The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-05-09

I'd inst, you invite contributions
from all quarters s.asspolitieal, iitara-
rynand scientific" What BAY you to
aSprinkling Of agriculture. or do you
include this in the ''scientifc?" Agri-
culture is a science, but whether agri-
cultural articles are therefore scientis
&c, is o question. In my opinion,
science aud artare both necessary now
a-6Ays to guarantee success in sgricul-
ture. And probably nowhere,is less
of either practiced than in the cotton
States of the United States. The
best evidence OF our lack of both, is
our continued adherence to old GUS
toms and laws, which progress should
long since have rendered obsolete.
Amongst tie latter, is; the Fence,
Law of South Carolina, which sim
cerely hope will be SO altered and
amended by the approaching Legis-
lature, as to encourage the growing
of wool and beef, the manufacture Of
butter and cheese, and the preserva-
ton of our native forests.
Let us look little into the facts Of
the case. Existing laws allow the
owner of unnumbered stock to Craze
them with impunity upon the unen-
closed meadows of his neighbor, and
require the energetic planter to fell
his forests, destroy his timber, and
encirole his growing crops with that
most disfguring Of all improvements
(?)--a aoo7ns fence. In nine cases in
ten, our hill-sides when cleared, are
so ttnsciealyfcdly cultivated, that in o
few years the falling rain, when COL
lected into rivulets upon their CALLED
and quilted brows, rushes with Niaga-
ra speed to the bottoms, thus render
ing our streams SO treacherous, that
their bottoms are valueless.
Be my low lands never so fertile,
they are to me worthless, because,
forsooth, the law of the land requires
my fencing them, and bad farming
and heavy rains prevent the possi-
bility of my doing 80. Have not one
or both Of these causes threatened
this very Spring the abandonment of
the alluvial bottoms of the Pee Dee?
A stream near my residence, twenty
years ago, was seldom known to
spread beyond its banks. For the
past few years most of its bottoms
have been 'thrown out" principally
from the impossibility of en- osing
them, or rather because neighbors'
stock could not be kept from neigh
bors' crops.
Suppose each owner were by law
held responsible for the damage done
his neighbor's crop by his cattle run
ming at large; think you our country
would be filed with the pens full of
hides and horns we see throughout
the land at this season of the year?
No, sir, each farmer or cattle-owner
would then kill off his "scrubs, and
investing in finer stock, his care
would increase with his investment,
and his noble milker, instead of
browning for living on my land or
the public commons, would be care
fully housed at night, and enclosed
upon her masters enriched pastures
during the day, thereby increasing
the flow of milk, yield Of butter and
size of the manure heap.
By the introduction of shepherds
and shepherds dogs, cattle and sheep
can be easily managed, and no other
stock will ever be profitably grown in
South Carolina hereafter. There has
become latterly such q division of
labor in the art of rearing, as we'll as
OF butchering hogs, that they can never
again become profitable "crop" be-
yond an amount necessary to supply
ones own family. In days by gone,
hogs were grown to feed slaves. Now
a-days freedmen grow their own hog
meat, and around the farmers stable
and cow-lots can be grown hog meat
enough for his immediate family, al
most free of cost. Beyond this, hog
raising is on expense, and should be
discontinued. This subject will be
viewed from another standpoint, in
q subsequent article. Truly,
RAIL SPLITTER.