The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-09-28
"A q Z i Gu L. r u RIA L.
From the American Cotton Planter.

tratag this nret,nn,,t trntb a lossnn
in ayricnl,n ~ Isarnod from fothor
forty vears 400 Is oftcn nrocticed Lv
.fba sdr, lonn ofter wiser hao1s b,re
d;scorded ;t'as more thon smsn,oss If
wa woul,l nr,ctice tba morol ,os
sons to,,oht Fus bv orr norents Will,
onlv half tho ner,inacitv with uh;oh
we cling 10 their errors IN f,rming wo
should be- made hammer md b.,
ter*men
There is n class of f,r,,ors fe,r,u
nately for our reputation not 50 nm
merous now os firtv vnnrs .onI who
turn up their sc]cconceited nos7s ~ cv.
Bcry mention Of improvements in oori.
culture rs The result Of scientific in.
vestication. It is mdicrous indeed
&c soc WITH what ho,v horror ,bcv turn
up their ewes at the nero mention of
an agricultural paper and if YOU talk to
them about the chemical analysis
of plants and soils. OF gasses and the
like, YOU almost throw them into
spasms.-Not long ago, an appeal to
one of these stubborn wiscacres in bc.
half of the :.southern Cnltiva,or," par.
ticularly recommending it rs under the
editorial management "f Dr. lee ono
of the ablcst chemists of the duy was
answered thus: cdr. Lee be -
what does he know about cultivatinu
corn ard cotton? But h, never plough,
ed Il day in his life" And what is
most provoking, these ultr;i wise gen
tIemen actually believe that the
whole world-a very few excepted
agree with them that shook farming"
as they facetiously term it. is tic
very supreme of the ridiculous!
But, M. Editor, I must to my task;
which is to detail, substantially. q con.
rersation which | had, not long since
with an old gentleman, nv ncighbor,
who has been cultivating the soil nj.
remittinely for the last Sixty or sew.
enty years. He was sitting on his
fence and inspecting about a dozen
of plows, preparing to plant corn.
eGood morning, neighbor c." said
/; :spreparing to plant corn. | suppose"
eyes" he replied; 'doirg something
of the sort" "Weli," added, don't
you. think your plow ure running ra,h-
eli too shallow!" "Not at all, not at
ill. Inever suffer my land to be
ploughed deep; twould ruin it, sir, ruin
it." "You astonish me, ncichbor
c." said |; shave been taught that
deep ploughing is one of the very best
means of preserving INV land; and that
it even makes it more productive"
Gall q, mistake, sir, if you want
your land to wash away Joduciously,
plow it deep add you'll soon have
none to plow." "But, my dear Sir"
said ], rather testify, ''surely small
quantity of floose earth is more easily
washed away than larger and deep
or mass, and the deeper your loose
earth is the more water it will absorb
before it begius to run off, "All a
mistake, sir" he continued; 'depcnd
upon it, it's all mistake. Now look
at Muggume,y's (N1ontgomery) farm;
he plows deep, and what has he made
by ,it?'' GA better farm than either
yours or mine,' replied |. This rath.
er settled the old gentleman, aud
he brought the conversation to q close
by intimating that 81 had better
buy Muggumery's plantation then"
Now, this old gentleman, Doctor, is
q type of a class unfortunately, even
yet, too numerous amongst us; and
fear it will require much time and Ia
Dor to make the number much less.
There is prejudice "a very silly one
to be surrey against what is called 'book
farming" and consequently, agains
agricultural periodicals. And am sor-
ry to add, that while | regard this
prejudice, in the extent TO which it
is carried, as not only weak and
foolish, but fatal to all rapid improve
ment, it has yet some foundation in
tuth. The cacoeMes scribendi, or some
less innocent motive, too often leads
our brethren OF the plow to give
through our agricultural journals, the
result of their crude experiments be-
fore they have been thoroughly tried.
No experiment in agriculture can be