Georgia Historic Newspapers

    THE FIELD AND FIRESIDE.
Vol. I.
(Thr/idil ami /iiroidr.
ITBLISIIED BY
T. G-. CAMPBELL oc CO.
OFFICE
IX THE OLD PRINTING OFFICE
Building, Powder Springs Street. Mari
etta Georgia.
O.WU) iuwix.
w. a. i*. m\ i.injury. i. i;. ikw ix.
Irwin, McClatchey & Irwin,
ATTORNEYS AT LyWV.
M ill praetiee in the Blue Kidge, Rome,
and ( oweta ('ireuits. .a
Marietta. Mareli 13, 1877. PT
\VM. T. WIXX. WILL. .1. WINN.
W, T. & W. J. WINN,
A (lor ■■ cy * :ii !i :s M ,
M ARIETTA, GKOlBil A.
Mareli 13,1877. ly
J. E. MOSELY,
Attorney Law.
W ILL atteiul loall luisines cunlided
to him in ( 'ohh and ad jacent nulli
ties. Oitick—ill Met lateiiey’s Build
ing, up stairs.
Marietta, March 13, 1877. Cm
E. M. AU.HN.
Kcsidcnt Dentist,
Of more than twenty years.
CHAR G K S R E A SO N A BT. E .
Oi-i-u K —North side of Public Square.
Marietta, Mareli 13, 1877. ly
DR. G. TENNENT,
Fraetieing Piiisitian.
tag" Office on Cassville street. — Resi
slenee oil Cherokee street.
Marietta, March 13,1877. ly
DR. E. J. SETZE,
Physician a end Surgeon,
rpKNDEKS his professional services
1 in the praetiee of .Medicine in all
its* tranches to the citizens of Marietta
and surrounding country. Office at the
Drug Store of Win. Boot. inch 13—ly
R. W. GABLE.
BOOT Ml) Ir- SHOEMAKER
AND REPAIRER.
POWDER SPUING STREET,
MARIETTA. GEO ML
AVork done at very low prices, and wur
'euited. March 1,1877.
Haley Brothers,
CHEROKEE STREET,
Dealers in
GROCERIES, PROVISIONS,
AXI)
GENERAL MERCHANDIZE.
Marietta, Ga., March 13,1877. ly
M. It. Lyon,
CHEROKEE STREET,
FA 111 LY L KOI EKIK*,
And dealer in
( GENTRY PUODI < E.
Marietta, March 13,1877. ly
W. T.
CHEROKEE STREET,
Sadie aid Harass: Maker
AND REPAIRER.
.Marietta, Geo., March 13, 1877. ly
CONTRACTOR
AND
liIILOLK.
THE undersigned eontiintes his busi
ness of Brick Making, Stone and
Brick Building, and is prepared at any
time to take contracts on the most reas
onable terms, and tooxeeute them in the
most satisfactory manner.
11. B. WALLIS.
.Marietta, March 13, 1877. 1y
House Building and
Repairing.
SASH, BLINDS, DOORS FINISHER
TO ORDER.
Lumber of till kinds, and at the
lowest prices, for sale.
Thankful for the liberal patronage
hitherto, the subscriber would state
that lie Is fully prepared to contract for
the erection of Buildings, and to exe
cute the contracts in the nip ( t satisfacto
ry manner. SHOP, south side Publii
Square.
March, 1877. LEM PEL BLACK.
1. g. XORTHCVTT,
DEALER in
Fanev and Maple
DRY GOODS,
SHOES, AND NOTIONS, &e.
Young's Old Corner.
Marietta, Marehßl, 1577. 1\
Agricultural.
Farming Economy.
We have an article, this week,
on the greater protit ol' cultivat
ing small areas, with large crops,
over large areas. Let us suppose
two neighbors pursue the differ
ent plans—one cultivating twen
ly, the other beginning with five
acres. Suppose the land, to start
with, is worth ten dollars per acre.
The twenty acre fan net, pursuing
the ordinary mode of farming',
will produce annually about ten
dollars per acre, making in live
years someone thousand dollars
on his twenty acres. Working
his own farm, his expenses will
be hardly less, securing to him
self perhaps a meagre living, with
the probability that at the end of
the five years his land will be
much reduced in value.
The other neighbor begins with
the thorough breaking of his soil,
and the application of say twenty
dollars per acre of feitilizers, ma
king his outlay for live acres one
hundred dollars, against the twen
ty acres of two hundred dollars.
It will cost no more—mulh less—
to cultivate it, and his yield will
be not less than thirty dollars per
acre, and with less cost lor fertili
zers, greater each succeeding
year. Putting it at forty dollars,
five acres give him two hundred
dollars, and in five years one
thousand dollars. At the end of
five years the live acres will be
worth fifty dollars per acre, mak
ing two hundred and fifty dollars.
The twenty acres probably not
worth more than one hundred
dollars. *%
When it is apparent that farm
ers of the piost limited means be
ginning in this way, may greatly
reduce the cost of fertilizing by
the accumulation of home-made
manures, and that each year they
mav increase the area on the plan
of high culture, and at the end of
five years double or quadruple the
aggregate product, it is amazing
that the great body of farmers
still adhere to the exhaustive pro
cess of former times.
Select of your fields, lying best
for cultivation, only so much as
you can cultivate well and highly
fertilize. The remainder leave
for pasture, until your improving
process reaches it. This process
lias for its object •• the highest
product a given area is capable of
producing." You have heard of
five bales of cotton, sixty bushels
of wheat, one hundred and fifty
bushels of corn per acre. You
may not reach such results, but
you can see how farming' can lie
made to pay.
Farmers! you should he well re
warded for your labor, but you are
mere “ hewers of wood and draw
ers of water" for the world at
large, and all fora mere pittance
wrung from a poor and reluctant
soil. But, this soil, if worked, has
all the wealth producing power
desired if we will apply to it the
stimulating,elements within our
reach. Make it tot, and we be
come masters of the situation.
A Severe Winter.
It is the opinion of the weather
wise that the approaching winter
will be one of the most severe
that we have experienced in ma
ny years. Unmistakeable evi
dences all point in that direction.
It behooves our farming friends,
then, to save everything they can
in the shape of provender for their
stock, that the crib may not be re
sorted to too early in the season.
This feeding from the crib as soon
as the corn is gathered is a com
mon error with many tanners,
and one that ljys a tendency, as
much as any we know of. to make
accounts grow, involve them in
debt, and render stock “mighty
i thin” during the summer months.
A little re tied ion about the mat
ter will demonstrate the correct
nDss of our statement.
MARIETTA, GEORGIA. OCTOBER 9, 1877.
Scientific Farming.
It V WILLIAM EI'I.LKRTON.
The production of the largest
crops with the least labor and ex
pense is the gVeat object to he at
tained by the cultivation of the
soil. How to accomplish this is
a question now agitating the
whole agricultural world. The
whole of the Atlantic States, to
a greater or less degree, are suf
fering from exhaustion. Though
improvidently cultivated, they
once yielded bountiful harvests,
but now fall far short of sustain
ing their population. Even the
rich prairies of the West are rap
idly deteriorating. The same
wasteful method of cultivation is
pursued there, and the same fatal
results are in the near future.—
And even the Old World long
since became alarmed by the dis
covery that while her population
was rapidly increasing, the pro
ducts of her soil, upon which it
was to subsist, were also rapidly
diminishing. A remedy was eag
erly sought for.
Governments took the matter
in hand ; the services of learned
and scientific men were enlisted ;
and during the past halt century,
there has been no question of po
litical economy, in either atmos
phere, upon which has been ex
pended so much thought and la
bor. And these labors have not
been without good results. Na
ture has yielded up her secrets to
the skill of man. The labratory
of the chemist lias disclosed the
laws which regulate and govern
plant growth, and taught us how
plants feed and grow, and upon
what food they subsist. The value
of these discoveries to the human
family cannot be estimated.—
There never was a time when the
tillers of the soil could prosecute
their calling with so much intel
ligence and certainty of success
as the present, And if they do
not hereafter find their labors bet
ter rewarded, it will be .because
they shut their egi.-s.ki -Ah*- light
that is afforded them. To be ig
norant of these discoveries at the
present day is to be without ex
cuse.
There is no other calling in life
in which there is manifested such
an indifference to new discoveries
as is seen among the tillers of the
soil. This arises mainly from a
deep-seated prejudice against
what is called scientific or hook
farming, lie who by intelligent
experiment and observation in
creases the products of his land
and maintains its fertility, is a
scientific fanner. And such a
man lias only to prosecute his
work iu the light of modern dis
coveries to reap a rich reward for
his labors. He will learn how the
crops he cultivates feed and grow,
and what is their appropriate
food, and that providing the same
nutriment for all kinds of crops,
is as unwise as it would be to feed
the same kind of food to all ani
mals. Hut farmers as a general
thing shrink from the study of
agricultural chemistry, because
they regard it as an occult science
requiring great research and in
vestigation to comprehend if. So
it does, but there are elementary
truths which lie at the foundation
of the science, which every far
mer can comprehend and apply to
the cultivation of the soil. It is
not long since I saw a man make
ing compost of caustic lime and
barnyard manure. If he had un
derstood the chemical action of
the lime, he would have known
that the ammonia, the most valu
able ingredient of the mixture,
would be entirely dissipated by it,
and the compost itself' rendered
almost worthless. lie would also
have known that if lime in anotli
er form—that of a sulphate—had
been substituted, it would have
preserved instead of dispelling
this same ingredient, and thereby
added largely to the value of his
mixture.
It is a want of familiarity with
these things that renders them
distateful to the farmer. If he
would make a few of the simple
principles of. chemical action his
study, and become familiar with
them, they would lose their mys
tery, and he could profitably and
safely apply them to his business.
Indeed, there is nothing iu the
laws governing the growth of
plants any more difficult of com
prehension than those which arc
involved in making butter or to
cook food, which is daily practis
ed in every household.
1 have spoken of the alarm
which once prevailed lest tiff? pro
duction of the eajjtli. lessened as
it was by reckless and wasteful
things, would notjeeep pace with
its rapidly increasing population,
and of the meaujvlidopted to dis
cover, a repiedy. The result is,
that to day it is as well known
what our crops extract from the
earth, which tend to, its exhaiis
tion, and how fertility can he re
stored to it, as it is that light an<j
heat are necessary to successful
cultivation. And ibis knowledge
so dearly acquired and so reluct
antly accepted by those who could
he most benefitted by it, is abso
lutely indispensible to an intelli
gent and successful cultivation of
the soil. Ido not mean to be un
derstood as advocating the doc
trine that the farmer should be
able to explain thq great myste
ries of nature, or attempt to anal
yze her productions, as the chem
ist does, but I do mean to assert,
that he should know that his crop
feeds as his cattle do, each one re
quiring its appropriate food, and
that when this food is exhausted
from the soil it must he restored
in kind, or sterility will follow.
No farmer can prosecute his Ini
siness successfully! on poor land,
and there fs no necessity for do
ing it for any great length of time.
It is a waste of time and money,
of energy and life it self. It brings
neither money to the pocket nor
joy to the heart. Farming is a
very hard life, unless it brings
pleasure, aside from profit. It is
necessary for the farmer's enjoy
meat, as it is for his pocket, that
his land should produce what it is
capable of when well fed and cul
tivated. And he can no more af
ford to raise less than that, than
he can afford to pay his hired man
full wages and require him to la
bor but a part of the time. The
interest on the cost of his land is
running, whether the land yields
much or nothing*ul the taxgath
er must be sat isfied though the
garner’s may he empty.
Cultivating a farm without get
ting from it as large a result as
the land is reasonably capable of
producing, involves a useless loss.
The difference between a crop of
eighty and twenty bushels of corn
to the acre is the difference be
tween success and failure. The
expense of cultivating the larger
crop is hut little more than that
of the other, while the cost of
production ot the smaller crop,
compared with the result, is very
much greater. Here, then, is the
secret of the farmer’s success or
failure. Large crops within a
small area should be his aim, and
all his energies should be given to
its accomplishment. If he has
not sufficient manure to enrich
twenty acres, let him put what he
lias upon ten. If the supply is
insufficient for ten, then reduce
the area to live. At all events,
whatever space he cultivates, let
him enrich it. and raise a maxi
mum crop.
I know what some may say, t hat
in consequence of the lack of the
means, I am recommending im
possibilities. I respectfully, yet
earnestly, deny the soundness of
any such proposition. There are
very few farmers so limited in
their means that they cannot at
once enter upon the system of
cultivation which I shall point
out, and which will certainly re
suit to their benefit as that seed
time and harvest shall continue.
I venture to lay down this pro
position as indisputable,that there
are farmers who entertain t he idea
that they cannot afford to buy fer
tilizers, who waste enough each
year in useless tillage to supply
themselves with them. I have
seen such cultivate a large area
of poor land at an expense which
would have enabled them to fer
tilize and cultivate one half of
such area, so as to make it pro
duce as much as did the whole.—
And this diminished area would
not only have been made to pro
duce as much as t wice its extent
in area, but it would be left alter
the crop was removed in a condi
tion which, with a proper rota
tion, would cause it to increase
and not diminish in its fertility.
The amount annually lost from
too large farms, and the cultiva
tion of too great a surface with
out remunerative returns, and the
■•ale ot whatever j* so produced
from the farms, without any re
turn to the soil of the (dements
removed by the crops, is some
thing alarming to contemplate.
Nucli a reckless system would im
poverish any land, however pro
ductive its natural condition.—
And when I recommend the pur
‘‘base of naturalfertilizers.in or
dor to insure large crops, it is not
with a view of encouraging that
system of tillage which removes
everything from the farm which
is produced upon it. Nothing but
a truck farm, where vegetables
are raised for city consumption,
could warrant t he expense of such
husbandry.
lleep Plowing.
After discussing the ad vant ages
of deep plowing at some length,
the Journal of Progress adds the
following reasons in favor of
deeply working the soil:
It gives full scope to the roots
of vegetables, causing them to
become more fibrous titan they
would become in a packed soil,
and hence to afford growth far
better opportunities of feeding.
It admits the air directly to the
spongioles of the roots, without
which, no plant can have a heal
thv growth.
It raises the temperature of the
soil in the spring by admit t ing t lie
warm air and rain.
It enables the soil to absorb
large quantities of fertilizing
gases from the atmosphere.
It acts as a drain in excessive,
wet weather, causing the water
to settle down and escape through
the subsoil, or immediately along
the surface.
It leads to more rapid decompo
sititm of dead vegetable matter
in the soil, by bringing it directly
into contact with decomposing
grass, thus speedily converting it
into plant food.
tilling Behindhand.
‘‘They tell mo farmer H. is go
ing behindhand l"
" I giu-ss there's no doubt of it.”
“ Hut I don't see how it can bo.
He has one of the best farms in
the country; and he used to be
considered a good farmer.”
“True-—bill Ins farm is certain
ly running out, and I am told In
is running in debt.”
“I don't see how that can be.”
So conversed two neighboring
farmers, and while they con vers
ed, farmer 11. was looking for iiis
hoe.
“ Dan," he cried to one of his
boys, “ where is the hoe ‘l I have
been looking for It this half hour.
I might have had my work done
by this time. Where is it ?”
“ I do'no, dad. It’s summ’rs, I
s’poso.”
“ Somewhere, you young rascal.
Didn’t vou have it last night '”
“ No.”
Did’nl Itel I vou to hoe I Ik* cii
cumbers t"
“ YeS ; hut I eoiild’nl find the
hoe.”
The two joined in the search.
“ book here, iJan,” said his fa
Iher, altera f I*llitloss time, “ von
must have left that hoe some
where. Why don’t you pul things
in their jdaees when you’ve done
with them
“Well, dad. where is the place
for the hoe ? Where do vou al ls
put it ?”
The ]invent was posed. Ili- tool
house has been used for a wood
shed, and though he had often
talked of building another, lie had
not yet done so.
By-and by, before the hoe was
found, a neighbor dropped in. and
after chat ting awhile, he said,
with a smack of the lips, and ex
pedant rubbingof the hands:—-
u By the way, If., have you got a
drop in your jug
“ f guess so. Would von like
a bit r
“ Well, ves- if its handy.’'
Ah! he had no difficulty in put
ting his hand upon the jug at
once; and had the two wondering
neighbors been there to hear and
see, they would have wondered
no more why farmer H. was run
ning behindhand.
Sfook Raising in the South.
It is evident that the South and
Kouth west, with a genial climate,
and increased facilities for cheap
and rapid transit, must >oon he
come the great stock breeding
centre of thel uion. in no -cotion
can animals be kept so cheaply:
and a- tin* people begin to diver
sily iheir agricult lire, and compre
hend the great importance of
more domestic animals, they will
find we competitors in that branch
of husbandry. Even before the
war, and with no particular
thought of their importance, the
number of eattle, sheep and swine
broil in the cotton States, bore no
insignificant proportion to the
whole number bred in the Union.
Why some Farmers keep Poor.
A recqto writer says: “After
long ten, I have come to
the conclusion that a great
"I 1 In- Dinners that are poor liiigflS
have made money. If you jH
quire into their business
you'll find they sell the best an ’ t i
keep the poorest. For instance,!
it they have too many sheep on
hand they pick out the best toUfljk
sold, li you ask them why
do so, they will say ‘ RocanH
they bring twice as much as the
°t hers, and I am hard up just now j
Ibr money. I know that it is no|
a good plan, and I do not iirfflfl
to follow it always.' fHH
“• I think (hi- habit of
•be best is a very poor plan for
any man, I don't care what bis cir
cumstances may be. I have a
man in my mind now who always
sells his poorest sheep for more,
than twice as much as the aver-J
age fanner gets for his best. |J
have seen farmers in the fall pidjfl
out their best pigs to fatten,
cause they would make a
more pounds of pork than tbr
others. This l call a very poor
economy.”
Bermuda Grass.
1 observe, in the Courier Jour
nal ot tin- 2Dd insl., Mr. Brown’s
inquiry in regard to Bermuda
grass. In reply to this inquiry, 1
will say that Hcrmuda grass is
propagated from the roots, and
can In- procured in south Missis
sippi in any quantity desired. This
grass resembles blue grass, grows
luxuriantly on low lands, very
thick, and is the finest grass 1 am
acquainted with for stock. It was
brought to I his country to prevent
our sandy lands from washing iu
to galleys, and is indispcnsildc to
railroads to prevent wash on their
embankments.
A single handful of Bermuda
grass roots will spread over one
yard square of earth in one year,
which is a sufficient quantity to
sod one acre. I have sent sever
al lots of Hcrmuda grass to west
Tennessee and north Alabama,
and have received letters from the
parties, intimating their satisfac
tion with it in the highest terms.
Many planters in rhis section
object to I his grass because it can
not be confined to the one spot or
locality. Ihe roots run in every
conceivable direction, measuring
three or lour feet in length, and
a spring of grass grows from each
joint (which is an inch apart] from
five to twelve inches in height,
and in a tew years the roots are so
closely malted together that it re
quires a pair of extra horses to
break the land for cultivation.—
Hurmuda grass cannot be killed
only by incessant plowing in mid
summer. I have-a neighbor who
has mown two tons of hay from
one acre of this grass in one year.
I will supply persons wishing
this grass in small quantities with
out eomp(%sati(m. I will also be
pleased to correspond with any
one who may wish further inter
mation concerning this grass.
Respectfully, etc.
D. W. Kicjj,
Clinton, Miss., Aug. 24.
A !i<mv method of preserv
ing fVuitti in being practised in
hngland. l'ears, ;j j>j > Ifs. and oth
er fruits, are reduced to a paste,
wliieh is then pressed into small
cakes and gently dried. When
required lor use, it is only net*/ > a
sary to pour lour times tUfSt',
weight of boiling water over them
allow them to souk lor t,WGitW~
minutes, and then add sugar
suit the taste. I'lk* line flavor of
the ripe fruit is said to he retain
ed to perfection. The cost of the
prepared product is not. greater
than that of the original fruit,
differing with the supply and
price oi the latter; the keeping
qualities are excellent, so IhjiLit
time
••■'i'. or 1 lon 'j 11 ■
without detriment.
or corina i- required, so fLyj^Hg
no waste.
No. 9.