The Gonzales inquirer. [volume] (Gonzales, Tex.) 1853-current, 1854-03-25
Prairie Lands.

L.
A Mississippi correspondent Of the Southern
Cultivator, throws out the following sugges.
tons which will be Of benefit perhaps to our
farmers
But these lands, says the writer referred to,
under the system of culture that Is now prac.
ticed in this section of the country--and pre-.
sumo ia pretty much the same In other sec.
tions of the country--will become every year
less productive, less certain in cropping---morc
compact and gluey in their nature and, in my
opinion, more subject to the rayages Of the
boll-worm, insects, rust, and tho thousand.
and.one calamities that cotton ia heir to. And
this system of culture is nothing more nor less
than the understanding or skinning sys.
TEN, practiced, generations ago, by our fore.
fathers, and which has prostrated, and laid
waste so many rich and fertile tracts of land
in this highly favored country of ours. Blu,
our ancestors are not 80 much chargcable for
their blind ignorance Of the art Of cultivation
as the farmers Of modern days; for, at thai
remote period, education was in the embryo
agricultural science unthought Of and unknown
and nothing familiar to the farmer but his ri
tle; the bound Of q majestic deer across his
pathway; or the yell of prowling savage
lurking around his forest-home. -
1t is conceded, by all scientific and practical
farmers, that shallow cultivation nc. only ex-
hausts the elements of fertility, and irnpoyer-
shcs a soil, but is less remunerating 10 the
planter. Knowing these facts, why still cling
to the old understanding systemf Why
not abandon 1t at once, and plough like Paddy,
"sock IL i'm up to the bameS' The practice
Of ploughing these lands when they arc toe
wet has done more injury than any one error
the prairie planter is guilty Of in managing
this soil. Lands thus prepared, become hard
and iinpervious, and seem TO loose their vitali
ty. Cotton and corn mako poor progress in
growth, become stuntcd, and look yellow and
sickly. as If a winters blast had swept ovo,
the fields, The young plant never rallies un.
I'll the warm rays Of tropical sun begins tc
crack the rock isko earth, and lot tho roots
down where they can meander in search o
nourishment,
On the contrary, if tho planter viii exercise
little prccau,ion, and plough his lands when
they are dry, and in proper condition 60,
ploughing they will work loose, mellow, and
easy, all the year, and the cotton will grow
luxurianily, almost without one drop Of ram
One moro error, and that Is this; the uni
vcrsal custom Of burning cotton and corr
stalks, and every other vegetable matter thai
may be upon tho land This custom was In
practice "a far back as have any recollec,iot
Of farming. and IL still continued II h moth
ing uncommon 10 hear farmers complaining o
their lands running together, and becon,us
sticky and glucy and Il II owing 10 the los
of vegetable matter, or humus Ia the soil.
They viii find after knocking down the costos
and ecrn stalks. ploughing them under, ans
Incorporating them with the soil, this dsfec
viii soon lc eorrected; snd they will iins
their lands viii plough much, easier and better
and tho bess Is, they win produce better. an,
last always.