The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1838-11-02
AGRICULTURAL.
IMPROVEMENT OF LAND.

modes Of improving land, perhaps II will
first be proper to mention those practices
which have combined TO produce It's d. struc.
tion-ln order that farmers may more
clearly see the proprIety of abandoning
them, and OF adopting he modes to be pro
posed for lis renovation and improvement.
The first cause, or the foundation of all
the practices which have evidently ten
ded to the lmpoverishment Of our lands,
has arisen from a misconceptioB IN farmers
as 10 the true business OF agriculture.
IL should never be forgotten, that II Is
the Office Of agriculture, as an art, To I'm.
prove. instead OF impover,sh land. W as tins
principle duly Impressed 90 the mind aud
properly attended to, II would soon change
the face OF the country, from sterlhty 10
fruuiulness, and bes,o~ upon It's cult,vaiors
plenty and happiness, instead OF misery and
want. Arts Improve the work of nature.
When they IMPURE II, they are not arts, but
barbarous customs. 1t is the business Of
agriculture, as an art, not to ImpoverIsh,
but to erlllIze the soil, aud make 1t more
useful than 10 ITS natural state. FROM this
we discover that farmers have for tao cen.
turIes pas, been pursuing agriculture, no,
as AZ art, bu, barbaruus custom tor Il l.
fact, that lands IN their natural state, are
far more valuable, than those which have
undergone the habit OF agriculture. of which
eml2ratiOns are complete proofs
Unless farmers are fully Impressed with
the necessity of atteu1ing to the principle,
that {" It IS the business OF agriculture Ia im
prove, INSTEAD If IInpOvensh land" II viii
b. needless to point oui any modes OF I'm
proving land, as they would be- dlsregarded
and neglected, as they have heretofore been.
Il Is high time for farmers to rescue their
profession from that decline aud degra daiipn
under which Is has so long langulshed and
10 CONSIDER and pursue II as an art capable
OF the highest Improvement, and not ouly
worthy Of their attention, but of the talents
and attalnments of our wiscst men.
The system Of ,iIage ahlch has general.
~ been pursued under the name of tn.
three shit, ~ stem, has also tended greatly
TO the DESTRUCTION OF our lands. This SIS
TEN Is indlan corn, wheat pasture under II,
the great body of the farm receives ~
manure, and 20 rest and the result Is,
that the phrase {" the land is killed and musi
b. turned out, has become comman over
great portion Of the United States.
u will be granted b. every reader, that
boin Indian corn and wheat are exhausi.ng
crops; there can, Of course, remain no
doubt, but that this system tmpoveushes
land 40 years 10 three. The only question
then Is, whether this loss viii he cotnpen.
saied. by grazing the field bare during the
third year. From whence Is this recon
pense TO come The ground beng loose
and open by recent tlllage, aud unprotected
By strong sward, IS exposed to all the N
Jury the tooth and the hoof can luAlct. The
stock are turned In-all vegetation IS eat
OF, and The ground is "trod to death" by
which IT'S pores are closed 10 all refreshments
from the atmosphere, ana ITS naked surface
exposed 10 the heat of summers sun.
which is able TO pierce aud pxprl from 1t
sell. The same land Is again put 10 corn, /
and undergoes the same 81 stem of tIIage, |
W NhHh 10 Sbpi u"s'tU1eu' MS 4
three shift system has only one merit hon. /
esty. 10 theory II promises to kli our /
lands; IN practice 1t fuihls It's PROMISE
The neglect Of manures. Nothing has /
more betrayed a want either Of industry or ,
OF agricultural skill among farmers, than .
their great neglect Of manures. lnsrrad ut .
pursuing the only rational mode for having
a flourIshng system Of agrlcuture,-iha,
Of giving Ia the earth az much OF more than /
they take from II they have, on the con
trsry, continued to extract exhausi,ng crops /
from he earth almost every year, without
bes'o~ing up"n It hardly one dust Of manure
10 return. Under such system AS this,
II" richest grogBd in the world would finally
be Impoverished and rendered unprpduclve.
lnJpdielnus culture. As tnuch land has been
more speedily DESTROYED by washing, arls
ing ifon inJodIcIous culture, as per haps from
any other Cause whatever. II W. cast out
eyes over The country, we shall find that all
hIliy ianhs that hsse been any time IN cul
tIyaitnn, are sterile. not 20 much BIS the
crops cultivated thereon, a. by the soil ITSELF
being removed by Washing. This evil hs.
|fncipally arisen from the practice Of shall
ploughIng. If ever a material refor.