The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-01-21
The Intelligencer Job Office.
The Secret Of Agricultural Success.

Inc oecreC OF Agricultural ouecess'
This is what nearly everybody wants
to know and but few have found out. Al
q general thing farmers and planters of
the South have been opposed to learning.
They get into the habits and old beaten
ruts of their ancestors, and ii is next to
impossible to get them out. "Book-farm;
ing" as it is termed, asa general thing is
unpopular and yet these very books, 50.
summarily discarded, arc but the expert
ence of men whose elaborsr have been
crowned with success snd who haze
grown prosperous and rich by abandon
ing the errors of the past. Look at Dir.
David Dickson OF Hancock county he is
g book farmer, working plantation
which ten years ago was remarkable for
its poverty more than for any other4uai.
ity, and yet lie makes one acre produce,
with the same amount OF labor, from three
to ten times as much as the lands of Georgia
neighbors. How is this atlesult accom-
plished? That it is great and that the
same process adopted generally by the
acricul.uralists of the South would double
our wealth, in less than iFe years, is be-
yond all question. The facts are clearly
established, and school. boy who can cy-
pher in the Rule OF Three will be at no
loss in demonstrating this conclusion.
We take Mr.. Dickson's case because it
is an illustrative one. 1t is not question
Of luck but one Of good skill and judg.
ment, and any man who follows his plane
is obliged to succeed What, then, is the
secret of this great Georgia farmer 1t
is simply to give back more of the pro-
ducing principle 10 the soil every year
than you take away from it, Here is
solution OF the whole mystery, and we
may add that the more you give back the
more prosperous you will become. Mr.
Dckson's plan involves no particular skill
CT cultivation. He ploughs deep, keeps
his crops clean and the earth well stirred
during the growing season. Most plan.
ters do this, and yet there is one essential
part of bis systematic one that fertili-
zes all his labois and crowns them with
success--that most other planters do not
observe 1t is that which we have men
tioned-the Liberal use Of manures, wheth-
err made on the farm or imported from
abroad. though in every respect expert:
ence 6as demonstrated the superiority of
the latter They are more powerful and
more portable, and in the long run the
cheaper Of the two.
We are well aware that the idea of pay.
ing ont money for manurcs is repugnant
to many old logies. who are content to
lag behind in the race of'progress; but all
intelligent planters are Obliged TO see and
confess that practical results have estab.
lished their unreasonale obstinaey. If an
acre of ground unaided will bring the
value of S33 IN cotton. and by the appli-
cnsion of $50 in manure you can make 1t
produce SiO0, there is clear gain OF 81
after the payment of all expenses. This
is u reasonable calculation; many planters
who use commcrcial.manures greatly OK
ceed that amount aof gain. Then, why
do our ayricnlturists hold back? Why
not avail themselves OF this new power
commerce has placed at their command
and reap the glorious fruits, instead OF
toling on, year after year, with exploded
systems OF culture, and growing poorer
and poorer as time advances! Common
sense is popular phrase among planters,
and we commend them to its teachings in
this matter 1t is a grave one, indeed.
and involves the destiny of our people tor
the future. .s e.
And in this connection we would bring
to the public attention the claims ofthose
merchants, who have embarked in this
particular business of supplying our plan
ters with the various fertilizers, foreign
and domestic. While they.seek their own
prosperity they are engaged in q benetlc'-
al work, and we would rejoice to see them
all get rich, for we would have the assur
ance that they did SO, net at the cost ct
their conntrymen, but from their thrift
and prosperity; though, to speak more
correctly. we should reverse the order OF
cause and effect--the planter will have
prospcred on the business of the merchant
The time is approaching for preparing the
soil for another CROP and, as most OF our
planters will have surplus, lot them all
invest a liberal portion of it, if not the
whole. which would be better. in well.
selected fertilizers. 1t pays quickly, it
paws surely, and far. better per cent
than any other possible Investment
Hancock Journal.
THE GREAT AIRLINE RoAD.-Says the
Richmond Dispatch: The city of Atlanta
has put under contract the twenty miles
of road it undertook TO build along the
line of the route from Atlanta, Ca, to
Charlotte, N. C. Arrangements, are in