Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-05-25
farmers Sf(istellaltg!
The .s American Farmers Magazine

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The +" American Farmers Magazine."
From this well-filed monthly, published
and. edited by j. A. NASH, Ann Street, New
York, at S! year, we give our readers this
week two or three interesting articles. The
first to which we invite their attention is,
Good and bad Farming.
If there be what our heading indicates,
then it is owing to the fact that there are
good and bad farmers. Did the earth bring
forth spontaneously, in all ATTITUDES and To-
calities, then there would be no occasion to
speak of good farming and bad farming, nor
of pood farmers and bad farmers, for there
would be nothing to do but to gather the
spontaneous productions Of the earth. But
this is not SO; for it has beef decreed TO
man, that by the sweat OF his face ne snouia
eat bread. This implies labor, whose appli..
cation and direction constitutes the principal
difference between good and bad farming.
Por the same sun shines, the same deWs dis
Ri the same showers descend, the same
breezes sweep over the plains OF the bad
farmer that do over the acres OF the good.
The lstter ia diligent, methpdical, skilfol aud
enterprising, while the former is wanting IN
all these, and more, for he is a slotlful man,
whose portrait is so wildly drawn in an old
oriental volume well known to our readers.
The good farmer takes care to have plenty
of FORAGE, for without forage he can keep no
cattle. no horses, no COWS. Grass lands, both
for hay and pastures, are indispensable; and
ro.,t crons are also essential to aid in feeding
live stock. Besides these, wheat, barley,
buckwheat, oats, rye, and corn, must oe pro-
duced to feed and sustain man.
But saws the bad farmer, wealth IS the se-
cret of success with my neighbor, the go0d
farmer. lie has inherited money, or else las
made it in other business, and Cali therefore
outdo one who has Inherited nothing anu
made nothing but what be has got oil from
the farm. This ,nay be true i'll your ense,
Willie it may he also with many we'll to.ao
farmers Remember, IL is good farming tust
pays Bad never does. SO tar Is II from
this, that 1t not only fails to pay, but i'hpoV-
erishes him who is engaged III II. No uiah
can afford to raise seven bushels of rye per
acre. or ten bushels of wheat, fifteen OF oats
or barley, twenty Of corn, &C., while good
farmers produce of wheat and rye each from
thirty to sixty bushels per acre, eighty OF
oats, and seventy-ive to one hundred OF corn,
and two or three hundred Of potatoes.
No wonder that bad farming leads ulti-
,nately to the abandoning of the business, be-
cau.e it does not pay. True, it does not pay,
never did for any length of time, and never
will. There are no more independent peo-
ple in the world than good farmers, and lew
moro miserable, dependent and wretched
than bad farmers. 1t is the purpose OF every
pbilanthropic man, and more especially IS 1t
10 with those who conduct the press, to
greatly multiply the latter class by diminish
ine the former. Then shall good farming he
the rule, and bad farming the exception; May
rfied NJ. NJ.
There is much good sound reasoning in
the above hints on good and bad iarmlng'
We now give something from the same jour
nal, Of more scientific nature, and which
should be thoroughly understood by every
tiller of the soil.
Chemistry of Agriculture.
SJda.-This alkali, in various combinations,
exists in all soils and manures, and constitutes
a part of the food of all plants, more OF some,
and less of others.
/. Chloride of Sodium, Common SALT has
in many districts decidedly tertllizlng lnflu-
ence. A small quantity of salt is absolutely
necessary to the growth Of crops. Its bene-
fit, as fertilizer, on any particular field, de-
pends upon whether the soil already contains
sufficient of it for if it does, then more is
not required by the plants of an ordinary ro-
tation but if not, the addition of little
will produce an increased growth OF crops.
The question, whether soil contains sufi-
cient of it, may be decided by analysis; but
pretty good judgment may be formed, by
the location. Insular situations, and regions
along the coast, not more than eighty or a
hundred miles inland, are supplied with it in
the spray from the sea. Hence, it is usually
found that for ordinary crops, salt is not as
beneficial near the sea as farther inland.
Another indication may be obtained from
observing the crops, particularly the cereals.
If the straw in any given region is feeble, not
we'll glazed, inclined to lodge, it is an indica.
tion,Snot a certain proof by any means,-
but an indication, that salt does not exist in
sufficient quantity in the soil. When this
indication is observed, it would be worth
while, at least, to try the effect Of salt.
True, it is not salt that forms the glazing
of straw. Silica is the substance which forms
the glazing; but some alkali is requisite to
render the silica soluble; and the soda in salt
has been found by practical farmers to answer
this purpose. Abstract science may have
suggested the probability that such would be
l,,S ~, in
other cases, has confirmed the theory. In
England, where science has taught, aud prac-
tical men have experimental more accurate
ly, perhaps, than in any other country, the
farmers hnve long believed that the effect oi
a small application OF salt is to stitien the
straw, and thus to enlarge the kernei'and
render it less liable to blast.
Salt destroys small weeds; where deficient
in the soil, it improves the quality OF pas
lures, rendering the iced more palatable to
animals; probably, under the same circum-
stances, it would improve the quality and in
crease the quantity of hay from NOW lands;
it is said by some to destroy worms, and
while this is denied by others, the probabil-
ty is that neither are quite right, that the
truth lies somewhere between, that it cannot
be relied upon as a destroyer of worms, but
that it does nevertheless diminish their rava.
ges.
The effects of salt vary on different plants.
We have often experimental with it on NOW
land. One trial was, to scatter salt along
narrow strip of moving, only few feet
wide, in the spring, and then to watch for
the effect. Another was to scatter it along
such line, very thickly at first then less as
we passed on, ending with the least possible
quantity. The result was, that where there
was the most, the grass was killed outright;
where the least was sowed, there was no
visible effect; but there was in every case an
intermediate point, where the grass was bet
ter than where no salt was applied. This
was on a light loan, that had not been ma
nured highly, about hundred miles from
4Lo CON hnord Two conclusions were admia-