The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-12-19
Change in Southern Agriculture.

Change i'm Southern Agriculture.
Under the system of slave labor, it
was thought, and it may have been
so, that it was the interest of the
Southern planter to raise cotton al
most exclusively, and buy his bread
stuffs and provisions elsewhere We
always thought this was an error,
even under the old system; but now
that plantations and farms have to
be cultivated with free. labor. it is
absolutely necessary that there should
be diversity Of crops. The South
ern people must make their own
breadstuffs and provisions; other
wise. they cannot make cotton grow
ing profitable, and will be pinched
for the necessary amount Of subsist-
ence.
The experience of thousands will
testify to the truth Of these state
ments; and yet it is to be feared that
ethousands will rush headlong into the
cultivation of cotton, to the exclu-
sion of other important crops, hop
ing that the price of the staple Will
more than remunerate them for their
departure from the above-named
policy.
In this connection. we notice that
the Commissioner of Agriculture has
in his report some suggestions which
are worth reproducing:
sit is evident that the diversified
ton of farm industry must be ap-
piled to recognized Southern agri-
culture, with notifications such as
climate and soil may indicate; and
while cotton, as is hoped and be-
heved, will ever be prominent crop,
and sure reliance for immediate
cash returns, it will never again over
shadow and dwarf other interests
essential to permanent success in
agriculture. And it is also equally
apparent that portion of the labor
of these States will eventually De
diverted from agriculture and ex-
pended upon other departments of
industry, especially manufactures;
and that the day is not far distant
when a portion of this cotton will be
exported from the States in which it
is grown in the form of yarns and
coarse fubrlcs of various grades and
styles. And such day will bring
surer prosperity and more abundant
wealth than ever blessed these States
in the past.
''The necessity of the introduction
of improved farm implements in
Southern husbandry is imperative.
Year by year, in Western farming,
has the economic value of labor-sav-
ing appliances been cumulative. The
increase Of such machinery since
1860, and the labor and money saved
by it, are enormous. That which
was to the West q necessity, from the
scarcity Of labor and high wages, has
become equally indispensable to the
South, from the same considerations.
The difficulty of keeping down super
abundant growths Of grasses and
wee Is il the early part of the season,
and OF picking the cotton in the later
months, afford opportunities for the
employment and invention of ma
chinery which should prove an incal-
culab!e benefit to cotton production.
1.-The interests of agriculture in the
Southern States, so injuriously affect
ed by the events of the past few
years, demand the special attention
of this department. 'rhe deteriora-
ton of sugar cane. a tendency to
which in the best varieties is STRONGLY
marked, has progressed rapidly since
1860, and new importation Of the
ribbon cane Of Java is a desideratpm
of future success in Sugar planting
in the Lower Mississippi Valley. 1t
might be we'll, also, to import some
of the best vnrieties of Egyptian cot
ton, for experiment in the Gulf
States"
DR.. Hartnett, of Boston, got his