The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1869-10-21
AGRICULTURE.
From the Rural Carolinian.
Mr.. Dickson's System.


Mr.. Dickson's System.
:, We can tell our readers, in brief, how
'Nr. Dickson farms, but we cannot en-
rmrsreyery -,nan who may essay to fol-
low his example, the same success
Few possess his intellectual capacity,
his sound judgment or his executive
abilities; but all may improve and ap-
proaoh, if they cannot reach, Mr.. Dick
sons high position among the great ag-
riculturists of the present day.
The principal points in Mr.. Dick
sons system, as they struck us in our
examination of his operations, are:
l. A deep and thorough preparation
Of the soil
-,- 2. The liberal use Of manures.
s. Level and shal2oa0 cultivation.
4. Rotation Of crops.
5. Ecnonomy of labor.
sa Do you say that there is nothing new
in all this? Perhaps not. In theory
the principles which underlio the sys-
tenn have, in the main, been long since
accepted by the best informed agricul-
suralists of Europe and America; but
our practice, with few exceptions, has
been diametrically opposed to them, as
will more strikingly appear when we
look at the matter somewhat in detail.
=" First, then, in regard to the prepara-
ton of the soil. Mr.. Dickson's maxim is
"p1ov as deep as you con," or say from
eight to fifteen inches and subsoil every
fonfthyear accommodating aHhs vegetable
matter you can on tie surface to be TUNED
IN. Land thus prepared admits the air,
holds moisture and allows the roots of
plants to penetrate deeply, and thus en-
sure themselves against drouth. Do
our farmers generally prepare their soil
in this way, or make any approximation
toit? :g.@
In the second place, everybody knows
= that manure is very good thing for
growing crops, butwe 60 on, year after
oyear, planting without manure, or very
little Of it. Mr.. Dickson, knowing
that manure, judiciously applied, will
pay, uses it freely. But what kind of
manure, and how much? In the first
place be returns everything to the land
(afser being eaten or used) which he
has taken from it, except the lint of the
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pine straw, and the scrapings of ofswamps,
and digs muck to spread in his stock
wards and to scatter broadcast over his
lands. Then he makes up the required
amount of the fertilizing elements by
the application Of a concentrated com
pound composed Of Peruvian guano, dis
:. sofved bones, common sat, and land
plaster IN equal proportions by weight,
mixing the ingredients himself. Ofthis
compound he has used this season, If we
mistake not, about 800 pounds to the
ecrea Ce1cept On rented land at cost,
probably, ofnot far from s25 per acre.
Is such mauuring an old thing-in prac-
tice, we mean-among our planters and
farmers Co.. ...
HOW BE PLANTS CORN AND COTTON.
But it is in the planting and working
of his crops that Mr.. Dickson's practice
differs more strikingly from that ofmost
planters. Let US see how he does it !:
/. CoYoa.-He makes the rows four
feet apart, opening with two burrows a
trench about eight inches deep. Into this
deep farrow the manure is scattered and
covered with a scooter plow, going about
as deep as the other two furrows, and
followed, on each side of the scooter
furrow, by turn-plow running seven
inches deep. He opens the seed fur
lows with bull tongue plow, drops the
seed thickly and covers lightly with a
board. The plowing is done with the
famous Dickson sweep, and running shal.
low-thel last plowing not more than half
aninch deep-and the plowing and hoe.
ing is repeated as often as is necessary to
keep the ground perfectly clean, but the
soil Is not heaped up about the cotton nor
tie roots cut by either ploao or hoe
When the crop is 'laid by the ground
is nearly level and smooth.
g eorn.-The land being broken up
at least eight or nine inches deep and