Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1838-05-24
From the Genacsscc Farmer.
OF SOILS TO DETE-

y
a certain proportion fit for the purposes of
vegetation; and every particle taken from
the soil, sensibly lessons this quantity. The
result thcreforanlnust be. tina, continual
cropping will reUuce the best soils to barren
ness, until, where circumstances admit, ma
ture by her gradual method of repairing
wrongs. imparls degree Of fertility. Il
is however, possible. to contract this ten
dency to sterility in soils; to proven, the
exhaustion of the qualities necessary 10 sup
port vegetable life; and the difference be-
tween good and bad farming, or proper and
improper cultivation, may he determined
mainly by reference TO this single result.
In this country we can hardly form n
correct idea from any thing around us. of
the frightful barrenness to which fertile
soils may be reduced by improper manage
ment. Cultivation is here SO young, that
had il been of the worst description it
would hardly have been possible TO have
exhausted SO soon the treasures that had for
centuries been accumulating in our soils.
Still there are examples in the u. States,
where soils have nearly reached that point
from which a restoration to fertility is i'm
practicable. Soils uf a siireuus nature, or
those that are inclining 10 sand. arc tho most
easily and quickly reduced. OF this the
southeast part Of Massachusetts, and pats
OF the Southern States at the present time,
and parts of Long Island as it was some
thirty Yeas ago, furnish striking proof
When cultivated without rcgurd to c0nsc-
quences, the nutritivc part of such soils is
quickly exhausted; the little vegetation pro-
duccd is not sufficient to prevent the burn
lug effect of the sun; the roots Of the grass
es are unable to fix and bind the soil: il be-
comes loose and floating; plants roo, them
at last what was once a fertile plain be-
comes sandy waste. where cultivation is
impossible.
1t is in the old world that this process of
determination may he the most clearly trac-
cd. 10 rcnovate, seems To have formed no
part OF the ancient profession Of sricul,urc
III all tho writings of antiquity there is
scarcely hint that manuring, or in any
way improving cultivated lands, was prac-
tiscd 10 any extent. Now and then. where
nature had set the example of impar,inc
fertility by the annual overflow of rivers,
man inclined SO far to initiate her works,
and irrigation for ameliorating land was
frequently adopted. But this was about
the extent OF ancient attempts ut improved
cultivation, and the result has been such rs
might confidently have been predictcti.-
The regions of the East that two or three
thousand years since were as the garden of
Eden for beauty and fertility, have gradu-
ally become sterile and worthless; and tracts
oi country that once supported a thriving
ana industrious pOpulation have from the
action OF the causes alluded to above. be-
come deserts, in which the solitary camel
can scarce find shadow Of vegetation to
supply his easily satisfied wants. Meso-
potomia; parts Of Syria and Palestine
Edon, and parts Of Arabia Felix; MANY
parts OF the north Of Africa; and no incon
siderable portion OF Asia Minor have Tins
become hopelessly barren. The finest of
wheat can now no longer be grown on the
plains where once the reaper filled his arms
with the yellow shcavcs. They were cease
lessly cropped, until the soil was so exhaus-
ted, that the unaided efforts Of nature were
unable to restore fertility. and the result is
perpetual barrenness.
10 counteract the tendency 10 stcrilitv is
tho business OF the farmer; and OH the pos
slbillty Of doing this, rests the xholc sys-
TEN Of improved agriculture. Science has
here come to the all Of the cul,ivator of the
soil, aud by revealing tho agents and pro-
moters of fertility has greatly assisted and
simplified tho process without which nll
would be still doubtful aud uncertain The
action of manures has been ascerrained: the
value and activity ofthc various salts formed
ny tho decomposition Of animal and vcgc-
table matter i'll part determined; The aid |
which the mineral earths afford vegetation
has been carefully examined; and those |
combinations Of soil the best calculated IN |
induce fertility has been accurately invcs. |
tigated. 1t has been shown that to take
from the soil, without making correspond
ing returns. is suicidal policy: and that if
this point is properly attended to, land can |
be cropped without danger of deterioration.
Manure then, is the sheet anchor of the !
farmer. 1t is to this source of fertility he /
must look for the renovation of the soil. and
the means Of continued productivoncss.-
And it is 10 manurcs produced from Ills
fields, from his herds and his ilocks, from
decaycd vegetable and animal matter, that
he must look for this result. These are the
true fertilizins ingredients; and though 9th.
CIR agents may be useful as exciting these
to action, yet these NAV be considered az
constituting the food Of plants, the cause of
growth and nutrition. The application of
the exciting mineral manurcs, such as lime
and gypsum, is productive of the Lappiest
effects, for the reason assigned above; vel
they are not SO absolutely essential TO the
impro, ement Of the soil as those that bav.
vegetable or animal origin. Matter which
has once lived, which has already taken The
forms Of organized life, is more easily ASST
inflated than that which has never UNDER
gone such change. 1t is tho Office of the
vegetable 10 take the crude atoms of matter
as they exist in the soil, and prepare them
for tho support of animal life; and when
this has once been done, though partial
decomposition may have been effected, a
al r,f h., 10 |