Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-03-18


some useful hints:
"The truth which am most anxious to
impress is, that no poor man can afford to
be poor farmer When I have recon-
mended agricultural Improvements, | have
often been told this expensive farming will
do well enough for rich people, but we who
are in moderate circumstances can't afford
it. Now, it is not ornamental farming that
| recommend, but profitable farming. 1t is
true that the amount of Il mans capital
must fix the limit of his business; in agri-
culture as in everything else. But, howev-
er poor you may be, you can afford to cul-
tivatc land well, if you can afford to cult
vate it at all. 1t may be out of your pow
er to keep large farm in a high state of
cultivation, but you should sell a part of it:
and cultivate asmal one. fyouare poor
man, you cannot afford to raise small crops;
you cannot afford to accept half crop from
land capable of yielding a whole. If you
are poor man, you cannot afford to fence
two acres to secure the crop you ought to
grow on one; YOU cannot afford to pay
or lose the interest IN the cost of 100
acres Of land. to get the crops that will grow
OH 80 acres. No man can afford to raise
20 bushels of corn per acre, not even if the
land were given. him, for 20 bushels per
acre will not pay the cost of the miserable
cultivation that produces it.
No poor man can afford to cultivate his
land in such @ manner as will cause it to
deteriorate in value. Good farming i'm
proves the value of land, and the farmer
who manages his Arm so as TO get the lar
gest crop it is capable Of yielding, incrca-
ses It's value every year.
"No farmer can afford to produce weeds
They grow, to be sure, without cultivation: :
they spring up spontaneously on all land.
and especially rich land but though they
cost no toll. 4 farmer can't afford to raise
them: the same elements that fed them,
would, with proper cultivation, nourish a
crop, and no farmer can afford to expend on
weeds the natural wealth which was be-
slowed by Providence to fill his granaries.
am accustomed, my friends, to estimate
the christianity of the localities through
which | pass, by the absence of weeds on or
about the farms. When see one covered
with gigantic growth of weeds, take it
for granted that the owner is hcathen, a
hereto, or an inidel; Christian he cannot
be, or he would not allow the heritage which
God gave him to dress and keep, to be so
dcformcd and profancd. And to make an
application of the above remark. lmust say,
there is much missionary ground between
New York and Buffalo, Nature has been
hountiful to you, but there is great need of
better cultivation. To prevent the growth
Of weeds, is equivalent to cnriching your
land with manure; for to retain in it the
elements Of which crops are formed, is as
profitable as to bring them there 1t is bet
ter that weeds should not grow at all: but
when they exist, and YOU undertake to de-
stroy them, it is economy to gather them up
and carry them to your barn yards and con-
vert them into manure You will in this
manner restore to your farms the fertility
of which the weeds had drained it.
Farmers cannot afford to grow a crop
on soil that docs not contain the natural
elements that enter into its composition.
When you burn vegetable, a large part of
its bulk passes away, during the process of
combustion, into the air. Eut there is al
ways residue of mineral matter, consisting
of lime, potash and other ingredients, that
entered into its composition. Nov the plant
drew these materials out Of the Garth, and
if You attempt to grow that in soil that is
deficient in these ingredients, you arc dri-
wing an unsuccessful business. Nature does
not make vegetables out of nothing, and<,
YOU cannot expect 10 take crop after crop
off from a field that does not contain the
elements of Which it is formed. If you
wish to maintain the fertility of Your farms,
you must constantly restore to them the
materials which are Withdrawn in cropping.
No farmer can afford to sell his ashes. You
annually export from western New York a
large amount OF potash. Depend upon it.
there is nobody in the world to whom it is
worth so much as it is to yourselves. You
can't afford to sell, but q farmer can well af.
ford to buy ashes at a higher price than is
paid by anybody that does not wish to use
them as tertiiscr of the soil Situated as
the farmers Of this country are, ntlle neigh
borhood of city that burns large quanti-
ties of wood for fuel, you should make it
part of your system Of farming, to secure
the ashes itproduces. When your teams
60 into town with loads of wood, it would
cost comparatively little.to bring back loads
of ashes and other tcrtiliscrs, that would
improve the productivcncss of your farms.
'No poor farmer can afford to keep poor
fruit trees that do not beargood fruit. Good
fruit is always valuable, ard should be
raised by the farmer, not only for market,
but for large consumption in his own family.
AS more enlightened views of diet prevail, |
fruit is destined to supplant the excessive
quantities of animal food that arc consumed
in this country. This change will produce
better health, greater vigor of body, activity
of mind, and elasticity of spirits; and /
cannot doubt that the time will come when
farmers, instead of putting down the larger
quantities of meat they DO at present. will
give their attention in autumn to the pre-
ssrvation Of large quantities of excellent
fruit, for consumption as a regular article
of diet, the early part of the following sum-
mer. Fruit will not then appear on the ta-
bic as it does now, only as dessert after
dinner, but will come with every meal, and
be reckoned a substantial aliment.
CHINESE SUGAR CORN!
UST received and for sale large supply of
81 this excellent Corn Call soon