The banner of the South and planters' journal. (Augusta, Ga.) 1870-18??, December 17, 1870, Image 1

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NO. 8. 2Vgricultural. Wr.Uen for the Bauner of the South and Planter* JuiiruaL Agriculture Before Manufactures. HT UK.NHX STEWART, STROUDSBURG, I’A. If the measure of the wealth of a nation, is’the measure of its welfare and happiness, then to be wealthy should i be the aim of the nation. It is cer tainly true that wealth, or, in other words, a certainty of the possession of the necessaries and luxuries of life, and the absence of care and the corroding uneasiness which attends a contrary state, giving ease and leisure, leads to a higher degree of education, polite ness, and refinement; relieves from the btmlens of toil, and engenders that chivalrous and honorable spirit which raises man above the common level, and marks the character of a people. It is also aci'iainty true that in the high - est degree "this, characteristic while de luding on a [Hwition of ease and free dom from care, finds its higher devel opment among a people peculiarly agricultural; and though a trading and manufacturing community limy be more wealthy and possessed of more of the appliances of wealth ; yet the spirit of the shopkeejier is there more apparent; j vulgar ostentation is more the rule; and wealth is used not so much for the procurement of ease from toil or care,; as a means of aggrandizement and the production of more wealth; giving j rise to a sordid craving that destroys the soul of man and all that is elevated in his nature. Contrast the politeness of the old patriarch Abraham, in his dealings with the people of Ileth for the purchase of a place of burial for Iris wife Sarah, and the equal polite ness with which they responded, with the devilish malignity of Shylock and the cunning and smartness of Por tia in the matter of the bond. In the one we see the honor, and uprightness, ami lofty dealing of a pastoral people while yet in the early simplicity of an agricultural state; and in the other, the tricks, the cruel and unrelenting and remorseless vindictiveness, of traders, of debtor and creditor; the triumph of greed over all that is human—in fact, the exhibition of the spirit of evil incar nated. And this may be epitomized in the phrase “the almighty dollar.” W e might observe further how this character is carried out in political mat ters ; how this spirit, destroys the chivalry of a people and makes nations, even in public affairs, false to honora ble principles. Now if this were the irretrievable result of increased wealth, we would say, with the man of ancient times, “God keep us poor but honest.” But we do not believe it. We look upon wealth as a good to he desired, an in crease of prosperity, a means of lmppi- BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, AUGUSTA, GA. FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1870. j ness, and a source of intellectual ad j vancement, that might be tinned to j the common benefit of ottr race. Ks ! peeially is it to be considered as a j means of providing for the enlighten | ment and education of the poorer | classes, those who live by labor; and ; by finding a ready and persistent mar- I ket for their brain and muscle, to relieve j them from periods of want or distress, aud thereby elevate their mental con dition at the expense of that which is merely animal. And here is the point t.o whicli we wish to arrive for discussion viz: at what point of completeness must our agri culture have arrived liefore, we can profitably divert our attention to work ing up our products. I.et us consider then, first, what we | need as an indispensable means for this pui'i>ose. Certainly twothings—-capital and labor; one thing else is necessary, but must be purchased, and can be gotten no other way, that is experience; therefore it is bootless to wait for that. Then the question arises, is the South prepared for the transition; and the answer is—not yet; and for this rea son, it no other: she must possess a re dundant population from which to draw the necessary supply of workers. Her ! fields must he tilled like a garden; her pastures must be covered with cattle ; her stalls must be filled with fattening beeves; the bottoms must yield corn and fodder in profusion; villages and hamlets must spring up in sight of eacli other, in each of which must be heard, day by day, the clang of the smith's hammer, heating a musical chorus on his ringing anvil, while won dering boys and timid girls on their way to school stay awhile to gaze in admiration on the showering sparks; and troops of young men and maidens pursuing each their daily avocations re main in readiness to answer the call of the spinning jenny and the loom. Then there will be no need to watch with care the changing aspect of foreign complications, for it will be only the surplus, after supplying our own needs, from whence they can draw their sup plies of the needed cotton, and the European demand will not then fix a price for our staple crops. And to ar-; rive at this “consummation so devoutly ' to be wished” improvements must be j set on foot forthwith. Let eacli house j be set in order and according to one's means preparations, lie made. A few years of effort and the lace of things will be changed. While on each plan tation field after field is brought into a course of recovery from its lost fertility and made to smile again with verdure, giving forth food for growing herds and flocks, and furnishing labor remunerative to both employer and worker in greatly increased abundance; so at the same time will the social con dition be improved by earnest desire to raise in the scale of intelligence those to whom new duties and responsibili ties have come without a corresponding fitness having been made; and who, by reason of ignorance are a prey to every noisy charlatan or political quack who plays upon them as upon a pipe; and who cannot see in their changed condition how they have become sub ject to grave responsibilities, nor if they could see it, how they must set about it :to meet them. Thus with an improved I physical condition will the intellectual | status lie improved, and this one need ed element be secured, a population of free workers sufficiently educated to know the nature of their own rights js well as those of others, and the duties incumbent upon them in connection therewith ; and whale this is in course of preparation the other element need ed—capital—will aefaiunlate, and, ac cording to the inevitk e laws of politi cal economy wifi tin.'Li scope in mnl tiplying improvements and gradually inaugurating a complete system of do mestic manufactures. And in all this there will be no hurry ; progress is ever silent in its most rapid march, and it is only when taking a retrospect that we perceive how much has been accom plished in the mean time. These changes are gradual; but in our life times how much has been accomplished and jjow much may yet be ? The man of middle age may in his day yet sec the mine, the forge, the machine shop, all working on the ores of Georgia, and turning out the furniture of a mill whose product may be shipped on a Southern built ship to the most distant parts of the globe; while the various mechanics engaged in the needed la bor will be supported on the produce of the rich fields restored to their pris tine vigor ; and the interchange of la bor and material will conduce to the mutual advantage and the common interest of all. Written for the Banner of the South and Planters’ Journal. Second Application of Manures. ny GEORGK C. DIXON, CAMERON, GA. Mr. “J. L. A.,” of Edgefield, South Carolina, differs with me in regard to the second application of manure to cotton. lie says he regrets that I did lfbt give the yield per acre from my large outlay. I particularly stated that I only manured two rows, one acre long with a second application, at the rate of 220 lbs. per acre. Now if he calls these few pounds applied at the second application a large outlay, what shall we say of his twelve acre experi ment. And after all this large outlay as he calls it, I believe 1 made .7s much as he did, on old worn oul land, yet it did not pay as well as one application. I stated I made 24 lbs. to the row, one acre long, with second application. As the rows were four feet apart, there , was but fifty-two rows in an acre. Now multiply the 52 by 24 and we have 1248 lbs. per acre. Now what did he make on his twelve acres? lie claims he made 0,100 lbs. seed cotton on his 12 acres. This, you will observe, was 758 lbs. per acre. The next question is what did I make per acre, where I made second application ? I have already shown I made at the rate of 1248 lbs per acre, which excels him 400 lbs. per acre ; yet I claim it did not j>ay me; neither did it make as much as that with one application. With all my large outlay as Mr. ,T. L. A. calls it, I have excelled him 490 lbs. periaere—beat him at his own game. Yet I could not recom mend second application, as he did, af ter making the 1248 lbs. per acre. A»d my reason for not recommending it was that the row manured with one application made 2GJ lbs.; multiply this by 52 (the nuinlK-r of rows,) and it gives its 1865 lbs. per acre, which ex cels the second application 117 lbs. Now if I had done as Mr. J. L. A. says he did —manured the whole field with a second application—l should have thought I had made a good crop. But, manuring as I did, I was shown that a better crop was made by using only one. As I stated in my article of the 12th inst., the result was different to what I expected. But such were the results, and I would not give them otherwise. Mr. J. L. A. says if one half of the manure intended to he applied, was ap plied when the crop is planted, and the other half applied either the first or second ploughing, a much larger yield would be the result. Such, lie says, is hi* experience. Now, what does he give as his experience ? Well, he says he had an old field containing 12 acres, which he says would not have produced more than 150 or 200 lbs. seed cotton per acre, without manure. This, you will bear in mind, is his opinion. But, in experimenting, we should know be fore we attempt to dictate, or even re commend. For Mr. J. L. A. to have been certain (and he should have been from fair experimenting.), ho should have tried some rows with one applica tion, and others, side by side, with second ; picked, and weighed carefully, as I (jid; then he would have known. Tins is necessary. Suppose the row manured with second application should have turned out a greater yield; it cost more to manure this row, and per haps the yield in excess would not pay for the extra application; if not we could not recommend a second appli cation. However, Mr. J. L. A. claims a second application of ipanure will pay. How does he know, and what j is his evidence or proof? The only j proof he gives us is this : He mixes 1 50 bushels of cotton seed with stable ; manure (he don't say how much stable manure) and applied it to four acres of the field; upon the other eight acres he put sujierphosphale of lime at the rale of 250 lbs. per acre. This is his first application. On the 6th July fie applied 150 lbs. Wando to the acre. Ho say's the cultivation was alike over the field; two ploughings and three hoeings. Now, so far he has furnished us no proof that a second application will pay. But he says the cotton kept green all the season and shed but few forms; the cotton, he says, grew oft’ very slow in the Spring; the crop of bottom bolls was not good.; the bolls on the top crop were as large as on the bottom crop. So far we have no proof that a second application of manure will pay'. But for the results: Mr, J. L, A., says he picked from his 12 acre field 9,100 lbs. seed cotton. Now, 1 repeat it, is this any proof that his se cond application paid? Now, Messrs, j Editors, I believe that Mv. Xt , is honest in his belief He mi ode a* fail crop on his 12 acres. But my objectis to show he lias not as yet shown or proved to us that a second application will pay. I will state, by way of strengthening my argument, (or rather my experiment) that this question was discussed in the Paris Hill Agricultural Club, a short time since, and the expe rience of the members of that Club were about the same as mine. And I am yet of the opinion that if* the same amount intended to be applied at se cond application were broadcasted over the land and turned under before plant ing, it would pay better. I hope Mr J. L. A. will, another year, try two rows, one with second application, and another (side by side) with one, and then give us the results, after picking and weighing carefully. Then he will know if a second application will pay, and if so, how much. As someone may wish to know how I managed to make 1,365 lbs. seed Cot ton per acre, on an old field, I will give my plan: I first broke up the land about 8 inches deep with turn plow; did not subsoil; laid oft’ my rows 4 feet apart with an 8 inch shovel plow, with two wings, running twice in the same furrow; planted 7th April; thinned out when four leaves high, leaving two stalks in a hill, about 15 inches apart; cultivated with a 2G inch sweep and hoe; ploughing four times, and went over lour times with the hoe, taking out all the grass and weeds the plow had left ; put no dirt to it save what the plow threw to it; and I had liked to forgotten to state that I used Whann’s raw bone at the rate of 220 lbs per acre, applied in the drill. Taehygraphy is the rather qnprepos sessing name of anew system of short hand writting, which is bound to super sede, its orignators say, all other sys-« Stans. YOL. I