The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1866-10-11
.;a,o3hsI letter From Prof. Hilgafd.


vonr columns, not long since, / adyerted to
the Feasibility of reclaiming for profitable
cultnre most of the uplands now considered
worn out, in this State, by simple process
of malicious subsoiling; provided always,
that the soil was of good native fertility L
called attention to the fact, however, that
subsoiling as an Improvement does not con-
sist merely in turning up the subsoil, which
by itself often acts rather injuriously than
otherwise; but that measures must be taken
to stimulate the comparatively inert I'M
derlay, and to supply it with vegetable
matter whereby the SUBSIDIZED land VIII IN
many cases be found improved even be-
yond it's original productiveness
This is not mere supposition on my part,
founded OH analyses of the soils In question,
but the result of great number OF observa-
tions made in the field. cOrrOborated and
explained by my subsequent examination OF
the soils. If the fact is not generally known
among onr agriculturists tilling the prairies
and Aloam uplands," it is simply becauss, up
TO a late period before the war, the improve
ment of an exhausted soil entered into the
calculations of but very few the biggest
crops and the greatest number OF bales TO
the hand being the goal of the vast majority
But in the course of systematic inquiry de-
volyiug upon me as duty, have ferreted
out the experience of those who did care to
improve their soil; and few indeed were the
exceptions to the rule that in the numerous
class of lands above referred to, snbsOiling
property practiced redeemed the soil from
steriIity.
Many indeed, upon inquiry, complained
that so far from having experienced good
effects from the operation of subsoiling, it
seemed to have definitely ruined their lands.
But upon investigation, it has almost lnva-
riably turned ont that the fault lay in the
unreasonable expectation of seeing crop
flourish in raw, yellow or red underclay,
Just ready for the clay mill and brick kiln.
1t is as though one should expect to make
leather by simply putting the raw ox-hide
into a tan vat.
The stimulation" required for SUBSIDIZED
lands may be produced in a variety of ways.
The one requiring the least actual outlay is
the fallow but apdided it is a slow process,
and where time is money, can hardly he at
forded The turning under of green crops,
as well as frequent tillage, are among the
most ready means, not only of acceleratlng
4 the fallow, but also of supplying TO the soil
the vegetable matter of which it stands in
need The most powerful stimulant, how
ever, which is readily applicable in practice
on the large scale, is Lime
Quicklime, or the same freshly slaked, is
most energetic in its action air-slaked lime
less so, and still less, unburnt limestone or
the soft, purely limy marls sometimes occur
ring Even these, however, greatly promote
the progress of the fallow, and an abundant
supply of such is always counted among the
most important natural auNiliaries of the
agriculturist Bnt the marls of Mississippi
are mostly of different character, which, in
connection with the unlimited supply and
extensive area of occurrence las demonstra-
ted by the Geological and Agricultural Sur
vey), render them of an Importance scarcely
to be overrated to the future development
OF commonwealth destined always to be
chiefly an agricultural one.
Greep-saHd, the mineral which has resusci-
tated the worn out fields of New
jersey, and is extensively exported even to
distant portions of Pennsylvania and New
York is abundantly diffused through the
mari beds of Mississippi some of which
contain over twenty per cent. of this val
liable fertilizer, together with an amount of
lime which, even in the absence of other
valuable ingredients, would cause the ma
terial to he much esteemed.
Apart from New Jersey, no State of the
Union, so far as known, is as highly fa-
vOrcd in this respect Mississippi. And
however lightly this gift of Providence may
have been heretofore esteemed by orr rest
less cotton planters, ever ready to 'sell ont
so soon as by improvident culture, they had
reduced their land below the the half bale
per acre" the permanent and conservative
population which is even now rapidly TO
placing that fast race, will and must soon
fall back upon these native guanO-beds, as
the only means through which, while re-
tanning their homesteads and improvements,
they can still successfully compete with
those engaged in despoiling virgin soils.
Such as they are, these marls will of
course be useful, not in SUBSIDIZED fields
alone, but in all those whose producing
power has been impaired by cultivation.
And while they will by no means justify the
farmer in neglecting the manure pile, they
will enable him to render it much more
valuable, by their action as compost mate
rails.
In view of the probability that my re-
port of 1860, containing all the detail rela-
ting to the marl-beds and their uses, will
soon be placed in the hands of the people,
/ willnot now encroach upon your space by
an enumeration of the counties or parts of
counties underlaid by them. Suffice to say
that the Mobile and Ohio, the New Orleans
and jackson, and the Southern Railroad
have their road-beds on these marls during
no small portion of their course; while the
Mississippi Central traverses, at Walden, a
bed of green-sand undistinguishable from
certain than that proper appreciation of
the dingy material will, at no distant time,
add materially to the Importance of these
highways to the State, while Pearl and
Chickasawhay must, during the rainy
season, bear their bargeloads of the same
among the pine hills of the South.
This may seem fantastic to those living
in, and acting on, the belief that improve
ment of land will not pay" at the same
time that they keep working soils yielding
but a quarter of a bale of cotton per acre at
the same expense as those yielding an en-
tire bale Half their laboring force en-
ployed exclusively in Improvement of the |
soil, might make half of their land weld a |
bale per acre, thus doubling their crops SO |
it has been elsewhere, SO it must and will l
be in Mississippi, also. Happy those who /
can learn from the experience of others
What are all the minor details of culture, |
lpon which so much labor is bestowed by |
many in comparison with this grand ques-
ION of the maintenance of fertility. With
nut it, what avails all the gardeners art /
n n fertile soil, on the contrary, how easily
ire good crops assured Even those most
Interested in Improvements generally too
,ften labor at the wrong end of the ques-