Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1853-03-09
fornrcr5 peportment,
EXPERIMENTAL FARMING.
BY SILAS BRow.i.

vi ESSRS. EDlTORS. HIS VIII Coul)aTc
with experimental religion; no religion is
genuine but experimental religion; and so it
is with farming. Our greatest theorists in
10th, sometimes run into the regions of
moonshine aud are deceived by trusting to
effected light.
The chemist may ana We the soil on my
farm and discover the deficiencies which are
required to constitute good soil, and point
out the ingredient or ingredients which are
wanting Theoretically, aud go to work
practically, and fluid my land unproductive
as before; or he may ana we the soil in one
situation, and find it totally deficient Of an
element which abounds plcntifAlly at little
distance from the soil aualyzed. Many OF
our farmers have soils varying every few
rods, and what wo2ld prove IL suitable in.
gredient in the manure for one place would
be worthless applied to another.
We dug well a few years ago for the
accommodation of my barn animals; after
removing the soil at the surface, we entered
quicksand which continued 10 the hott"m
If the well, and proved so troublesome by
flowing into it and filling it up, that had a
new one dug about so feet distant from the
other; there after removing the soil, we
came upon hard, compact clay gravel, which
continued to the bottom, and WIS n 'kt d
up alta greatly increased expense over dig
ring the fist well here was an illustration
OF the change of soils worth noticing. In
this neighborlood the changes from clay to
sand may frequently be seen; bricks have
been made within Il few rods of sandy
soil without the least appearance OF clay.
Thus analyzing soil in any one location
will not truly represent the different lnca
tons on Il farm, or point ont the different
ingredients required to enrich them, and
atlerall, the only thing to be relied on is the
practical application of different kind of
substances to the soil, and decide experiment
tally which is hest All farmers know that
clay with sand, or mud with sand, will i'm
prove the soil but it is very difficult for
farmers to go Into critical aLlyzatons Of
soils, even by the help of Il chemist, bat with
double success.
1t appears to me to be difficulty ap.
preaching an impossibiity, that the best
practical chemist can give directions 10 the
farmer how to prepare his manure TO suit
his different kinds of soils, and fit them 10
produce different kinds of crops, with any
precision. The farmer, after all, has got to
learn by fair trial and accurate observa.
ton, how to enrich lis land and fit it for
any particular crop. As a general rule, in
the application of manure, perhaps ii would
be the best way to follow the example of
the poor traveller, who got destitute of
money, and was obliged to exercise his wits
to pursue his journey, and understanding the
gulibility Of "poor human nature" he con-
cluded to make an attack upon it in its most
vulnerable part, and pronounced himself IL
doctor; he soon found a patient and prom
iSed cure; IA matter Of course with cer-
tain benevolent people who have a single
eye to the benefit Of others, and double
one at the contents Of their money purses J
the next thing was which way to go to
work to do it. At length he hit upon a
plan like one who suddenl awakes from a
revery, and with true Yankee shrewdncss, he
went out into the fields and gathered every
kind of herb that came it, his way and said
1t was very strange if some one among
them would not be 4 suitable remedy for the
disease Of his patient.
believe, with the limited state of our
knowledge, that in the preparation and ap.
plication of manures, the better way would
be to make compound Of every substance,
vegetable or mineral, which would have Il
tendency to benefit any kind of soil, and
like the doctors prescription, it would be
very strange if some of the ingredients
should not prove of the right kind.
Wilmington, Jan. 1853