The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-01-18

| we can OCCaSlOuiuy OuIulu uSu-sCEdp III IIlls
market, and the market farmer will find It 9
most valuable manure when used In sufficient
; quantity; from one to two tons per acre |:
ample, and will compare In results with Peru
vlan guano, applied at the rate Of twelve hun.
dred pounds. Its action is slower but more
durable-hence more applicable to the long
growing and gross feeding vegetables. The
crops, are those would indicate to which 1t is
particularly adapted. Mixing with an equal
bulk of plaster, as In the case of glano, has
advantages. The effect upon the crop Is most
happy, promoting 4 vigorous healthy growth.
and advancing It's maturity several weeks-a
most important consideration. have not tried
It upon legumnous vegetables, as peas, beans,
&C., but imagine from It's action 1t would prove
more suitable for them than guanc. The man
ufacturers of commercial fertilizers employ
1t extensively as one of the ingredients In
their compounds, and many Of them
owe their reputation mainly 10 1t. Its
mechanical condition is not as favorable,
as guano or manipulated commercial fertil-
izers, being altogether cruder preparation,
but perhaps more useful for our purposes, as
1t evolves its ammonia more gently and fur
nishes Its phosphate of lime and other salts
slowly aud in accordance with the gradual de-
mands OF the developing plants. Fish scrap Is
comparatively free from the caustic properties
likely to in]ure from over application. will
say little here of the commercial fertilizers and
superphosphates 80 fashionable at the present
dav: few of them are useful to the market gar
dener The crops we grow are mostly short
ones, requiring active, stimulating manures to
push them rapidly to maturity. have exper.-
imeCted extensively with most OF them, and
can recommend Pacific guane, prepared at the
works at Rikersvllle. as the most reliable l
have tried. Used at the rate OF 1000 pounds
per acre, it will produce heavy crops. Like
ruano, 1t is more adapted to clay soils.
The question may be asked: Can success
sve and remnneratlve crops Of garden vege-
tables be grown, year by year. and season
after season, safely by the application of these
artificial manures, and can the soil be main
tnined in its fertility Or, in other words:
! Can the farmer, by an outlay OF $50 to Sl00 per
acre for guano, fish scrap, or poudrette, real
lie a paying crop sufficient for his own and
family's support? That these highly concen,
will very much facilitate and insure the deslr-
ed result, have no doubt but the true system
| Is TO vary aud multiply our sources Of plant
food az much as possible. The chemists tell
us that plants and vegetables contain as much
as fifteen elementary chemical substances.
| Some of them abundant In the atmosphere
around us, and IN the sou we cultlYate; SO
abundant that our crops, even after years OF
constant feeding, cannot exhaust them. But
others. ami these the most important,
| are furnished by nature In fnr small
er. quantities, and are rapidly exhausted
| by the demands our crops make upon them.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and lime, science
points out as the essentials to be sought lot In
manures, which the laboratory of the soil and:
atmosphere converts into ammonia, phosphate
of lime. nitrate ofpotasf, &c. In seeking fer
| tiIizing material, therefore, we must not only
20 to the guano, or poudrette, for ammonia,
| but to the compost heap and stable waste, the
mud bank and chimney sweepings for potash,
lime and PHOSPHORUS, that by placing them
conveniently together the requisite transfor-
nations may take place. By guano we may
stimulate our crops to make heavier demands
on the soil for other elements, and we must
| by all means provide them If we hope for that
success which we should all aim at and en-
deavor by all means 10 attain. Prof. Willie, on
page II OF his published lectures, makes the
following remark of guano: "To convert itinto
| O complete manure it is sufficient to add to It,
potassa and lime. Most of our seaboard soils con:
taln an abundance of the latter Ingredient; but I
should Judge them very deficient In the former.
| In the same lecture, page 81, speaking Of the
resources of potash, he alludes 10 some recent
experiments BY which their "nseiul salts are
obtained from sea water, where they exist In a
| form not. believed TO be available lor plant
food. a, Practically, however, we know that the
application of salt mud and salt marsh grass
partially rotted, has proved the most reliable
renoyator of exhausted sea island cotton
lands The chemists may not as yet be able to
tell us what it is which makes the salt. mud
valuable; but the fact cannot be denied that no
material has as yet been found as substitute
producing the same effects. Concentrated ter1
'ii!izers generally drive the crops to which they
are applied to weed. Mud and marsh produce
contrary effect; eXuberance OF foliage Is
checked; but the yield Of fruit Increased, and
also the ability TO bring the increased Yield 10
maturity
-. PREPARATION OF THE SOIL.
In Europe, where vegetable culture Is car
ried to great perfection, and where labor Is
cheap and abundant, the spade Is the imple-
up the SOIL doubt il it would pay with us
to initiate them, but it Is none the less impor:
tant 10. thoroughly prepare the land for the
reception of the seed The ploughs at present
in use are so admirably constructed, and do
their work so efficiently, that little more IS
needed if requisite care Is taken to cover all
the ground, leaving no part unLIlrned to q sui
Gcient depth. We must remember that The
best working our crops can yet Is that which
is given before the seed Is put in. No labor
| bestowed In preparation Is lost, and in the
large majority OF cases very trif1ing ainonnt
of hoeingsand cleaning will be necessary in
the after cultivation. horse hoe or sweep
can easily clean five acres day, If followed by
an active man. The autumn crops will neces-
sarly give more trouble In this particular than
those planted In spring, aud consequently
prove less remuneraling.
As general rule, planting on ridges Will De
| found more advantageous than flat planting
The heavy, drenching rains and hot suns, incl
dent to our climate, injnre less the tender
seedlings when lifted in this way above the
surface, and the grass and weeds which prove
| such pests to the farmer on these old long
planted fields is removed with less injury to the
rootets, upon which the plants at that early
stage depend for support. Manure Is also
much economical, ds IL can be put in the drill
Immediately below the plants, and where they
1 can find it with the greatest facility. have
never known even the most concentrated OF
| the fertilizers do harm when evenly scattered
at the bottom OF the drill, and sufficient
amount of earth drawn over 1t to temper Its
causlic properties. One essential element OF
success Is careful observance of meteorlc
changes, and using them as assistants and
nuides. Our seasons do not vary rs much as
one would think. Rain and drought will most
generally visit ms, year by year, about the same
dates, which, being known, either can. with
reasonable certainty, be anticipated, and SOW
ings and paintings made to take advantage OF
the one or avoid the other. l will Illustrate
my meaning by few examples. The most in
] tense cold of our year will generally occur
| from the lst to the Goth OF January; therefore,
in planting for the early spring crop, choose
from the 10Th to the goth to put the seed in the
ground; the plants will come above the surface
] Immediately alter the hard freeze OF the sea-