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THE SOUTHERN WORLD, SEPTEMBER 15, 1882.
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important duties with which they are
charged. They must push their experimen
tal work. Agriculture as a science is pre
eminently experimental. The same is true
of the art, in this country at least. Here,
where methods and systems of culture are
confessedly imperfect, where new markets
are daily becoming more accessible, where
new Helds are constantly being opened up,
soils exhausted, where forests are disappear
ing and tlie climatic conditions are chang
ing, our husbandry is nothing if not experi
mental. It is the part of the Agricultural
Colleges to lead in this work. In my report
I declared that such work would be the
measure of their success. The farmer has
neither the training, the time, nor the means
for this work. The college in its equipments
and faculty has all. Chemistry is cons'antly
offering to the farmer new feeding stuffs and
fertilizing materials, botany is calling his
attention to foreign economic plants of
great promise. Horticulture is producing
improved varieties of fruits and vegetables
by cross-breeding and selection. Entomology
Is suggesting new means for destroying nox
ious insects, and mechanics perfecting old
or inventing new machinery and imple
ments, and tlie colleges should be the first in
the Held to test these in order to recommend
them or caution the agricultural public
against them. This is not ray unsupported
opinion. The colleges themselves are begin
ning to appreciate the importance of tills
work. When, many years ago, Ohio sent
Klippart, the Secretary of her Board of Agri
culture, to Europe to study the agriculture
of England and the Continent, in order to
determine upon a plan for the organization
of her own, the celebrated Liebig told him
that an agricultural college without experi
mental grounds was simply nonsense. These
were his words: “The object of the agricul
tural college is not simply to teach what is
already known, but to teach a better system
of farming. How will you do this? Cer
tainly not by employing a practical farmer
to manage a model farm for you, for he
knows only what is practiced generally, and
his superior ability will consist simply in
his belter management over the ordinary
farmers. This would be teuching financier
ing and not agriculture. The only method
by which you can possibly advance and de
velop agriculture is by experiment; that is
the only plan, for tiiere is no branch of in
dustry so completely built up by experiment
as agriculture.
One of our ablest agricultural writers, in
a recent article, says: “Tho fruitful idea of
the agricultural experiment station, where
questions of local or general importance are
systematically and thoroughly investigated
under all the lights tlmt science can give,
and when reliable results are directly and
promptly communicated to those interested,
touches the quick of the whole problem of
the agricultural colleges in the United States.
Their importance and usefulness in Europe
in the elaboration and investigation of de
tails is thrown in tlie shade by that which
they should possess in a new country, where
new and untouched problems of the most
vital importance confront the farmer at
every turn, problems whose solution, even
if covered by the general teachings of agri
cultural science, lie far beyond the reach of
any but tho trained investigator provided
with all the means and appliances that mod
ern science can furnish.” Farther on he re
marks that “ the colleges will thus be per
forming the most Important function within
their power, under the circumstances.” I
may mention, in this connection, that I sub
mitted my views to the Board of Trustees of
theUni versi ty of South Carol! na at their meet
ing on Wednesday last, and that they met
with their hearty approval. I received every
assurance tlmt my department would be de
veloped as rapidly as the means at the dis
posal of the Board would allow. I will at
once institute several series of experi
ments. Some will be devoted to our great
staples—taking different modes of prepara
tion, planting, culture and harvesting; dif
ferent varieties and amounts of seed; differ
ent fertilizers, etc. There will be others
with grasses, lucerne, millet, etc., and with
new plants such as teosiute, Sago bean,
dhurrah, etc. New processes like ensilage
will be tried; Improved implements tested,
etc. New kinds of vegetables and small
fruits will be planted and reported upon.
A green-house will be erected where experi
ments in improving plants by selection,
cross-breeding, etc, will be made and where
specimens of valuable foreign and economic
plants will be grown. Apparatus will be
imported from Europe.for testing the purity
and vitality of seeds, and microscopes purch
ased for the study of minute formsof animal
and plant life. The results of the experiments
will be published and distributed among the
farmers of the State. Tests of seeds, botan
ical determinations of unknown plants, and
microscopic examinations will be made for
any farmer without charge, and correspond
ence on agricultural subjects will be wel
comed and receive prompt attention.
And now, gentlemen, the pertinent ques
tion arises, will the farmer avail himself of
the opportunities offered him by the agricul
tural colleges of the country ? Does he ap
preciate, or can he be’made to appreciate the
value of a perfect training for his calling—
the most independent, and yet, the most
difficult followed by man—the one which
requires, for eminent success, acombination
of many different qualities and many forms
of knowlege—one which, if rightfully fol
lowed, taxes the intellectual energies as
severely as it does the physical? But,
above all, can the farmer, in these days of
life and enterprise and progress, when
knowledge is actually power, arming its pos
sessor with weaiions of offense as well as de
fense—when skill goes to the front and igno
rance as surely to the wall—afford to be left
in the rear, isolated, immovable and defence
less? He is already complaining that his
interests are neglected, his burdens increas
ed, that he is not represented in legislative
hails. And yet his is the vote that makes
and unmakes senators and governors. Grant
that from 80 to 80 per cent, of Congressmen
are lawyers, with whom lies the fault ? Does
his vote not send them to the capital, and
more, do they not deserve, generally, to be
there? Are they not fitted by education
and training to lead in legislation? Does
the farmer not admit this by selecting them
for his orators even at Agricultural Fairs
and assemblies, and do not their broad and
liberal culture and trained intellectual pow
ers enable them to play their parts well?
The farmer is a citizen too, and yet, when
sent to Congress his want of training and
of parliamentary knowledge too often de
prives him of all influence save his vote, and
in the perplexities and usages of amend
ments to amendments, and reconsiderations,
even this is sometimes thrown away.
Let him then recognize the duties of his
citizenship, and qualify himself by eduation
and culture to perform them. If he wishes
his intersts protected he must protect them
himself. Let him aspire to the highest posi
tion in the State, not because he is a farmer,
but because he has fitted himself to adorn
them. In a late convention of manufactur
ers, machinists, engineers and men engaged
in otiier technical pursuits, the subject of
tlie best education for young men qualifying
themselves for the various callings was care
fully debated, and it was somewhat remark
able that all the speaker^, by different lines
of argument, finally arrived at the same con
clusion, that for the highest degree of suc
cess a thoroughly liberal education should
precede the technical—that the foundation
should be laid broad and deep so that the
superstructure should not be top-heavy.
They all held that an exclusively technical
training tended to dwarf and narrow and
cramp the faculties, and to make superior
excellence impossible. Hence, experience
tells the farmer to secure first the culture
that will make him worthy of the highest
posts in the State, and that this will but fit
him the better for the technical training that
will insure success in his special pursuit.
I know that many farmers cannot afford to
give their sons such advantages as these, but
they can at least send them to the colleges
where they can get a short course in the
natural sciences which will enable them to
enjoy and profit by the teeming agricultural
literature of the day—the result of our mar
velous agricultural activity. For there has
been a great awakening. The hundreds of
agricultural schools and experiment stations
in this country and Europe, are boldly
attacking the most recondite problems in
husbandry, and by patient and systematic
work, laying broad the foundations of agri
cultural science. The merest acquaintance
with the rudiments of the physical sciences
will, however, protect the farmer from im
position and fraud. The veriest smattering
of chemistry would tell him that a fertilizer
guaranteed to contain nearly 90 per cent, of
8ilicar-and such a compound was boldly put
upon the New England market not to many
years ago, as an insult to his intelligence,
and what is more, sold—was simply worth
less sand. And so with the other sciences.
I have exceeded my limit and multiply
examples. Knowledge, I repeat, is not only
power but protection. Let the farmer but
give the agricultural colleges his patronage,
and they will soon send out into the field a
body of trained and intelligent observers
and workers who will in time build up a
science that will realise the dreams of Liebig
and indeed revolutionise agriculture.
JUgrignltajial §gw*rimetiL
Crops in Hlaslsslppl.
Editor Southern World—This portion of
the cotton belt has been visited by an ex
cessive rainfall, commencing July 0th and
extending to the 13th of August. Cotton, it
is needless to say, suffered severely from
this cause, and a considerable reduction in
estimated yield must be made. Rust has
prevailed to an alarm! ng extent—whole fields
being in some instances ruined by this
plague. Many and vai ious are the causes as
signed for the appearance of rust, but the
secret is simple of solution and lies in the
lack of proper drainage. Rust never appears
upon well .drained soils; if farmers don't
believe it, let them apply practical tests and
be convinced, and knowing the cause, let
the remedy be applied before another crop,
and avoid future loss. Drainage is half the
work in making a crop of cotton, or any
thing else, except, perhaps, certain species
of rice; surface water or extreme dampness
will ruin any crop; then why not commence
at the beginning and do the work thoroughly
and have done with it. No perfect, or even
half satisfactory yearly yields, will be at
tended with any reasonable certainty until
more perfect drainage of our farms is had.
Failure of crops once in every three years
is now a pretty well established fact, and
the cause lies in the want of proper drain
age. Our farmers as a class, rely too much
upon the seasons for crops, fiever for once
making the attempt to assist nature in her
efforts in their behalf. With good drain
age, the land or soil properly is always in
fair condition to reward the farmer, and
with ordinary seasons, good crops are almost
certain on drained lands, while that which
is wanting in this respect, will be a com
plete failure. I am one of those (theorists
perhaps) who believe that fair crops can be
made every year, notwithstanding the season
may be not at all favorable from our stand
point. Many farmers who cultivate their
crops perfectly, frequently are disappointed
at the result and unable to account for fail
ure ; he has it in this fact, lands improperly
or not at all drained. I have studied this
subject closely, and the observations made
are convincing. The South, at least the
greater portion of it, never practicedraining
their farms. I know of no planter in this
valley, who has made the attempt to drain
his plantation since the war, and as a nat
ural consequence, after each heavy rain, the
water stands on the land until absorbed by
the earth or evaporated, and during this
process the crop is scalded badly at the sur
face and its growth checked; this occurring
several times during the growing season, so
damage the crop, that it cannot possibly
give fair rewards for the labor bestowed.
Drain your lands, and my word for it, the
cost will be returned the first crop made and
you will be so pleased with results that you
will continue the practice.
Cotton suffers more from damp weather
and rain, than almost any crop we grow, in
fact you cannot make cotton on low lands
in even moderately wet seasons without
drainage. We have the explanation of two-
thirds of the failures in this crop, in this
simple fact alone. Drains are a little expen
sive, but will more than pay the cost the first
year in increased yield and the saving in ex
pense of cultivation. Drained lands are
easier tilled than undrained, consequently
can be done for less cost.
The cotton plant with us this season has
attained to an immense height, owing to so
much rain; my cotton will average seven
feet, frequently stalks occur that are nine
feet, and when not affected by rust, they are
loaded down with bolls. One would suppose
we planted the “tree” variety from the size,
but cotton ordinarily attains to six feet on
this soil, and frequently has from 150 to 300
boUs. This soil is certainly the finest cotton
soil in the world, and if cotton was made
the surplus crop, this would soon become
tbe wealthiest community of individual
farmers in the world—but alas! we have im
bibed freely of that ruling passion, a love
for cotton that exceeds our love for the true
profession of the farmer; in other words,
we grow cotton as a speculation—we cast our
all upon the throw of the die as in all games
of chance, and like our brother speculators,
“now we see it and now we don't.” Too
much chance work. If, however, we could
bring ourselves down to legitimate farming,
our independence would be assured, for we
are blessed with a soil and climate that will
grow in profitable quantities almost any
crop, and should be par excellence, the Far
mers' Paradise.
The country is healthy, very few fatal
cases of sickness occur; consumption,
Bright’s disease, and the many other chron-
io and fatal diseases are almost unknown
here. Fever and ague constitute our plague,
and while not fatal unless long neglected,
they are very annoying; a little attention to
home comforts, good cistern, water, and or
dinary care of the person, will keep this
away. We have almost every advantage in
market facilities: steamers on tbe Mississippi
river passing every hour, freights are cheap,
markets for every thing a farmer can grow
are good, and I don't see the necessity for
any one to fail to make money, who has en
ergy and enterprise.
Bermuda grass affords the finest pasturage
for stock and makes the finest hay in the
world, yielding one ton per acre at each cut
ting, and is usually mowed three times in
the year, and often four. This grass is a
treasure unless you wish to grow cotton, in
that event it becomes a first-class nuisance.
It grows two feet high, cures easily, and as a
pasture, it will subsist more stock to the
acre than any grass in the world—I make no
exceptiont. It can be thoroughly eradicated
when desirable.
This rambling letter has spun out to a
greater length than intended, so au revoir.
“Stxzlx’s Bayou.”
Mayertville, Miu.
“America’s New Industry.”
Ed. Southern World—Thanking you for
your kind letter, I beg your acceptance of a
box mailed to you with this, containing
specimens of cocoons raised by me, and sam
ple of silk also, of my work. I am glad to
find that you take an interest in an industry
so valuable to the country and so peculiarly
adapted to women and girls. The most del
icate and sensitive females need not shrink
from this work; there is nothing repulsive
or in any way disagreeable connected with
the silk worm. The work is light, pleasant,
remunerative and Intensely interesting; it
takes but six short weeks to raise a crop of
silk ; it is very easily learned, the instruc
tions contained in my "Silk and the Silk
Worm,” being all that is necessary to insure
success. It takes but a small amount of
money to start it, and though it is necessary
to use great care and to pay strict attention
to feeding, cleanliness, etc., it is not labori
ous, nor does it take all the time'of the raiser
to attend to them.* The mother and daugh
ters of a family engaged in raising silk
worms, need not devote their whole time to
this work, nor neglect their household du
ties.
The South is better adapted to the indus
try perhaps, than any other section of the
country; two, and even three crops of silk
can be raised in almost any of the Southern
States, climate and soil unite in being
adapted to raising both the silk worm and
its food—the mulberry and the Osage orange,
the best silk producing foods known are
easily cultivated and will grow anywhere.
We have nearly, if not over three hundred
silk mills now in operation in the country.
1 Markets are open for the purchase of co
coons, reeled silk, silk worm eggs, etc., and
now we want the raisers; it only needs en
couragement to start the waiting thousands;
let them know that it costs but a trifle to
start with; that “failure” is almost an im
possibility ; that it is a most pleasant and
agreeable occupation, and "thatitwlll pay,’’
and we will soon be able to retain at home,
some of the millions of dollars now sent
abroad by our silk manufacturers—not be
cause the silk raised in this country is infe
rior to that Imported, for it is well known
that our native silk fully equals, and in many
cases excels that raised in foreign countries,
but because we have not raisers enough at
home to supply the demand. Now is the
time to gain the needed instruction; now
the time to secure the eggs or seed for the
next spring crop. I will do all in my power
in the way of giving information to all
those interested, while my little book at 25
cents per copy can be reached by all. I give
information free at any time, requiring only
a stamp for reply.
I am prepared to fill orders for my book
and for reliable silk worm eggs of the best
breeds at the lowest market prices, and I so
licit correspondence from all peirts of the
Southin connection with the “new indus
try.”
In conclusion, I would again thank you
for your kind letter, and hoping that the co
coons and silk will prove an attraction and
excite an interest among the lovers of na
ture and her works who may visit you, I beg
to remain your sincere friend and well-
wisher, Nellie Lincoln Rossitrr,
Philadelphia, Pa. Silk Cnlturist