Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-07-30
:farmer's 9epartmfat.
ERRORS OF CULTURE.

There Is, no doubt, much ISnt SleaHllNS
in the agricultural sky, and yet there is
scarcely enough to see the remaining dark
spots. If borticulturists would learn to give
a good and valid reason for all their opera
tions, there would surely be more light
We know that cultivators do give reasons
for their work, and reasons no doubt satls-
factory to themselves but men who never
read are very apt to come to wrong conclu-
sions. Habit and early education are very
hard to overcome. The farmer believes in
in deep blowing because it will make the
soil permeable for the roots of plants, but
error is in the time of the deep plowing. 1t
is radical error to plow or hoe any crop
deeply that sends out surface roots in quest
of food and moisture, for it is through the
mouths of these delicate fbres that the plant
is sustained, and for every fibre broken or
mutilated, the plant is set back in its growth
in proportion. To suppose that it does corn
good to break the surface roots, is as ridicu-
lous' as to suppose man benefited by trim
ming off his legs or arms. We once knew
man to recommend breaking down onion
tops 20 make them bulb. When the tops
we're nearly grown, he took pole and broke
them all fiat to the ground. Now, this man
did not look into the philosophy of the thing.
The onion lived Notwithstanding its mutia-
ton, and the seed bud being broken off, it
made bulb in spite of the beating. Now,
had the seed bud been carefully piuched
out, and the stalk encouraged to grow just
as large as possible, on the maturity of the
plant, the descending juices of the stalk
would make the bulb. Therefore the larger
and sounder the stalk, the larger and finer
the bulb. What reason or philosophy is
there in climate as hot and dry as this, in
planting Irish potatoes in hills ? when-they
require all the moisture they can get. What
reason or philosophy in taking the earth
from the roots of corn to make a mound
around the stalk ? 1t is fatal error to
plant tree deeper than it originally stood
in the ground. 1t would be equally as fatal
TO raise mound around standing tree. It
is.an error to cultivate flowers as they were
fruit or vegetables. A plant that is only
cultivated for its bloom, should only be
highly stimulated after its bloom buds have
| set.
There is great damage done in the gar
den by the injudcious use of the hoe. Beds
in the garden should never be elevated
above the walks, except in very wet lccali'
ties, for in dry weather the moisture from
the bed will sink to a level with the walks.
Workers in the soil have for ages misap'
piled manures, under the false impression
that the fertilizing qualities leachcd down:
ward. Manures, instead of being placed
where the roots of plants could. find, and
feed upon their gases, have been placed
upon the surface, where their gasses were
dissipated in the atmosphere. We're the
errors of culture properly remedied and ba'
sed upon scientific, natural principles, the
same labor now bestowed upon the earth's
culture, would feed and clothe population
more than twice as large.
ToADs.-Never destroy the toad. We
are assured that "nothing is made in van
ity," and very slight knowledge of natural
history will show us that even the toad-the
most universally deprecated of all reptiles,
perhaps, with the exception of the viper
may be of some use. In the first place we
discover that toads feed on all kinds of grubs
and worms; consequently they serve to pro-
tect the vegetable kingdom from the raVages
of its most insidious and destructive foes
The pestiferous canker worm, is a favorlte
food with him, and he devours, indiscrimi-
nately, all kinds of garden grubs and in
large numbers, for his dilating powers, and
capacity of deglutition almost rival those of
the anaconda. Craving only the protection
of turf or chip, he labors necessarily for
mans benefit, and demands for his invalua-
BILE services no guerdon as a reward.
The autipathy cherished by some towards
the toad, is the consequence of perverted
views, and should be corrected. In itself it
is source of misery to those by whom it is
indulged, and the cause of cruelty to the in
nocent and unoffending. Hence it is dis
grace to our nature, which, illuminated by
the divine scintillations Of science, should
see beyond the binding mists of prejudice,
and recognise the wisdom and goodness of
Providence even in its most abject creations.
Cowper, the poet of nature, discourse admir-
ably upon this subject.