The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1854-04-05
For the Banner.
Renovation Of the Soil.
To the President and Members ofMl
,Sumter Agricultural association

To the President and Members ofMe
Swmter Agricuitural association
GENTLEMEN: AS Improvement in
every branch of Agriculture is the ob.
Ject which our Association has in view,
deem it proper to address this and
other communications relating to agr-
cultural art or science to you, trusting
The views set forth may lead to the
communication of important facts by
others.
The improvidemcc of the Southern
planter has become almost provcrbial.
He begins by preparing the woodland
Tor the culture Of corn, cotton, Sc. ; at
the end of II few years the fertility of
large part Of his cultivated land has
become exhausted by ncglecting to re
store to il what has annually been alb
strncted by the growing crop. The
remedy for thus has been to lay tasile,
and prepare fresh piece of woodland
tor culture, until, us 1t utteu turns out
in the course ofhiS planting operations,
he has c!card three or four times as
much land rs he annually cult:vatcs. -
Now though it would be better ccnno.
Ssmy to renew regularly in the soil wh;,,
1t loses from year to year in bringing
to maturity the cultivated cgvi., than
20 defer this labor till it has br, ONE
utterly impoverished, and then resort
to sine means OF renovation vet. a,
such economy is so !i,llc pract,ced, we
propose the question t"aay plant,r who
designs clearing AMI substituting nrw
land in place OF what he lEl, exhausted.
Would not the la5or und expencc ot're
tdpating yonr exhausted iand be less
than that Of clearing and prspariny for
culHpaton the same e.etentof wooXun0?
We feel assure! (ih"ngh all planters
have not equally ut c"mulard the ma
terialS for cheap rclovalon) that such
would be the result of actual expert
1ncnt III nine cases ont Of ten, in which
The simple means Of renovation here
after pointed out, are cmrI"yrJ. Both
observation and experiment furnish It's
with a reason for the faith that is in Us,
viz: that, whenever there is sufficient
body OF woodland adjoining or near hy
the cultivated field. and rolted vrgcta.
bic matter may therefore be provided
in sufficient quantity, and at u convent.
ent distance. The renovation If the soil
tn such field is not only practicable,
but attended with less labor and cx
pensc than the preparation ot'thc wood
land for cultivation. In seeking to
effect this end, (renovution,) the plant
cr cannot err in adopting the simple
,:.eans which nature employs with the
same end in view. In the leaves, straw,
bark, &c, with which she annually
covers the surface of the earth, is pro
: -ydcd an ample store Of the food rcpui-
site to sustain tha plants and trees
which grow upon it. They contain the
very ingredients of the natural soil
and ia their decay and decomposition,
evolve whatever elements it may
necessary to return to it in order to re-
store its fertility. Chemical anal ysis
Of the seeds and roots Of cultivated
plants, and Of the leaves, straw, and
bark OF q great variety of trees abund-
antly prove this; and show Us farther,
that i'll the beautiful economy Of ma
ture, the elements oinutrition for plants
exist in these products VIII ch she an
senally returns to :.ho soil, in fur greater
proportion than they do in the bodies
and branches Of trees. What then b y
tho planter to do in order, either to
restore to the soil before it becomes
exhausted, whatever is needed to Sc
cure its fertility, or, to renew the fcrtiI;-
ty Of one which he has exhausted !, but
to draw from the woodland adjoining
his field, n sufficient quantity Of the We
ry material which originally fcrtlizcd
it. !rltis sometimes important to as
certainly al analysis oi'lho soil what
ele'n"ls may be needed to restore it's
fertility. hut We believe rarely hap
pens $thata,liry can be provided as
clieaply in their separate form, as that
lnfwhch they may thus be provided
by.a greater majority Of planters.
Wills therefor. NC rejnico tia, science
pegins to shell its light a,a guide to
the lsntser n his operations, let us no,
"verlYr's or, nader value the plain
trnclinss Of nature because tho truth,
she disclosrs arc no, brought to yiow