value of tbe Shropshire
lamb.
Nor can it be urged tbat Shropshire mut
ton is worth more per pound, for tbe plain
reason that it does not bring more. Tbe
Idea ha- been industriously circulated by
interested persons that tbe mutton of the so
called mutton breeds is better and more
valuable tha i that of tbe wool breeds. Hon.
J. 8. Woodward, former secretary of the
New Yoi k Agricultural Society, and who
is one of tbe best sheepmen iu the state, said
at a farmer's institute on Jan. 9, when
discussing this point, “That is a mistaken
notion. Tbe quality of tbe mutton depends
upon the feed, and you can gr iw just as
good mutton under h Merino hide as under
ti e hide of a Southdown.” He may have
added as truthfully, “or under any other.”
Tbs Shrops ires are not singled out be
came there is any antipathy to them, for
they are an excellent breed and valuable in
certain places. They possess oniy the ob
jection tbat all medium or coarse wools do.
Tbe ideA is generally prevalent that tbe
more a sheep produces of wool or mutton
tbo more valuable it is, but the cost of wbat
it i reduces is rarely a factor in the choice
of a breed. “A sbee > is a sheep,” true
enough. and so is a horse a horse or a cow a
cow ; but the profit to be derived should
guide in tbe selection of either.
Of late years much effort has been ex
panded to increase tbe size of sheep, bre-ders
I lindly thinking tbat size enhances profit,
when the contrary is tbe case. Wool is a
material factor in sheep husbandry, even
wnere mutton is a principal object. Mutton
costing tbe same aud bringing the same pro
duced on the carcass of any breed, it fol
lows that tbe breed which produces the
greatest per cent, of wo <1 to oaroass must
be tbe most profitable for the average sheep
farmer to keep.
Granted tbat the wool Is of equal density
any length, the smaller the sbeep tbe larger
Is tbe per cent, of wool to tbe carcass, be
cause tbe small sheep has the greater propor
tion of wool-bearing surface. Dr,
Randall, a recognized authority on
sheep, in his “Practical Shepherd,”
quotes approvingly the follow
ing from a■ > oddiessof Hon, Robert R. Liv
ingston. who was the first president of the
first agricultural society of tbe state of New
York; “A sbeep whose live weight shall
be sixty pounds, and who, of course, will
require but one- (uurter of the fix and of a
sheep that weighs 240 pounds, will, not
withstanding, have half as much wool as
iiis gigantic brother.”
This is n<>t to be construed literally. It
was announced only to set people to inquir
ing about this principle. Other things being
t-qual, there is little doubt that an hft-pjund
sleep posse-ses one-third more wool per
pound of carcass than a sheep that weighs
160 pound l .
Newer Vegetables of Promise.
Tbe white potato onion bos the same
character of growth at the old brown
skinned potato onion, and has the e l van
lags of being white skinned, and a much
belter keeper. It will doubtless supersede
the old sort wherever potato onions are
grown, writes W, F. Massey iu American
Agricuturist.
The Freeman potato promises to take tbe
lead of early potatoes. Its remarkably
smooth and handsome appearance is in its
favor as a market potato, and it is product
ive, early and of good quality.
Tbe L'belaea pea we have grown two sea
sons, and hersafter will grow it tn plaoe of
Premium Gem, which has heretofore been a
favorite with ua Tbo Chelsea is the most
productive dwarf pea of an early season
tbat we lave ever grjwn.
Of the dwarf L rni beans. HeDderscn’s is
still the best in this latitude. Its persisient
bearing is wonderful. As I wrice (Nov. ft),
with frost Immluent daily, my bush Limas
are still loaded with young pods and white
with bloom, and, but for tbe intense drought
would have matured many more than they
have. DreerG bush Lima we have strong
hopes of, but owing to tbs weather it has
not had a fair chance with us yet.
Yosemite mammoth wax bush bean is a
first-class wax lean, but the p ds this year
witb us were not at all remarkable tor size.
In fact they were not as large as golden
wax. Pe haps tbe season may have had
something to do with this.
We had a promising lot of celery plants
of all ths newest sorts, but alas! they are
no more. There w,U be no celery in Kaleigh
this winter, uDlese brought from tha north.
Tbe great beat and drought swept tue whole
crop off even ou irrigated .and.
Ponderosa tomato, while very far from
being a perfect fruit, has done better than
mo.t sorts here this season. It is a good
sort for amateur uee and for exi eriments
toward improving it, hut its great size ami
ungainly appearance shut it out from tbe
market gardener's ooDsidsraUou. All of it
that ripens is cf fine quality, but when the
big green end, and tbe big white core, are
rejected tbe mouste. Is not so very large
after all. But it is so fine flavored we must
grow it and try to make it more sightly.
Or new early beets there is no end, and
very little difference between them. Years
ago, when the Egyptian name, its littie top
and compact shape made it a very valuatile
sort for market gardening. Amateurs fol
lowed their example and grew tha Egyptian
in plaoe of the Id Bassano, which was an
infinitely better beet for table use. It took
them a long time to find out how worthless
for eating purposes the Egyptian is. 8o in
tent were all upon a dark red beet that they
dropped the sweet, light colored Bassano for
tbe hard and tasteless Egyptian, simply be
cause it was dark red. More recently tbe
Eclipse has come in and now almost re
places tbe Egyptian. It Is better tban tbe
Egyptian. Put I still confess to a fondness
for tbe old Bassano for the earliest beet, for
the family garden, notwithstanding its big
top and light color.
There is little very new in cabbages.
Wakefield is still earliest with—in tbe sou h
—Winnigstadt but little behind and much
larger. For a summer succession we attil
prefer Fottler’s Bru swiok. Vie grew it
here to twenty pounds weight the past
summer, which is a very heavy cabbage
for this climate.
While velvet okra, which l as t een grown
here for many years, is stnl anew sort to
most ga: dens. It ought to entirely super
s’de the old forms of okra, boCiUSC Of Its
great productiveness, good quality, and
also because one’s bauds are not irritated in
gathering it In musk melons tbe Em
erald Gem and Delmonico lend in quality.
Early Hackensack ts good and productive,
and is probably bast for market growers.
Banquet disappointed me. It was noto.ily
very smad, but of very inferior flavor.
Perhaps it may do Letter in a different
season.
In watermelons the needs of sou'bent
shippers have led to tbe growing of sorts of
poor quality, simply because they will bear
handling. Kolb’s Gem, which is now
grown in immense quautitie- iu tbe south
tor the northern market, is really a itielo i
of very poor quality, but its shape and
t >ugh skin make it tbe market melon. If
quality for home use is wbat is wanted, let
Kolb's Gem alone, and grow either Georgia
Rattlesnake or Florida Favorite.
Tiiß USB UF FKBTIL ZER3.
Stable Manure, Commercial ertllizers
and Green anuring.
By Dr. A. Oxmlkk.
Head before Truck Growers' Association of
Chatham County.
Stable manure will always be tbe chief
reliance of truck farmers and should be of
those who prsotice other branches of agri
culture whereever a supply can be procured.
It not only contains the three chief ele
ments of plant food, nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash, but all the less important
ones found in all plants and
vegetable matter besides, which sup
plies tbe humus so essential to fertility.
Tbe quality aud quantity of any manurtal
application is frequently dependent upon
the physical character of the soil more than
upon the abundance of its necessary con
stituents. A deep alluvium of a swamp or
river bottom, containing an abundance of
decayed and delaying vegetable matter
with Us inherent greatest power of Im
bibing and retaining moisture and of
oondensing gases from tbe atmos
phere aod its least retention of beat;
again a heavy clay with iu greatest
capacity of absorbing and holding matters
iu solution, its least permeability to water
and least facility of beoomiug warm, and,
again, a light sand deficient in humus with
its greatest permeability to water, its readi
ness to become warm and its power ti
retain beat and rapidity of evap
oration, will each require different
treatment for the attainment of like results,
each having such diverse relations to the
physical forces of nature. Under certain
circumstances it may be preferable to usa
stable manure, or a "commercial fertilizer
alone, but generally both together will be
more profitable tban each alone. A stiff
clay may require tbe physical effect of the
delaying vegetable matter of stable
manure to render the soil more
friable, but as the tendency of
clay Is to delay chemical action, or decom
position, which alone renders the elements
contained in tne manure available aa plant
food. The addition of a more quiokly Bat
ing commercial fertilizer may become requi
site for a quiokly maturing crop. In the
■tabl* manure they are looked up with or
ganic matter, while in the commercial fer
tilizer they are all soluble and promptly
available. If, on the other hand, a light
soil is deficient in vegetable matter,
or has been exhausted of its natural
store of available plant food by
the continued and unintelligent us*
of commercial fertilizers alone aud can no
longer respond to their stiuulacing effect,
then a bonatiful supply of vegetable matter,
through green manuring, or otherwise,
will first be indispensable, or an application
may be made of well-rotted stable manure.
A considerable application of commercial
fertilizers alone on land as just described
would be more harmful tbau bouefict and, for
it in an undoubted fact that oommeroial
fertilizers can ouly be applied to advantage
on land well supplied with humus,
and tbat the mors fertile is tbe
land the more profitable will be
tbeir use. Obviously then a light soil to
supplied would derive greater aud more
prompt benefit from an application of com
mercial fertilizers, properly administered,
tban one of stable manure, although the
latter contained a greater amount of plant
food. In general the cotton lands of Geor
gia teem in a totally incapable condition to
produce satisfactory crop# of any kind bv
tb* use of oommeroial fertilizers alone,
and yet a majority of tbe cotton plant
ers seem either ignorant of or in
dfffersut to, tbe fact. Instead of providing
tbe soil witb humus commercial fertilizers
ba o beeu re* rted to alone, aiding the
plant* to use up tbe mo e available store* of
food until they have become more and
more ex rousted Wben first brought under
cultivation, except in tbe case of swamps
ai.d river bottoms, nearly every acre had
already beeu despoiled of ail tbe vegetable
matter so indispensable to fertility, to tbe
endurance of drought, end to tbe profitable
use of commercial fertiliser* by the annual
ftrlug usual under the auu-piogreesive
fence law*. When w* beer mem
ber* of tb* blew Agricultural ttociety, iu
convention assembled, announcing for In
stance: “We would be better off if we had
never used a pound of cominarcial fertiliz
ers,” or “commercial fertilizers have in
jured tbe country,” or “my voice Is for war
against tie usa of commercial fertilizers,”
or "I am only using enough to roll ray oot
ton seed in,” or “if no commercial fertiliz
ers were i rourbt into the state we would
be driven to make all the home manure
we possibly could, and In that way re
cuperato cur worn-out lands.” We may
safely accept suoh proclamations as confes
si as of incompetency. Bucn men “ would
probably never at any time, ba able to
raise cotton much helow the selling price.
On the other band, those pursuing better
methods have used commercial fertilizers
in varying quantities, alone or with com
posts and stable manure, to great advan
tage. Col. Livingston used 1,000 pounds
per acre at a profit and 82 worth at aloes.
Mr. J. R. Ketpees of Schley county raised
cotton at 8 cents per pound, and
Col. Corpnt at 5 cents per pound
more recently. Tbe late ohemist of
the L’nltei States agricultural department
very sensibly said: “The agriculture of this
country, at the present time, depends very
much on tbe Confidence which the farmers
have in the literal use of ma Hires, ad the
intelligent exercise of this confidence.
Whatever diminishes the faith of tanners In
the good effects of fertilizers on
their crops tends ultimately to di
minish production aud may, there
fore, be regarded as a public calamity.”
Under the present inspection law it would
be nearly impossible to impose n f aud
ulent fertilizer upon the farmers
of Georgia. During the seas n
of ISOO-hll l made 845 separate inspections
of 88,439 tons, and tn all th it quantity
there was only one ton inspected of a brand
of questionable integrity, ad tbe sale of
that brand ts now forbidden within our
state. The Chi. ese will sometimes break
down a coat of we.l-smoked plssteri g for
tbe sake of the a nmonia for manure con
tained in the lampblack. Fift.v-three years
ago, while passing thro gb England on my
way to school in Germany, 1 saw men in
tho streets of Liverp ol ga hering up horse
manure with trowels and carry It sngy in
wheelbarrows, women used tbeir bands ad
their aprons in London for the same pur
pose. The value was 1 penny per bushel.
The tobacco growers at East Whatelv,
Mass , procure stable ma mre from a dis
tance of 150 miles, at a oost of |l3 per cord,
and they pay freight front 8815 to S4O per
carload. By contrast, I regret to say, I saw
about five months ago in Boutb Georgia and
Florida four largo dry lakes, and very
numerous ponds, which were then, and had
been for two years, mines of fine dry muck,
easily accessible to tea us; in fact, rea ls
traversed them in every direction.
In extant they aggregated fully 90,000
acres. Paine’s prairie, uear Gainesville Fla.,
is said alone to have an area of 68,000 acres
In so far as I could learc not a single farmer
either in Georgia or Florida had availed
himself of the opportunity to gather a
pound l f it, Of thirty-three samples of
muck analyzed by Pr f. 8. W. Johnson of
the Connecticut State Agricultural So
ciety, the poorest contained 1.6 per cent,
more of potential ammonia Than horse man
ure. The average contained twice as much
and the best etkht times as much potential
ammonia as sta' le manure. One ton of the
best contained 81.2 pounds of ammonia.
Applications of mnok convey to the
soil the physical attributes of
humus as well as the enriching
constitutent*. At I-ake Miccosukee I counted
at one time ninety-five buzzards wtthi ian
area of one-eighth of an acre, and vet they
seemid not to have been numerous enough
to devour all the fish that bad perished and
had floated to the sh re of the basin imbout
four acres In extent) when the wafer be
came ton stagnant to susiaiD life. Even at
that late day the dry carcasses of large
trout could have been gathered up by tue
wagon load, but not oos fish had been re
moved for ma urial purposes. Incident
ally I may mention that whne
an abundance of fresh food fish ought to be
a I leasing to tbe Inhabitants in any section
of the interior. I heard several farmers of
the \ iciuity congratulate themselves upon
their dee ruction for the reason that .hey
had afforded a pa tial support to au idle
negro populoiion. In respect to scarcity of
labor they had been similar,y embarrassed
as to the farmers on tbe sea t-lands. Is this
improvidence or indfferonoe to utilize all
tbe available means of restoring fertilitv to
an exhausted soil confined to the shores of
these lakes, or is it not unfortunately too
general among our farmers* In
tbe average yield of cotton
for the ten years between 1880
and 1890 Georgia was excelled by all but 2
out of tbe 11 cottou states, although the
crops bad been cultivated by her fai m> rs
with a greater degree of care. The aver
age in Georgia was 145.9 pounds per acre.
Tbat of Alabama and Florida, 123.2 o unds,
and the general average of all II was 19..8
pounds. In the yield of oats she was eateo
by 45 states and territories. Hhe averaged
9.8 bushels. North Carolina, 9.5 husuels:
while tho average of the 40 was 19.4 bushels.
In wheat Georgia averaged 0 bushels,
South Carolina and Mississippi each 5.7
bushels, while the general average was 11
bushels. In potatoes Georgia averaged 28.5
barrels. South Carolina 22 barrels, while
46 states aud territories averaged 80 barrels
per acre. In the yield of corn she wat
be iten by 38 out of 4U. Her yield was 10,5
laishels per acre. North Carolina’s and
Florida’s was 9.5, while the general aver
ave was 2d bushels. In the order of pro
duction of rye Georgia stands next to tbe
lowest of 49 state* and territories.
This discreditable showing is either a re
flection on her farmers or tbe soil of our
Empire State of the South is less capable of
responding to tue efforts of Us oultivators
tuan that of nearly every state and terri
tory in tbe union. After the great boom
in truck farming in 1882, mmy cotton
planters attempted the oultivation of Irish
potatoes for northern markets. Among tbe
many who reported tbsir failures was one
who applied 200 pounds of commercial
fertilizers per acre and harvested
7.1 barren of all sizes per acre,
and another, who used 350 pounds
to the acre aod harvested li.l barrels of all
grades per acre. Now. when an application
of manure it u ade to any crop the plants
can only take up such portion as citna in
solution in direct contact with their root
lets. Such being the case the farmer has to
apply at least double tbe quentity of all
the obief elements ol fertility, which a full
ei op, tbe foliage included, require#, how
ever fertile the soil may be.
Estimating tbe weight of tope in each
case at one ton (a very low one) tbe above
yield in tubers and foliage required at fol
lows:
Ammonia. Pbos. acid. Potash.
7.1 barrels of tubes. 4 3 tbs. 1.7 tts. 8.6 tbs.
1 ton of foliage ...H.9t>*. 3.2 Bis 8.65>5.
Both together .16.2 Bis. 4 9 Bis 14.2175.
Now 300 pounds of tbe best usual grades
of commercial fertilizers contain 4 pounds
of ammonia, from 2to 4 pounds of potash,
and 16 pounds of phot-ph rio acid. The far
mer in question reported the crop as a
miserable failure end truck larming was
generally decried as a humbug. Tbe result
disappointed bis anticipations, while they
would probably have been satisfied
with 145 pounds of lint ootton,
but even supposing the roots bed
been able to find and aheorb all the
fertilizers administered be bad not anplied
enough ammonia and potash for one-fourth
the miserable crop, tbe foliage alone requir
ing about 8 pounds more ammonia tban
was put in. Tbe already Impoverished toil
was. therefore, compelled to supply tne
diflait for the crop of only 7.1 barrels per
acre.
Ail tbo land cultivated in truck in tbe
vicinity of Be van nab has been more or less
heavily enriched with stable manure
chiefly for et least thirty years. When you
apply your half ton of “pure bone vegeta
ble fertilizer,” and your 15 tons of staolN
manure per acre, you add to your already
much moieeapabla soli 342 pounds of am
monia is of phosphoric acid aod
239 pounds of potash.
Ammonia Fbos Acid potash
V 4 ton of pure K.
V. TeeateuM,. 40 oß* SOt* SOB*
it too* slob Is Mia
bore centals 182 i 74 144
sat it* s
PEARMXE.
Do You Ever Wash
Your Hair Brush?
A This is the best way : Put one tcaspoorv
LJ ful of Pearline into a basin of warm
—> \ water; wash the brush thor-
= 1 ====- oughly in it; rinse
Lew” in clean water, and
I V-i i/T set it as ide, bristles
, v vj'J pfr\ to dry. This is
’ i onl y one—a sma N one—
of the numberless uses to
i["l, ] ’I jl which you can put Pearline. Once
|il ! 1 you have it in the house, you will find
something new for it to do, every day.
It does your washing and cleaning better
than soap. Try it on anything for which you’ve been
using soap, and see.
Peddlers and some unscrupulous grocers krill tel
’Jf J” y°o. “ this is as good as ” or “the same as Pearl
“ce VV LJL tne.” IT’S FALSE—Pearline is newer peddled, if
four grocer sends you an imitation, be honest— send it tact. 837 JAMES rYLE.N.Y.
And If your crop could take up the entire
quantity o' each, allows ce being made for
a ton of foliage, you have applied
Per Acre.
bbK
Ammonia enough for. 681
P losphono acid nou-h for 6iS
Potash enough for 288
A glance at these figures shoxs a relative
deficiency of potash amt an excess of phos
pb. ricaeid. Tbe addition < f 154 pounds of
muri 'te of po'ash. at a coat of $4 per acre,
wcuid increase the yield, theoretically, 96
barrels, equaling the ammonia produot. A
barrel of 15. j pounds net of potato oon
tains 0.24 pounds of phosphoric acid. 0.6
pounds of ammonia aod O.S p unds of pot
ash, and of all brands known to me the
Cigar Leaf No. 1, containing 5 per cent, of
pb spborio acid, 5 per cent, of ammonia
and 10 oer cent, of p taah, seems to
answer the scientific requirement* better
tban any other. With the 15 Lt* > f stable
manure a half ton ol t ie Cigar Loaf,suppos
ing all the plant food a .sorbed by tbe crop,
there would lie supplied ammonia enu igh
for 367 barrels, phosphoric acid e ougb for
S.’O barrels aud potas enough for 850>£ bar
rels, but it might be improved by an in
creased percentage of nm.no ta and by a
decreased perc ntage of phosphoric a Id.
When the cotton planter applies his 300
pou .ds of c tnmercial fertilizer alone per
acre ad realizes his acreage of 145 pounds
of hut, he puts in 4 pounds of ammonia an I
takes out of the soil in the seed alone 12
pou ids of ammonia.
Buppose one of you, having learned by
experience the necessi y of s fltoleut and
judicious fertilization, and being ooi.fined
to a smaller area, were to aitsmpt, or to
return, to tbe cultivation of o> tt n; would
you resort to such methods? Mr. Exley,
for instance, having realized 140 barrels of
potatoes from oio acre, instsad of wasting
his effort and his means on twenty acres
for that bulk >.f all sizes, would probai ly
ree< to gain from one acre, like some of tbe
most progressive ootion planters, what is
now coramonlv procured from six or eight,
and this is really the gey of the situatt n.
During a i experience of thlr'y-stx years
as a truck farmer lad a* a cotton planter
to > within that period) I have of course f e
quxntly observed imtuncea of too luxuriant
growth of foliage from manuring at the ex
pense ( f the crop, but they have been in
variably in conseauenoe, either of the com
position, or of the mode of application of
the fertilizer and never of its excessive
quantity. In tho presence of other wise
favorable co dittoes tbe questions of profit
and of supply should a.one contr I tne quan
tity tile applied, and it is ssfe to a-sutne
that the last load will make tbe crop and
reduce its ooet.
Pi of. Vtlle of the French experiment
station of Vincennes says: “Science should
be our guide. Us nietli da our auxilliariet
and l.s principles ihe foundation of our
l deductions. By the use of manure man ac
quires an almost limitless control of nature.
Agriculture must increase her products If
she would redu e tbeir cost, and the profit
depends upon tha qunnti.y of fertilizers
given to the laud, Tbe fertilizer ts the
foundation of tho harvest, and whaii U not
well manured Is > t little value.”
Reflections and considerations, suoh as
the ab >ve must have prosented them-elves
to the mind of the present commissioner of
agriculture when be advised smaller farms
and more intensive farming iu order to pro
duce ci ear or cotton.
No country in the wide world is so
fortunately circurnstauctd as our sunny
south in havmg so large au amount of the
most valuable cattle or ulant food, realized
as au adjunct to tbe money crop. Only
just prior to the war did the value of oottmi
see l begin to he appreciated as manure (im
mense piles of it" ere allowed to rot be
hind tbe giu houses), and only within five
or six years is tbo greater part being re
stored to the soil by being now
largsly used as a source of nitrogeu
in the manufacture of commer
cial fertilizers. How enormously rapid
tbe impoverishment of the soil must pre
viously have proceeded, you may imagine,
when you reflect tbat the cotton seed of the
last crop bad removed 2,699,297,589 pounds
of ammonia from tbe laud. The most
profitable way, however, to utilize ootton
seed or ootton sued meal is to feed It to
stock and then to use all tbeir manure. If
a ton of wheat s' raw is fed to cattle tbe
manure is worth 82 68. If a ton of cotton
seed meal, then the manure is worth 827 86.
A ton of good stable manure contains 10
pounds of ammonia, while a ton of manure
from c tile fed on cotton seed meal con
tains 130 pounds.
In 1890 upward of $100,000,000 were
invested in truck farming in the United
States. The staple farm crops of unions, of
sweet i otatoes and Irish potatoes and those
of market gardens, are not included in this
estimate. Tbe total value of the 584,440
acres planted was $70,156,294, of the aver
age value of sl4l per acre. Tbe value of
the produce was $76,517,155 aDd the value
per acre was t’63. Tbe net profit per aore
amounted to SIOO. After deduotmg $24.-
000,000 tor labor, manures, seeds, etc., there
remained nearly $52,000,090 as net profit
Ten millions were expended for oommeroial
fertdizers alone, while stable manure was
tbe mam dependence.
To realize a net profit of SIOO per acre on
laud worth $l4O per acre upon an expendi
ture of $163 tier aore, was nly possible by
high and judicious manuring, and is a prob
lem worth tbe reflection of xverv farmer in
Georgia. The use of guauo and commer
cial fertilizers is comparatively of reoent
date. Alxiut fifty years ago a captain was
compelled to empty a cargo of Feruvian
guano into tbe river at Liverpool for want
of a purchaser. In 1842 there was a market
for 180 tons in England. In tbe next
thirty years 7,000,000 tons were sent from
tbe ( binona Islands alone, which about ex
hausted the supply.
The market gurden soil tn ths vicinity of
London becomes some time so tenacious
and imoervious to the air by tbe continued
plentiful use of stable manure for genera
tione, and for centuries, tbat an applica
tion of pure inert sand becomes necessary to
restore its pr< duottvenes*.
Mr. Knight, tbe president of the London
Horticultural Hooiety (my father was then
a corresponding member from .Savannah),
in the MOs made what he considered the ex
trume amount possible to be grown of an
early variety of Irirb potatoes, which was
34 tons 900 pounds, by an application of
oak leaves alone, r 513.7 barrels per acre.
While oak leave* contain all tbe elements of
plant food in fair quantity, tbe result was
probably attributable chiefly to tbeir phys
ical effects upon an extremely rich garden
solL (Hee Johnson's Gardner, yol. I, p.
127.)
Green manuring should be praot oed by
every farmer, whatever be tbe o up be
plantr It ts tb* cheapest, readiest and
m ist etlloacious means of supplying his
land with ammonia and vegetable matter.
Conjointly with an lntellige A use of com
mercial fertilizers and home made manures
it may be the renovator of the cotton lands
of Georgia and the salvation of the oottea
industry of ths south by greatly reducing
ti e cost of its production. If a plant ia
used whiob acquires ail tbe elements of (ts
composition from the soil, like millet or rye,
its direct nianunal effects consist on(y in re
conveying them to it in a more available
condition; but if a leguminous plant, |(he
the oowpea. is resort and to, wblch absorbs its
nitrogen from the a r, tnen obvtouaiy it
contr hutas a large annual of nitrogen
directly P> the soil of which it was not pre
viously pns-eeaed A heavy growth of pee
vines would thus contrioute about 140
pounds ot nitrogen per acre, or as much as
14 tons ot good stable manure. You-axaoll
well aware of the fact that the eowpea will
make a vigorous giowth on land barely
ca ante <>f sprouti g a > y other crop, and
while it oontains more nitrogen than any
that "ill flou tsb in our climate, an applica
tion if an amra mta ed manure will'not
have the beneficial effect to he expected.
The problem of tbe source ot nitr geu'te
leguminous plants bas confounded tbe monk
eminent chemists and rogelahle physiolo
gists (or tue pat fifty yeais, but it la nay*
g i orally ' elieved tbat nitrification of the
free nitrogen ot the air (it connate of one
part of oxygen to foar of nttno
geu by bulk) or the farmatlea
of nitrates and nitric acid. Via
effected by tbe instrumentality of bacteria
at tbe roots. Tbe experiment* of Sir J, B.
1-awe* in England *eem abundantly cdt
firmat- ry of tuoe of Hellrtegel and WiV
tai tb lu Germany. Tbe benefits of gnea
manuring, however, are not confined be tbe
contribution to the noil of tbe elementary
part* of th plants which may be uaed. Tbe
dense (bade of the foliage prevents tbe leas
of ammonia Ly emanation from tbe toil.
Tbe effect of an inert body like a door lying
on an ojwn field for several month* baa baba
observed in the growth subsequently for
more ttia i one season. Thi- *nade main
tains tbe moisture of tb* earth *e
toeded for the crop and which is India
pen able to tbe ritrincaiion and to tbe ds
c uipoat ion in tbe >il by oar settle add.
It perineal * the germ nation of weed
needs and theh destroys thsir growth, (t
can even be raude the means of extermin
ating nut and Bermuda grass. To maintalki
nil these effects as long as possible, and else
because a Lore soil is highly d* tructi vs of
us (ertiiitv, | ea vines should not be plowed
under, green or dry, late in iha eason, un
less a fall crop is to be planted, but they
sh uld be allowed to rot on tue land. Little
or no low will occur during the dryiag
pro red, aid in case of a eiay soil the deeey
will procet more rapidiy upon tban below
tbe suriaoe
Fi om my own experieuoe I may add I
have cultivated tbe light sandy soil of Wil
mington Island witb very little use of
■table manure in consequenee of the incoo
veuient locality to prnourea supply, and in
twenty-five years I have never twen able la
make a fair crop ot Irish potatoes anises 1
combined green mnnuiiug witb domestic
and oommorcial fertilizers Ot later y*va
I have never ventured tbe attempt. Daring
theoeoson when the 7.1 barrel orop, abo**
alluded to, was made my yield woe as tha
ran of seventy-seven barrel* per acre,
chiefly attributed, I thiub, to oowpea
vim* as a fe lilizer.
In reply to ibe inquiry ol a ruetn! or about
surface manuring I would advise him never
tn plow hit manure U' d< r deeply, If bis sptl
is clay, unless he wishes to preserve it for
futuieus-. In heavy clay stable manure
may remain uudecompoee 1 for yaarc. N
fertilizer 1* available unless dissolved.
Every rain of half an inch falling on eight
tons of manure t 'read on an aore of ground
will supply a gallon to each pound, and
would be very effective, but not a drop of
it would reach manure buried
four inobes deep. Upon the surfpoa
or harrowed into it, deeomDOSitlon would
ce more rapid. If spread at craoe instead of
being deposited In piles upon tbe Osld'fb
would shade lbs ground as a mulsh,
end, on such ground, tbe longer tbe batter.
Scientific experiments bav* damoastrated
tbe fact that manure so spread is injured
neither through sun nor wind by any Mss
of ammonia. Stable maaura spread ip
autumn bas afforded a yield of seventy
bushels of corn per acre, whereas tb* s*oa*
quantity plowed under in the spring of sh*
same season mode only fifty bushels per
acre. ' ' *
reed Catalogues for 1893.
We have received tb* following;
Maule's Seed Catalogue for 1698— A sswO
quarto of IS6 page*, foil to tb* brim ef
handsome illustrations, vegetable* and
flowers. William Henry Maul*, Phila
delphia, Pa.
From Peter Henderson Sc Cos., 86 Gert
ie nd street. New York, we bar* thsir
“Manual of Everything for tbe Garde*, for
1893.” A small quarto of 156 (togas. - Be
side* tbe usual illustrations there are dx or
seven handsome colored plates.
Our gardener readers should hav* both *d
these catalogues.
Agriculture Not**.
Said that greatest statesman and phitort
pber, Lord Baeon ; “A garden it th* purest
ot human pleasures, it ii the greatest re
fresh me;t to tbe spirit of man.” Tbses ere
axioms relative to ga denlng; “A crop that
is well put in is half made.” “A garden
tbat is well Kept it easily kspt.” “Th* best
time to kill weeds it before they com* upf”
“You must conquer weeds or weeds will
oonquer you.” “Whatever to worth dolog
at all ia worth doing well.” “A vegetable
diet is conducive to health aod tong life."
We should t* more tnan glad to get the
benefit of tbe thoughts and axpenenoet of
all practioal farmers aud fruit growers and
gardeners among our readers. Every o*e
ot you have a dozen or more valuable facte
gleaned from experienoe, that would be
very helpful to others if you only make up
your mind to impart it tn them. Will yea
not do this? You need not make your ecxn
mnmcatlou vary long. “Brevity is tb* soul
of wit.'hyou know. Anything of this char
acter, including matter (or It- Ousstfoa
Box. send to tbe address given at tb* bead
of tne first column It will raoelv* prompt
attenuoo. We take occasion her* to tender
our tbauks to all who hare aided us la the
past year with tbau- helpful suggestion* aod
ooimnumcation*. VV* bespsek a continua
tion of such favors during the ooiulag year.
We desire to make tuis departmeot of the
Nt4 f practical value to <te readers.
Will you not aid u* ail you oao)
Oasaias Dicaswa' daughters teugbt Mm to
danua poiaa, but be eoulda’t neater the tclret
use be.
5