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2 Agricultural. Fur the Banner of the South and Plantbrss’ Journil. AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN GEORGIA ly j. e. willet, prof. chem, etc., in MERCER UNIVERSITY. To determine progress, mental, moral or physical, it is well not so much to con template what we are at present, as what we were at some point of time in the past. Each can do this best from his own experience; for this is more fully known to him than is the experience of any other person. The writer will be pardoned, then, for alluding to an inci dent in his own life as a starting point in concluding that there has been progress in the agriculture of his native State. Twenty-two years ago, when the writer was studying in the laboratory of Yale College, a County Fair was held in New Haven. The State House was festooned wi h dowers, and garnished with all kinds o garden products, and savory com pounds from the pantries of the country mat.oas, while r Very available corner of the Capital green and even of the College campus, was occupied by a stall of lowing, bleating or grunting pets from the neighboring farms. This was all novel to the untraveled eyes of a Georgia boy. But, the most striking in cident of the Fair was a ploughing match on the City commons. Three bur ly Yauk’e yeomen, each with a huge turning plough drawn by a yoke of sturdy oxen, entered for the prize. One, of a mercurial temperament, pushed his team to their topmast speed, and soon re versed the sod of his apportioned plat. He aimed at speed, and got through first. Another, a “steady-go-easychecked the lire of ins team, and carfully lapped each furrow over the preceding, and left his plat almost as smooth as before a share was driven into its surface. He came out; last, but made the neatest job. The third aimed at tiie bappy mean, and did ins work not quite so fast as the first, nor so well as the second, but probably car ried of the prize. When this incident was told at home, the ploughing match was voted ridiculous, and Fairs were thought by many to be a Yankee dodge for turning a penny. Agricultural Fairs then were new in Georgia. Have we not made progress, then,in 1. Agricultural Fairs Passing over their infancy, when ltichard So-and-So, and Thomas Thus-and-So, who owned a few Merinos, or Durhams, or Brahma Pootras, carried oft’ all the gold cups, and silver pitchers, are they not only now a power in the land, but a substantial good? Have they not introduced good implements, good seed, good blood in our stock, good visiting farmers from other States, with abundance of good information on all subjects of husbandry ? 11 they yield no good, why are they so well patronized ? They cost money, and somebody must pay the score. Somebody will pay, or is expected to pay, so round ly, that an enterprising capitalist, who knows where money grows, has leased the State Fair grounds in Atlanta, for a term of years, and pays a large rent for the privilege of managing them. And your good City, Messrs. Editors, has rushed, with magnificent outlay, into a similar exhibition. Aud Macon, a little sore over last year’s memories, is essay ing ati improvement on her maiden at tempt since the war. And our exclu sive metropolis by the sea might essay to outshine all, were she, true to her marine instincts, not more interested in regattas than horse lairs and 300 boiled cotton stalks. Georgia has made progress in Agricultural Fairs, and they are a bless ing to the State. 2. Deep Ploughing. Twenty years ago, it was deemed very unfarmerlike to stir the ground deep. Cotton would not fruit, until the tap-root reached the hard pau. How many English works has the writer thumbed over to find how a sub soil plough looked. And how incredible appeared those pictures of English and Scotch ploughing, where a two-horse plough went ahead cutting ten inches down, and a four-horse plough followed in the same furrow cutting 26 inches be low the surface. Would such ever dis turb the quiet depths of our Georgia old fields ? We have not yet got down 26 inches, but Mr. Murfee has sold some of his “sub-soils” in Georgia, and many an acre has had its serenity invaded to the depth of 12 inches, this year. Many farmers will go deeper, aud turn out the golden wealth so long locked under with a hard pan key. BANNER OF THE SOUTH AND PLANTERS' JOURNAL. 3. Fertilizers. Twenty years ago, by fertilizers we meant farm-yard manure. Now their name is legion. They are ad vertised like millinery and hardware, and soap and candles. A farmer then stared to hear of. nitrogen and phosphor ic acid. Now the hard handed possesor of broad acres talks so glibly of soluble phosphates, of the carbohydrates and of potential ammonia, that a chemist must brush up his nomenclature not to appear at a disadvantage. Seriously, some of our planters may wish, thi3 year, that they had never seen an advertisement of fertilizers. The seven ty-five or one hundred thousand tons sold in the State may draw the profits on cotton at 12 to 15 cents per pound to too fine a point. But allowing that not anothei pound should be sold in the State, and that hundreds of thousands ot dol lars are lost on them this year, has not the State gained by fertilizers ? If we have learned that an acre of old field, abandoned and turned out like an old horse, will yield half a bale of cotton by manuring , is not that worth some thing? Have we not presented to our grasp the p >ssibiiity of larger crops, on fewer acres and with fewer laborers ? And if we can’t buy manures can’t we try to make them? That is what England and Scotland and Germany and Xew England do. The New York Agricul turist, with a subscription list of 150,- 000, contains only three or four adver tisements of fertilizers; but it tells of a farm (very poor land) of 60 acres, near Newport, R. 1., which, under intelligent management, made $3,000 worth of farm-yard manure, last year, from about 50 head of stock. We must keep stock to make manure; and then our expensive fertilizers will have cheaply taught us a valuable lesson. 4. Clover. Hand in hand with the above, comes the fact, that clover and the grasses will grow luxuriantly all over upper aud middle Georgia. Doubted, disbelieved, it is now a credited fact. Georgia cows lived last winter on clover raised on their native farms. Turned under, clover will add organic matter to our wasted hills; and, fed in the field or in the stall, the cows penned at night or kept up all the time, and more of them, the farmer will snap his fingers at Merry man k Cos.; for his steaming compost heaps will be more valuable than all the phosphates of Baltimore, South Carolina or the Peruvian Isles. This may not be feasible just now. But that is possible which was uot pos sible. Our farmers now know the value of manuring, and clover and the grasses can be made to yield the manure. 5. Agricultural Journals To do anything well, we must know how to do it. Agriculture is no exception. The intel ligent farmer, provided he has the indis pensable endowments of common sense and business tact, is the best farmer To be intelligent, he must know what others know, in addition to his acquire ments. To learn this, he must read books, and magazines and journals on farming. And the Agricultural intelli gence of a country may be known from the number of journals read. Twenty years ago, the Southern Culti vator stood alone in Georgia; and its proprietors are not believed to have amassed fortunes from its circulation. Probably’ 3,000 of the 50.000 farmers of Georgia read it; and the remaining 47,- 000 read little or nothing on farming. Now, Georgia has 3 or 4 Agricultural Monthlies, and 2 or 3 Weeklies, and the enterprising Chronicle Publishing Cos., feel encouraged to offer this new aspirant for public favor. Georgia planters! read more. Glancing thus hurriedly at Agricultural Fairs, Deep Ploughing, Fertilizers, Clo ver, and Agricultural Journals, may we not say that Georgia has progressed in the last quarter of a century ? For the Banner of the South and Planters’ Journal, RUST IN COTTON, ITS CAUSES AND CURE. BY E. M. PENDLETON, M. D., SPARTA, GA For tbe last several years, the cotton crop has suffered very extensively with what is popularly denominated tbe Rust, perhaps, for the want of a better name. It is ? however, more properly a blight, as it has none of the distinctive marks of rust of iron or of wheat, with the excep tion of the reddish color, and this is only peculiar to the mildest form of it, as the worst species of rust to which the cotton plant is subject, is black. There is no exudation as in the rust of wheat, but simply blight or decay of the leaf. Thete have been many suggestions made as to the probable cause of rust in cotton, and before we specify what we deem to be the true cause or causes, will give our reasons for discarding some of the most popular theories on the subject. Os late years it is very common to attri bute it to tbe causticity of fertilizers, the free phosphoric or sulphuric acid in su perphosphates for instance, or the more caustic effect of ammonia or potash. While these things might prove an aggra vation, especially during drought, when the little moisture a plant might imbibe is less diluted, it cannot be the true cause, because the rust affects non-fertilized lands in many cases as well as those fer tilized, and occurs during the wettest seasons as well as in drought. It is true as a general rule, that the unfertilized rows in an experiment plat are the latest in showing the disease, but nevertheless when it reaches s certain stage (that is begins to fruit), it also shows symptoms of rust. lam told that poor sandy lands sometimes begin to rust, even before the fruit is well formed, and it is a well established fact that some lands rust uniformly, with or without fertililizers, in rain or in drought. I had supposed this species of rust might be owing to a deficiency in someone of the elements essential to the production of cotton, and during the last season compounded an article which h"d all these elements in assimilable proportions, especially potash, which I supposed to be the one deficient, as it enters largely into the seed (and phosphoric acid had been supplied in previous fertilizers). Two of my neighbors tried it on lauds which uni formly rust, and reported, in one instance, no amelioration of the disease, in the other, an aggravtion. The idea of animalcula has been sug gested, also, as it sometimes seems to spread from a centre, out there is not a particle of evidence to favor this notion, either microscopic or otherwise. One single fact is sufficient to refute this no tion. Oa my experimental plat the present year some rows are rusted from one end to the other, while others remain entirely free from it until the natural decay of the plant seems to come on. If animalcula existed they would not follow the rows so uniformly, nor would thev al ways wait until the plant was in a cer tain stage before beginning their depra dations, as it is generally about a fort night on the fertilized rows before the unfertilized are affected. What then are the causes of rust in cotton, proximate or remote ? I answer that it is exhaustion of nutriment or ob struction to it. That from some cause either inherently in the land, or con tingently in the seas >ns, the food is ob structed or cut off from the leaves and fruit of the plant, and premature decay and death is the result. Fertilizers may be negatively the cause, by failing to sup ply an essential ingredient exhausted from the soil, viz: humus, or organic matter ; but where there is an abundant supply of this very important material, there is no rust. Iu other words that rich lands never rust unless from super saturation with water, and poor lands are always subject to it from drought and exhaustion. l"ou may now scan the cot ton fields iu Middle Georgia, and you yill find that the worst rusted spots are the poorest, beginning with the crown of the hill, and ending in the vale beneath, which is the last place to take it on # if at all. The question simply recurs, what is the element deficient in these poor soils causing rust ? We answer, unhesita tingly, vegetable matter. The clean system of culture necessary for the perfection of the cotton plant, causes the rapid destruction of our soils, whenever we push this article for a se ries of years without a a proper rotation of crops. No fertilizer ever offered to the public can contain a sufficient amouut of humus to be of much value, tr sup ply the constantly increasing drain upon the soil. Fertilizers always pay best and rust least where there is most hu mus or organic vegetable matter. Hence the deficiency of humus in a soil is a prime cause of rust, and lands that are so poor as to be denuded of it, will not pay in fertilizers. Carbon, I doubt not, is the main principle which vegetable matter supplies, and which being sparse in a soil, causes premature decay or rust. The tendency, also, to retain moisture, makes it an important prevent ive of rust from drought. We could bring any amount of evi dence, if need be, to establish the fact that the presence of vegetable matter in a soil prevents rust, while its absence is sure to induce it. Let a few suffice: A gentleman from Alabama wrote me that his cotton rusted for several years in a direct line through his field, and could not account for it, but yet, in his very letter explained it. Two fields had been put into one, the rusted portion had been much longer in cultivation, the organic matter exhausted, while the other was a fresher field and had been planted more in small grain and less in cotton. The present year I spread my rotten wheat straw evenly over a square surface of ground, running the cotton rows parallel with it. I applied on the whole of it 300 pounds of the same fertilizer per acre, and to the very row may be seen the premature decay of rust of the cot ton where the straw was not applied, while the other remained green and flour ishing during the whole season. Many such instances may be seen in rusted fields where old hedge rows of fences are exempt, while the other portions are badly rusted. But why is it that sandy soils are more subject to rust than clay soils ? Because they are less retentive of mois ture, aud more subject to sudden alterna tions of heat and cold. When a plant becomes succulent from luxuriant and rapid growth, due it may be to stimulat ing fertilizers, a drought succeeds, the burning sun rapidly drinks up all the moisture in the soil, the fibrils of the plant cease to perform their functions, obstruction to nutriment takes place, and death rapidly ensues. In a clay soil the moisture is retained much longer, aud it is rare to see this species of rust on this c.ass of lands, especially where vegeta ble matter abounds. But how do you account for the fact that the worst species of rust is produced by long continued rains? Why upon the same principle of obstruction to nu triment. Every farmer knows that corn or cotton planted in a soil not properly drained, will turn it yellow and cause it to decay and produce uo fruit. So t soil in which the cotton plant may have luxuriated for a while, may become sur charged with water from long continued rains, the roots drowned out, and the plant die lor the lack of proper nutri ment. One other cause for rust and we have done. On very thin lands a heavy ap plication of fertilizers in the drill makes the bed very rich, while the middles are very poor. The result is that the plant starts off vigorously, and under the stimu lating influence of the manure, as long as it lasts, makes rapid growth. When it fails there is not enough substance in the poor middles to keep up sufficient nutriment to the stimulated plant. The roots which luxuriated iu the manured bed, are large and thrifty, while those in the poor land are diminutive and feeble. The very difference in the calibre of the roots is a cause of rust, which any philo sophical mind can perceive. The en riched stimulated soil would require and absorb enough rain to supersaturate and drown out the tender roots of the poor land, while the rain that would keep the latter in a vigorous state of growth would not be sufficient to keep the former from failing. Indeed it is questionable whether the increased calibre of the roots in the enriched land ean be supplied with suffi cient nourishment from the poor land to fill them and keep them iu a healthy con dition, hence they become diseased, shriveled, and die. The plant of course dies with them, and this is called rust in cotton. The same quantify of a given fertilizer applied broadcast, would produce about the same results as to the amount of cot ton, only when it is applied in the drill and directly to the main feeders the crop would mature early, and exhaust soon, while that applied equibly and broadcast would be longer maturing without exhibiting the same symptoms of rust and early decay. In either case, r rom the best experiments that have been made by scientific men, despite the rust that supervenes in dry weather and on poor lands, good concentrated fertilizers never fail to pay a handsome per cent on the investment, when the prices for cot ton are remunerative, so that oi. the worn out lands of Middle Georgia, planters who have used fertilizers for the last fif teen or twenty years are satisfied that where the price is such that they can af ford to plant cotton at all, they can afford to buy fertilizers. Here, then, we have the whole thing in a nutshell. Rust is produced by ex’ haustion, as in the absence of humus in a soil, or obstruction from the effect of the burning sun on sandy lauds, or excessive rain and supersaturation of water in a soil, or its inequality by applying fertili z *rs in the bed, leaving the middles in an exhausted condition. These proxi mate causes being all traceable to one and the same remote cause, namely, defi cient nutrition. We will have to defer any reference to the remedies for cotton rust, tea future number. THE ROTATION OF CROPS. The rotation system, which good tillers fix. Embraces five seasons and sometimes full six. When one crop succeedetli through manv long years, Each harvest decreaseth and dwarfetli the ears. If herds of neat cattle or sheep be thy care. Then grass in rotation must form a good share. When corn, barley, clover, and turnips and wheat, Comprise the rotation, field peas will be meet. Ere ploughing and sowing, the tiller should know What crops the ground liketh the better to grow. First, break up thy grass land and plant it with corn. The field, the next season, let barely adorn. Succeeding the barley, sow buckwheat or oats; Then harvest a pea crop to nourish your sliotes, Oft ploughing and teasing, and weeding the ground, With liberal compost scattered around. And sprinkle with aslies to make the land sweet, With lime and some bone dust to fatten the wheat. The next in rotation a crop of red clover ; When blossoms are fragrant then let the plow cover. A six years’ rotation now bearetli the sway, And slioweth the tiller a progressive way : A six years’ rotation will cattle increase ; Will multiply bushels and debtors release. A six 3’ears’ rotation, when fairly begun, Will harvest two bushels where now groweth one; A six years’ rotation, as all will agree, Two years’ yield clover is better than three. When poor soil needs succor, to keep the land clean, Grow clover and sowed corn to turn under green: But where fertile muck and light soils abound. Arrange the rotation as suiteth the ground. Beauty of Fakmino.— There is nothing mean about farm work. There is nothing ungenerous or ungrateful in the stock. There are no such sore ami sour things to,deal with as we meet every day among mean men. Default, ers, liars, and thieves, have no place on the farm. These miserable charac ters are in towns. The farmer ought to be a good man. lie has less tempta tion to be a bad man than any charac ter we know of. All his work is eri nobling. 1 [is contact is with Nature. Ilis dealing is with the old Earth, which is the mother of us all, and which will take us all into her kind!) arms again, when life's titful fever is over. ()! it is delightful to turn the back upon anxious, quarrelsome, struggling men, ami look upon the green fields, and commune with the honest cattle, and live with Nature and.her children. The farmers noble work is worthy of a noble consecration. The Savannah JYev'S says : Our ag ricultural journals, whieli very rightly cry ‘‘plant more corn.” should also add. ‘‘raise more hogs, cure your meat, and save your money.” From one of our exchanges we lind that the South alur spent in meat last season thirty millions of dollars ; or, counting' last year s cn>p ot* cotton to have averaged sIOO p.-r bale, it took 3,090,009 bales of cotton to pay for meat alone. We have never heard but one single argument used by planters to explain why they could not raise hogs, and that was, that the freed men stole their stock, having a liking for other peoples meat. We cannot see any strength in this line of argument. Just as the Ireedman b interested in his masters cotton crop, so could he be made personally liable tor the hog crop. What, however, is the truth, is that the corn crop is utterly neglected, and, of course, where there is no grain, there can be no pork.