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who shall effect this purification will de
serve well of his or their generation. The
alloy must be in some way extracted,,
the pare gold will remain to be added |
to the musses of the intelligent whose
every issue, in agriculture and its kin
dred* vocations will be free from every
species of humbug, error or counter
l'eitism. Shame on all such as “close
their ears and shut their eyes to all
knowledge”—verbal, written, experi
mental, scientific, historical, natural!
Miserable abortions! cast in the moulds
of nature, in form, like men, yet not
“in the image of God" and blighting
and cursing by their labors, themselves,
their families and friends, by their wil
full and blind opposition to truth, in
theory (of which they have but little)
and jlractice.
No truth in political economy is bet
ter established than that supply and
dematul regulate prices.” It is universal
in its application, without exception.
It is fixed and irrevocable. An excess
in the supply of cotton will bring down
the price. That excess has been reach
ed. Let us not be guilty of the folly
of attributing it to the late war. Cot
ton has declined everywhere just at the
moment of making peace. Four mil
lions of Southern cotton bales have
done the mischief, not war. That
has affected us but little, but the excess
in the supply of cotton has well nigh
ruined us. It will require years, per
haps, to remedy the evil, not because it
is remedyless but because we have not
the wisdom to apply the remedy until
co ui|idled to do so by that sternest of
all laws—the law of necessity or of
compulsion—or, what is of the same
significance, by the want of means to
produce the cotton. And another
year of disaster and loss, will bring
about that dreadful result, to thousands
more of our people who have already
been engnlphed in the maelstrom of
min who ventured their crazy barks in
its current without capital or experi
ence. We alone are responsible, dis
guise the fact as we may, for the pecu
niary evils which afflict us, think as we
may of wars—money rings, cotton
rings,, commercial fertilizers, banks,
-swtsrms, labor, anything or everything,
conceivable or otherwise, possible or
impossible. Too much cotton last
year, like Adam’s first sin, “brought
all our woes" on us—better have made
100 little with an abundant supply of
food. And this ought to be the rule
of every cotton planter this year. It is
founded in common sense. Will it
be? _
For tbo Burner of the South and Planters' Journal.
Stock in the South.
[ooNTlNlr.ll.]
Before leaving the subject of dairy
ing, let us make a comparison between
a farm cultivated in cotton and corn
and one cultivated for dairy purposes,
connected with breeding mules. (The
following calculations are not claimed
to be minute, but accurate enough to
ascertain our points.) A farm of -400
acres, in cotton and corn:
200 acres cotton ® ) bale (500 It. bale)
equal to 100 bales @ SOO $ (1,000
200 arres corn (S) 25 bushels, equal to
5,008 bushels ® $1 5,000
Hr pen »es — $ 11,000
16 mules <® 80 lmsbels corn,
equal to 1,280 bushels @sl.. .*1,280
One-tliird cotton for hands,
equal to iiSi bales <© $00.... 2,000
One-lialf coni, equal to 2,500
bushels @ $1 2.500
$ 5,780
$ 5,220
20 tons fertilizers @ SOO 1,200
Net $ 4,020
Four hundred acres, mixed husband
ry, five fields of eighty acres:
1 tield, 40 acres cotton @ ) bale,
equal to 20 bales <S»> .SOO $ 1,200
1 tield, 40 acres wheat @ 20 bushels,
equal to 800 bushels <® $1.50 1,200
2 fields, 80 acres corn @ 25 bushels,
equal to 800 Im. (te $1; 3 fields. 80
acres oats <S) 20 bu., equal to 1,000
(® 75c.; 80 acres peas® 10 bu.,
equal to 800 bu. <S> $1; 4 fields, 80
acres clover® 1 ton per acre, equal
to 80 tons (® S2O; 5 fields, 80 acres
clover ® 2 tons per acre, equal to
Kit) tons (® #2O- -all fed to stock,
100 cows, at #BO (S4O less than my
average) 8,000
$10,400
12 mules, two year olds, ® $12,5 1,500
H.rp, uses - $11,9(H)
12 hands ® S3OO 3,000
.*8.300
BANNER OF THE SOUTH aNI) PLANTERS’JOURNAL.
Besides this increase of 100 ]>er cent,
over the cotton farm, manure of the
stock will manure 100 acres annually
with a full coat, or two hundred acres
with a half coat On the cotton farm
you have to work sixteen rnuies and
thirty hands (which will hardly pick
the cotton crop out); on the dairy
farm you only require twelve mares
and twelve hands. Your advances to
your hands on the cotton farm will ex
ceed advances on the dairy farm 200 per
centum. You invest on the cotton
farm #7OO more in stock, which annu
ally decreases in value; and lastly, but
not least, it is easier to get twelve good
bands than thirty. Your team on the
dairy farm can be kept with fifty bush
els of corn, or its equivalent, there
being plenty of pastime or soiling food,
whereas it requires at least 80 bushels
of corn per head on the cotton farm.
These statements prove that dairying
pays better than cotton, under average
circumstances. •
Next let us proceed to sec if it will
pay to raise stock for side. Suppose
we take the same 400 acre farm and
stock it with 30 milch cows, 30 calves,
30 yearlings, 30 two year olds, 80 three
year olds, and 30 four year olds—total,
130 head. Os this stock, 30 calves, 30
yearlings, and 30 two year olds would
consume as much as 30 cows, reducing
the stock to the same as !)0 head of
cows; but allowing the four year olds
one-third heavier feed than the cows,
the stock would be equal to 100 cows.
The produce would be:
Profits on 80 cows, deducting $8.55
for the milk each calf receives...s2,l43 50
Cotton and wheat 2,400 00
30 four year old steers and heifers
<S> 1,000 m. equal to 30,000 1,800 00
12 two year old mules® $125 1,500 00
$7,843 50
j Krpenses —
Labor 3,000 00
Net $4,213 50
From the Plantation.
High Farming Without Manure.
This is the caption of an article in
the February number of that very ex
cellent agricultural monthly, the Jtural
Carolinian , and which bears the
signature of Dr. E. M. Pendleton, of
Sparta, Georgia. Its design, as stated
by the author, is to notice a few points
that are unphilosophical and imprac
ticable in tiie theory of high culture
with chemical manures, advocated by
Professor George Ville, in certain
lectures delivered at the royal experi
mental farm at Vincennes, France,
instituted under the patronage at the
expense of the French Emperor. The
strictures of Dr. P. can but be con
sidered by the writer as impolitic and
unjust; impolitic, in as far as they
tend to discourage investigation and
experiment in new channels; unjust to
i the author, because his premises are
not fully presented, while his conclu
sions are perverted and distorted.
These lectures were delivered by M.
Ville after at least six years of suc
cessful practice, from 1861 to 1867,
with the ample means afforded by the
French treasury, and the stimulus af
forded by the immediate supervision
of the Emperor, and the eager scrutiny
of intelligent, practical agriculturists.
!No theory of culture was advanced
before it had been fully verified in
I successful and remunerative practice.
| To these and many other carefully
i conducted experiments, during six
! years of lavish expenditure, with the
grand results obtained, Dr. P. op
poses bis own experiments for one or
two years in “rows of cotton, seventy
yards long!" Truly, there is but a
step from the sublime to the ridicu
lous ! Hrobdignag and Liliput are
here brought into contiguity unknown
even to the geography of the regions
of the imagination!
Dr. I*. supposes the inductions of M.
Ville may apply as far as French soils
are concerned, but asks, “How of
soils already surfeited with lime, as in
the cretaceous soils of lower Georgia,
and the limestone lands of Virginia
and Kentucky? Will it pay to apply
lime to these lands? Or how of the
feldspathic and micaceous soils of
middle Georgia and Carolina? Can ■
we afford to purchase potash as a fer-!
tilizer at the presenthigh rates, to apply i
to soils which have enough for a thou-!
sand years cropping?’ Dr. P., as a
chemist, must be aware that the potash ;
o! the last named soils can lie made ;
available only in the laboratory of the i
chemist, with the powerful re-agents at
his command; and that the minerals;
containing it are but sparingly soluble !
by agents we can introduce into the
soil; and if his experiments had ex
tended so far, lie would have discover-j
ed that no fertilizer pays better, in;
pnqiortion to its cost, than wood
ashes applied to these same micaceous j
and feldspathic soils. So in case of
the former soils lie would have learned
that, an application of lime and its'
sulphate yield the best returns in those ;
same limestone soils of Virginia and
Kentucky, even where the blue car-'
lionate of lime is found in strata with
in a few inches of the surface. And
why? Because, by percolation and
leaching, the soluble lime has been
removed, and the remaining limestone
is practically insoluble, even in that
form of it called rotten limestone, and 1
therefore, cannot aid in vegetable j
nutrition, or in the decomposition of
other constituents of the soil except by
calcination.
In support of the former proposi
tion may be cited the results of ex .
pertinents made by the State Agricnl- j
tural College of the State of Miclii- i
gan. If the soils of Georgia arcs new,
compared to those of France, and not, >
therefore, exhausted of mineral in
gredients, he must admit that the soils
of Michigan are less exhausted; hav
ing been the home of the roving In
dian for a long period after Georgia
and the Carolines had become States
of the Union. In these experiments,!
the following result was obtained as it;
regards potash. Land manured with
wood ashes at the rate of five bushels
per acre, produced an increase of the j
hay crop over that of the natural soil
of 4,165 pounds of cured hay per;
acre during three years cropping, lie
fore the potash wagjgdiausted. A fer
tilizer that produce! this result in
clcrrcr and Timothy grass would have
had a similar effect upon other crops
suited to the climate, but no i
other crop was embraced in these ex
periments.
Dr. I*. arrives at the conclusion that
"it is not lime, potash and soda that
we need to keep up the fertility of our
soils, but nitrogen, phosphoric acid and
bum us. Now, this is not represent
ing M. Ville's sytem in its true light.
He does not place lime and potash in
the first rank as a tertilizer for general
crops, but as necessary and secondary
to nitrogen and phosphoric acid ; nor 1
does he employ soda at all but as af
fording nitrogen in the cheap and es-1
fective form of nitrate, and affirms dis- i
tinetly the soda is contained in ample !
supply in all soils. But how of thi t
humus ! Ilow are we to obtain it in :
the soil by any theory of culture ever :
presented by Dr. P. ? The exhaustive j
cultivation of the soil with crops ofj
cotton and com will not create, but
rather diminish it, even with the aid of
“Atnmoniated Phosphates” and -‘Guano :
Compounds.” And if obtained by a !
proper course of rotation of crops!
designed for that purpose* what is its
important agency in the soil to entitle
it to a place in the same sentence with
nitrogen and the phosphates? That
by its decomposition it affords carbonic |
acid to act powerfully upon the other
ingredients in the soil, there can be no'
doubt; but the atmosphere is a fruitful
and ready source of this acid to plants,
and, therefore, humus is almost super ;
riuous for that end. That it performs
a mechanical office in giving mellow
ness and porosity to the soil, cannot be
questioned ; but beyond this, whether
it aids in vegetable nutrition is a ques
tion not yet decided in the traditions of
the past or the lights of the present, to
give it precedence of potash and lime,
which we know enter directly into'
the cellular structure of the plant.
To quote again from Dr. I*. : “M.
George Ville is decidedly behind the
times, when he expects to instruct the j
agriculturists of this country in the
application of his complete manure,”
etc. Now, this is hypercriticism ex-j
emplified. Ilis lectures were not de
livered to or for us, nor have they, as
far as the writer is informed, been '
translated into our language, except j
for the columns of The Plantation.
That his system does not apply to our
soils would not be asserted except by
one interested in frowning upon all en
terprise in culture other than by the
use of compounded fertilizers held at
high rates in the market, yielding
fabulous returns to the manipulators.
1 his is well illustrated by the price ex
acted by those operating our bone
mills, who demand three and half cents
per pound for flour of bone, while they
jiay one cent jier pound for the dry
bones. A better era is about to dawn
for our practical farmers, when, with
the intelligence gained by such teach
ings as those of M. Ville, they can
compound their fertilizers on the farm
from simple, and comparatively in
expensive substances which are not
likely to be beyond our reach. At
our coal mines the coke-kilns can be
made to yield ammonia in abundance ;
the competition in the production of
the Charleston phosphates will soon re
duce that native fertilizer to a mode
rate price ; the mineral salts of potash
can even now fie procured at a low
rate as imported by the cargo from the
mines of Stassturt, in Prussia, and of
Austrian Galicia ; and sulphate of lime
(land plaster) abounds in many locali
ties in the States North and South.
Let the demand become large, and all
these piolucts wi 1 be hand el at the
small profit now realized on our com
mon salt.
That M. \ iile employed these ele
ments of a gooil fertilizer extravagant
ly under the circumstances of bis mis
sion, is no greater reason that we
should do so than that we should
follow the example of those who have
applied Peruvian guano at the rate of
a thou and pounds per acre. We can
adopt the synthetic method, addding
these ingredients in small quantities,
and increasing or diminishing propor
tions as success or failure may indi
cate ; thus learning step by step, until
we have gained philosophy in the
school of experience. We can thus
be independent of the Chincha Islands,
and all other guano deposits; and
; liettcr still, we can spurn the offers of
those who would benevolently "com
pound for us at a profit of fifty to a
hundred per cent, while they conceal
i the constituents of what they sell us.
If we can gain wisdom in the practice
jof the art which supports all other
arts and enterprises, let us scorn to
make merchandise of our wisdom to
amass fortunes out of our neighbors;
I but, emulating the example of that
I noble and ever generous benefactor of
the Southern planter, David Dickson,
when we have gained important re
! suits, let our neighbors reap, unbought,
the benefit of our acquisitions. All
; honor, in all time, to David Dickson !
A. C. Van Errs.
Near Atlanta, Feb. 10, 1870.
The Fig—One of our Neglected
Resources.
P. J. Ukrckmvnu ia Rural CiroiinUn.
TIIK CERTAINTY AND VALUE OF THE FIC.
CROP.
Among tlit* many varieties of fruits
adapted to our Southern zone, the Fig
has not received all the attention it de
serves, viewing it for commercial pur
poses. True, few gardens throughout
the country are without a fig tree, but
beyond supplying the table with the
fruit in a tresh state, no use is made of
it. No attempt seems to have been
made to grow it on a large scale, for
the purpose of drying the fruit and
bringing it in competition with the im
ported article.
The most favorable conditions for its
successful culture are happily combined
in a suitable climate and soil, especially
on the sea coast of all the Southern
States, where the fig tree attains great
size, produces never-failing large crops,
and is entirely free from disease. No
fruit requires less culture; skillful prun
ing is not needed, and where the tree
receives a supply of nourishment, it is
sure to return its value in a most abund
ant harvest of wholesome fruit.
I'ISKIWKINC. THE Flo FOK MAIIKET.
Os the process of preparing the Fig
for market, less is perhaps practically
known here, than of any other kind of
fruit extensively cultivated. This cir
cumstance certainly does not arise from
the climate being iil adapted to its cul-
ture, but no doubt from the same cause
that keeps our agriculture in a state of
routine instead of progress and im
provement.
We have seen some very good speci
mens of dried figs produced here, and
what has been done can lie done again.
If the culture of the fig were under
taken for the purpose of drying the
fruit, it would result in a source of large
and regular income to the fanner.
There may be a part'-d failure of the
peach and apple crops.but the fig never
fails where it is not winter killed.
HOW TO IIRV FIOS.
The following method was quite suc
cessful with ourselves, and although the
article produced was not equal in ap
pearance to the large imported Smyrna
tigs, the qfcalitv was very satisfactory.
Gather the figs when the skin begins
to crack, (which is a sign of maturity
and then the fruit contains the largest
amount of sacharine matter); make a
strong lye of oak ashes, or take com
mon cooking sodadissolved in hot water;
quickly dip the figs in the hot liquid and
remove immediately; expose to the a s
for a minute or two, and repeat the
dipping. If the lye is hot and strong
enough, the color of the fig will imme
diately change, the dark varieties to a
bright green, and the pale colored to a
light green. Place the figs upon trays
made of wooden slats and expose to
the sun, taking care not to allow the
dew to fall upon them. Alter a few
days they are ready to lie put away in
small woodqn boxes, first putting a
layer of spice, laurel or bay leaves at
the bottom and another on the top.
Put the lid on tight to keep insects out.
Figs placed in a dry room, will keep a
long time.
If a brick oven is convenient, it will
greatly facilitate the drying process,
care however must be taken not to give
too much beat. So soon as the figs
show signs of secreting syrup, they
have been put under too high a degree
of beat and they will thus make an
inferior article. Frequent turning of
the fruit is necessary, and after the
second day, it is advisable to lightly
presfl the trait with the hand s6 as to
flatten it.
The light colored varieties are pre
ferred for drying, although some of
the brown skinned kinds, especially the
brown Turkey, make a very good
article.
THF. no AS A riCKI.E.
The fig can be made useful in many
, other forms, such as pickling, presen -
ting and making jellies. Asa pickle it
Icertainly surpasses the cucumber, of
| which an immense amount, in a pickled
form, is annually imported South, and
no doubt a large demand would arise
i for it, was the article put upon the mar
j ket and made known.
I To pickle, pick the fruit with the
stems. The iigs must be matured, but
not too soft. Put the fruit in a vessel;
; sprinkle with salt in the proportion of
; one half pound to each peek of fruit;
i pour boiling water upon the whole and
1 let stand twelve hours ; afterwards, put
the fruit in a colander, and if too salt
1 rinse with cold water. Fill the jars
i with the fruit; take strong vinegar,
i add a quarter of a pound of sugar to
each quart ; boil and pour the hot vine
gar upon the fruit. In filling the jars
with the fruit, some cinnamon bark and
i cloves should be mixed through it.
VARIETIES OF THE Fid.
I The nomenclature of the fig issome
i what confused, and some difficulty ex
! ists in attaining a correct list of syno
nyms. The following varieties we
have found the most desirable :
Black Genoa. —Size, medium ; long,
tapering near the stem ; skin, dark
| purple, covered with bloom; pulp,
j bright red; very good.
Black Ischia. —Medium size; round;
skin, dark purple, nearly black at ma
turity; pulp, dee]i red; very prolific
j and excellent.
Jlrenrn Turkey., —(Synonyms, Lee’s
perpetual, Brown Italian, Jerusalem,
Murray, Howick, Walton, Common
Purple, Brown Naples, Large Sugar
Fig. etc., etc.) From its numerous
synonyms, it shows its great populari
ty. Fruit, medium, oblong pyriform ;
skin, dark brown: pulp, red, very
sweet and excellent. This is, unques
. tionably, the most prolific variety for
this section, it produces very large and
regular crops and is well adapted for
drying.