Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-06-26
From the Southern cultivator.
MaHureS,
By. p. j. BERCKMANs.

The suicidal system of Agriculture
which has for generations past been prac-
ticed in this country, has brought immense
quantities of land to such a degree of
exhaustion as to compel their owners to
abandon them and seek newer lands,
which, after few years of cropping un-
der the same method, are also abandoned,
and left to add more to the already too
large waste. If a sounder and more ra.
tional system had been practiced, the re-
suits would have been far different, and
to-day we would see lands teeming with
plenty, instead of the wreck. of that which
nature provided for mans support. 1t is
evident that if this system is continued
much longer, few generations more will
be able to sussist i'll the older sections of
this and similarly situated States. Ne.
cessity will then compel them to either
abandon the exhausted lands, 10 remove
to q more fertile region, or to adopt
system of Agriculture that will ameliorate
the old lands, and bring. them again in
state of fertility. The means of doing
this are ample, and at hand All that is
needed is the will, and judicious knowl-
edge of what constituents soil requires,
in order to produce remunerative crops.
The object of the Agricuturist must then
be, to produce such fertilizers as will give
to the land the parts deficient.
Manures edivided into organic, (vege
table and animal, which are the least
permanent; earthy, which are the most
permanent; and saline, which being
readily absorbed by plants, have period
of duration in the soil longer than the
organic, but less than the earthly. In Or
der to better explain these different ma
nures, must make four classes:
The Natural, such as mari, muck,
pond mud, etc.;
The Animal, such as are produced by
the cattle;
The purely Ve5etaJle manures. and the
Chemical-the first three classes being
within the immediate reach of all agricul
turists, must be their main reliance.
The different soils, requiring different
fertilizers, accoring to their constituents.
must first be described. in order to eluci.
date the subject:
Sandy Soils.-This class being pre-.
dominant in this section, should receive
our attention first. In an arid sandy soil,
such plants can only thrive, which draw
from. the atmosphere, by the porosity Of
their leaves or stems, that nourishment
which they cannot receive by their roots.
Rye is the only cereal that can vegetate
in such a soil. In sandy soil, mixed
with other soil not classed as arid, oats
and summer barley as cereals, and peas
pota:o and turnips can be produced F: il
the soil is made richer by fertilizers, il
can produce corn, cotton, wheat, etc. The
proper fertilizers for this class of soils
are the animal and vegetable manures,
which'bring to it the vegetable fibre, found
here deficient.
Clay Soils.-Stif' clay soils, of cold
nature, are not susceptible of giving good
results, from the raising of cereal crops.
They are best calculated for pastures.
this being the least expensive and surest
method to derive a certain profit from
them. If the grasses are too snort to be
cut for hay, they afford rich pasture.
Lime will be found the best fertilizer, as
it disintegrates the soil; vegetable fibre
and sand are the other parts necessary to
make them fertile. Clay soils, enriched
with these fertilizers, will retain the fer
til;zing principles longer than sandy soils,
and produce in perfection corn, wheat,
winter barley, clover, etc. Such soils
are generally considered too rich for rye
and potatoes. A sandy loan, containing
the proper parts of clay and sand, is the
most desirable of all for general agricul.
tural purposes, aud in it are grown the
best potatoes, cow.peas, corn and cotton.
Alluuial Soils.-These require work
more than fertilizers-the best are lime,
ashes, mari, and others of same nature.
These being the different soils generally
found in this section, and having been
pointed out, we will now return to the
Inanures.
Natural.-Lime in some fo,m, must
be the basis of every system of improve
ment; but it is futile to attempt to build
up the constitution of any worn.out land,
without the aid of some nutritive manure
Lime not being found in this section, must
be brought from distance; but even at |
a cost of 25 to 40 cents per bushel, de-
fvered on the land, it will be found re-
The best method to use it,
is by slakiBg it with good earth or muck,
instead of using water, or leaving to the
to perform the process. By
slaking with earth, there is less loss by
If salt is used in the shaking
process, the fertilizing properties of the
lime are increased, by foEning necessary
of all fertile soils, Chloride
Of Lime and Carbonate of Soda. Lime
should be used as top-dressing, and never
mixed with manures containing ammonia,
IS it will drive OF the latter. Burnt Clay
renders strong clay lands less tenacious,
and improves acid soils. Plaster. Of Paris
Or Gypsum, being an absorbent of Am.
monia, is principally used as such. 1t
should be used in all stables, so as to fix
the ammonia, and preserve that which
otherwise eyaporates ard is lost to the
farmer. These three fertilizers, not being
strictly natural, are produced with so lit.
tie trouble-and the first really indispen-
sble-that | have been obliged to bring
them under this head. Muck.-Almost |
every farm has some deposit of muck or
[eaf mould. formed by the accumulation |