Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-01-24
farmers 8rpartment
From the augusta consti:utionalist.
FERTILIZERS.

Great agricultural changes must nece;-
sarily attend the revolution of our ancient
system CT labor. The lack Of reiabl
workmcn will compel planters TO econo.
mise their force, end the impoverishmen
of lands direct their energies toward suci
recuperation and high culture as the ca>t
demands. The question narrows itseii
down to the consideration of reapins
something like an average crop from fewer
acres and by the employment of com
psratively small number of hands. Tb'
lands thus worn ont must be diligentl!
and sulnmarily enriched, and further, 81
enriched as to make up in fertility for the
broad acres out of use. For example, &
planter who has been accustomed to farm
a thousand acres will, in the majority o;
instances, confine himself to FIVE hundred
and where he sent sixty negroes to The
field reuuce his maximum one-half. Hi
great aim, under such pressure. would
unquestionably be to produce as rnucl
from the FIVE hundred acres and thirt,,
hands as ordinarily came from one thou
sand acres and sixty negroes. At TIE lirs
blush, this would sppear impossible, bu'
q little thought will convince any one the
it is not Only feasible but indispensable.
How then shall the planter accomplish
his design? We reply that it can be dom
with the aid of fertilizers, such as guant
and the super phosphatcs known to all.
We have conversed with number of in
telligent tillers of the soil and found t o
their practical experience comedies tho
roughly with the theory advanced. No'
only had their crops doubled in quantity
by judicious communion of the di
fere... manures with the most stubborn
soils, but the soils themselves had beer
permanently benefited by the application.
Say that ton $4,000 lbs. of some gooo
super-phosphatc costs-sl25. Distributin:
this over ten aitrs there would be yield
of at least 1900 pounds Of lint cotton
1t will not be hasty to calculate tho price
Of cotton, next season, at less than =:
cents per pound; We opinc that it vii
reach higher figure, but this rate vii
answer our purpose. At 25 cents pc;
pound this will bring 1926. Deduct the
cost of the manure and clear gain Is
had of $500 per ten acres. We have, il
our estimate, considered only Indifferent
lands. As matter of course, the in
crease @il be proportionally greater ac
cording 10 the superior quality of the
soil. That which is true of cotton is
equally true Of corn and other bread
stuffs.
The planter assuredly must exercis,
discretion in the purchase Of proper foo2
for his land and be careful of its distribu,
tion. Observation and experience will
guide him in such matters. But no OBJ
aervatioa and experience can warrant him
in anticipating conspicuous yield from
starved land or lands gorged with stimu
lating rourshment.
There are few n,annres surprising tha!
which we formerly hadin some abundance,
viz cotton seed. lhis, at present, v,
have not available, being 50 scarce that;.
bushel readily sells from s5 to $40. Sub
stitutes must be searched for and none
answer the requirement so we'll as the
super-phosphates. By the use Of these
we have shown that even poor lands car
become productive and. permanently en-
hanced; that che yield can be doubled
and labor greatly reduced. Planters will
be guilty of singular faulty if the,
neglect the opportunity afforded them OF
rehabiiitating their fortunes by the display
of proper enterprise and tact.
We wonder that no ingenious individu.
Z al has followed in the tracks of the diff
ferent armies and gathered up the count.
less bones of dead animals Cor the pur.
pose of manufacturing fertilizers. A ton
of such bones pulverized is almost as
pungent as ton of guano. At present,
all this wealth is useless except as ref.
uge for tom-tits.
We understand that the eminent firm
of Geo. r. Crump & Co., has made am
pie arrangements to supply planters with
the various fertilizers. These gentlemen
promise to secure none but the very best
and we can cordially recommend them
to the patronage of the planting interest.
= There may he some difficulty in the
way, by reason Of the scarcity of money.
We hope that this obstacle may be re-
moved by granting substantial credits to
|. responsible parties. 49,:
And from the same paper of later
date we find this additional paragraph on,
the subject Of fertilizers:
FEkTILIzERs--oNE WORD MoRE.-Lest
there should be. a mistake as 70 the drift
aef recent article. ON tie above subject,
we make additional statements. We
based our calculation Of the cotton yield
of ten. acres open the most impoverished
Land, trusting shl,t asfrpcssssaf induction
would lead up from the lowest to the