The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1870-08-10

priced and frequently spurious articles of
commercial fertilizers that have inundated
the country since tho war, demonstrate the
difficulties, the impossibilitcs of manufac
turing under this system that most valua-
Bile, most lasting Of oil manures that hnvv
tried; the barn yard, COW pen and st able
| compost. 1t is no uncommon sight 10 see
lands that have been redeemed from utter
barrenness by the use of these composts
which for n ecrics Of years demonstrated
! tho permnnency Of its improvement by res
muncrativc crops, but have seen no such
effects from the use of commercial! manurcs
| alone, show little effect, for the second crop
and don't hesitate to cay tha, the incrcas.
cd productions in my crops Of 'G9 go and did
Lot repay the considerable outlay of cash for
| them. nor, do ] believe that fair state.
ment for tho District for thcSe years would
make better showing. They do pay with
good seasons but nre TOO high priced. The
system of copar,nership cropping: is there
| fore, detrimental TO tho agricultural inter.
es:s of tho South, and we must adopt on
other plan.
The practice Of renting lands to negroes
is also an abuse. Rented lands and hired
| horses, under my observation, are never
improved The first and greatest caro- of
q laud owner should he tho jud,ious ar
rangemcnt of his rows with view to the
prevention Of washing. 1t is useless to ap-
ply manure Of any kind if your rows run up
and down hill so that the water holding in
, solution the very cream of your soil runs
down to an already enriched valley, or rs is
often the case, the manure itself is swept
out and born upon the bosom Of the torrent
to the sea. | believe that the whole plan
for the future agricultural redemption of
this State, if not of tho South, is ccntcrod in
this one idea, Of level rows. Ii have Mt.
| for
atoDcd for the destruction of 237 acres Of
original forest, the fnirest OF the land. it
has been by an effort TO preserve it in its
virgin purity-by level rows and it is to
be seen to day, not in n state of perfect pre-
scrvntion, it is true, hut will challenge the
District to show field Of tke same size, Is
years old, with as few gullcs.
~ have seen more Vitality swept away
1 by one rain storm than could bercplaced by
years Of scientific mHnuriug accompanied
| Oy IL judicious rotation Of crops and |
know Of nothing more discouraging to the
farmer than to have lands upon which he
has bestowed extra preparation, torn INTO
gnlics and born away to enrich his neigh
bors bottoms. II IL then essentially impor-
tant that this general land wasting should
be prevented if possible; for unless it be
stopped the next decade must fud us as the
present leaves us, with poorer lands then we
had before Whilst (as stated before) my
experience was not as satisfactory as was
desirable. still have accomplished much
IN the preservation Of my lands. The sys.
tenn pursued is the old plan that has been
practiced for years by Georgia and South
| Carolina farmers, Of running guido row
with raitcr Lowell, which oan 10 done by
any ono, for you have no care as to whore
the row will lead, as the level is indicated
by the instrument, after this you lay off
with the rlow for 20 or &c yards upon each
! side Of the guide row other rows. and rs
soon M you find that the surfnco of the
land is changing and that in consequence
you arc loosing your level go 80 or 40
yards farther up Or down as the case may
be, run another guide row, and keep repeat
ing the process ill you have finished the
held--fll with short rows any places where
tho parallels do not coincide. This is the
whole process, and tho job once done is al.
nays there, for If The lands he sown in small
grain even, tho water fnrrows are on hand
for another years operation. Many persons
combine tho level plan with system OF
hillside ditching which think if properly
dono adds materially to the preservation
although believe that more land in the
hills of Fairfield has been ruined by the
improper grade and location of bitches than
has been lost by tho want of them A
sound Judgment must decide the location
and fall Of bitches for each separate field {;
with these general precautions, viz max e
your bitches as shore as possible, and always
empty the water up the valley. The ditch
| ing is dono with the same rafter level used
for the rows, but is arranged to show the
fall as well as ,hclevel, a fall of from q 10 81
inches iD 10 feet, being given according to
the nature of the soil, sandy lands requir !.
ing more fall than clay. In connection wit h
horozontaling, l made observations for two
years to ascertain The number of washing
rains that fell during the year, and the re-
suit was that about one in twenty only are
abundant enough to sntnrate the soil that
il deeply plowcd and fill the rows sufficient.
ly for washing. This then is a saving wor.
thy the experiment of the planter, aud he
will often sec The advantage of level rows
even for retaining tho water that would
otherwise run of and not be used by tho
plants ;--whcre rows run up and down hills,
any rain that runs carries off land. Where
your lands are rented you may expect little
horizontalising, less Of anything like sye.
tematic rotation Of crops, and absolutely
none Of that general care Of buildings,
fencing. gatos, &c., 80 necessary for tho
proper keeping up Of the place.
The present idea Of planting largely Of
cotton and little or no grain is on agrioul-
tural abuse, a disastrous abuse. and ono
pecuiiar 10 Whlte men. IL W0S prophesied
amongst many other wise sayings by the
abolitionists. that under The syslom Of free
labor the folds of the South would TEEN
with on abundance heretofore unknown
that all our products would be at least
doubled rs soon as this mill stone of slavery
was removed from around our necks, and il
is q most remarkable fact that the whole
South has lent its energies to tho fulfillment
of this stupid saying, go far as cotton is
concerned (and this is the only crop that
benefits the Yankee) and, We now ind him
counting our bnles and pointing out to his
dered by this most villainous theft and
mercles ioruelty that has ever been! perpe.
trsted upon any people. We Of tho South
know more Of free negro labor than even
wise men Of the North, and most Of as are
conscious that few moro years Of this
pseudo prosperity and Lhe country sindeed