The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-01-18
IMPROVING THE NECK.
MARKET FARMING, IND NOW TO
MAKE 1T PROFITABLE.
Valuable and Interesting Hints.

lance of the market farming interest Of
Charleston Neck has led us to obtain for publ
cation in full the following able and very inter.
esting paper on the subject, which was read BY
DR.. Rose at the recent meeting of the Agricul-
tural Society:
Market Farming, and How to Make II
Profitable.
To detail fully all the operations necessary
for successful market gardening would prove
no light task, and extend this paper much be-
yOui the limits which the patience OF the 80.
ciety would sanction. The question, however,
of profit and loss is one that comes home to
many who have been practically engaged In
the occupation, and entertain grave douots II
o satisfactory answer can be given. am,
however, prepared to assert that, requisite
skill and energy being displayed, as fair an in
come and return for capital invested will be
realized by this industry as any other. Ger
tainly no description Of husbandry can COM
pare with it. A false error, but one into
| which nine-tenths OF the farmers of this neigh
borhood have fallen, and which will account,
without looking further, Tor the causes OF fail
ure, is the attempted cultivation Of more land
than their capital will warrant, and consequent
imperfect preparation and insufficient fertiiiza-
ton. The necessary expenses OF market farm-
ing are always great; the return, therefore,
must be certain and large, or loss Will infallloly
result.
The principles upon which we must proceed
are as follows: Plough deeply and thoroughly
pulverize the soil; fill 1t with plant food to- the
utmostfhe intended crop will demah6 finally,
cover the land with crop so that each allotted
space will produce as perfect a vegetable as
possible. 1.-THE true farmer" says Dana, no
| less sage than the ancient orator who gave
to actorl:the first second and third place IN
eEoauence, twill. answer, If it is asked hia
what is his first requisite? Manure. What Sc
cond Manure. What third !? Manure" These
answers are to be united. Action and manure
are the first aud last requisites in agriculture.
| The manures available lor our purposes, and
obtainablein our vicinity, are; stable manure;
compost prepared from vegetable mould,
trampled and enriched by droppings from cat
| tie; guano; preparations Of night soil, and the
various commercial fertilizers prepared from
tile fossil phosphate OF lime, to which various
heterogeneous substances are added.
Stable manure is always excellent for VeSeta-
BILE culture II it can be obtained, but the stuff 80
industriously hauled, piled and turned by the
! farmers of Charleston Neck scarce deserves
| the name. The saw-dust and rice -chaf Whch
are universally employed to bed the horses OF
tile city furnish nothing valuable as plant food;
the former is, believes absolutely injurious,
and more failures nave resulted lron ae-
pendence upon this description OF manure than
| from any one other cause These heaps OF
saw-dust, slightly moistened with urine, and
| intermiXed with o limited amount OF eXcre-
ment heat with violence and duration un-
surpassed. The ammonlacal compounds pre-
sent In the mass are by the violence of the ter
mentatlon decomposed and destroyed, nor do
Know of any method by which tns:can be pre-
vented, at present, within reach OF the ordinary
| farmer. If allowed to remain and thoroughly
/ rot and decompOse, so little fertillzing prop
ties remain as to render them scarce
worth hauling on the ground. They are
moreover nurseries OF bugs and insects, and
harborers' of weeds and grasses. Wnen ap1
piled In crude unfermented condition, the
effect upon the crop Is often most disastrous.
The tender vegetables sicken and droop, YER
min of various descriptions fasten. upon, by
thousands, and soon complete the work Of De
struction. Properly composled barn=yard
manure differs vastly from the above. It's
basis Is vegetable mould, leaves, straw and
sweeping aud cleaning OF dltcnes anu IL Ience M.
corners, trampled and matted together by cat
tie, whose droppings are evenly disposed over
the entire mass, layer by layer. Fermentation
| is checked, Ii not suspended by the exclusion
I OF atmospheric air, the conditions for the for
| nation OF nitre are most favorable, oil the
| elements OF fertility are supplied, ana the
Transformation rendered more complete by
age. Every effort, therefore, should be iaaue
| to supply ;liarge quantity OF this compost to
lands cultivated In garden truck. Even where
sufficient quantity B not available, IL
forms an admirable dilutant to more
expensive and highly stimulating fertilizers,
and can, with advantage, be. Joined With
guano. or the contents of vaults, giving to both
these valuable substances an element they are
said to be deficient lni- namely potash.
| Among fertlliZing agencies, gllano deserVedly
stands ut the head of the list, and, If employ
ed with sufficient boldEess, will give more
satisfactory results than all the other sub
stances usually employed combined: Its
chemical composition points it ont as rch IN
! all the elements required for vegetable nour-
ish1aenr, and its mechanical condition IS most
favorable for rapid distribution and asslmua-
| tion by the roots Of the plants to Whlch IL is
presented As anaddition and ASSISTANT TO all
| kinds of manure, 1t will be found Of incalcula-
Bile value, not only improving the yield IN
quantity Of the crop, but the beauty aud f1aror
| also of the Individual specimens. All descrlp-
| tions OF garden truck can be cultivated win
ruano. Both roots and leal crops flourish re-
markably BY it's application, with the sole eX-
cepLion of leguminous vegetables, such us
peas, beans, sc. Manures rich In alkaline
properties, namely; lime oatnyard aRd dsa slaI +
| Dle compost, are necessary Tor THESE last II
heavy crops are desired.
| To reap the full effects Of Peruvian Suano,
not less Than twelve or fifteen hundred pounds
per acre should be employed; an admlXture
with ordinary gypsum or land plaster IS re-
commended, and think with advantage. The
most convenient and economical mode OF ap-
plication is TO sow in drills made with the or
binary turning plough AMI to pass sub-soll
or bull tongue through the drill after sowing
| to thoroughly mix and Incorporate, the 7glanD
with loose soil Alter returning the earth
thrown out by the ploughs into the drill, the
seed. or plants may be Immediately sown or
set That guano should exert its full fertll-
| izny powers q sufficient supply OF moisture is
necessary, in seasons OF extreme drought;
therefore disappointment will sometimes at
tend it's use, unless artificial irriga-
tion can be Iesorted to. No manure,
however from whence derived, will give as
favorable results in seasons OF drought as In
those where the rainfall Is sufficient tor the
pl,rposesiot the growing plants. Clay lands,
| also. are more favorable for the employment
! OF gtlano than the light sandy soils OF the sea-
| board of South Carolina, which are prone to
| leach under the best OF circumstances, and are
particularly liable to do 30 under the system OF
severe cropping they are. subjected to on the
| Neck. -, -
1t is much to be regretted that some ssyste-
matte effort is not made TO c,hpsnand ana pre-
serve for the uses OF ofagricuttaFe the sweepings
OF the streets and contents OF vaults and scaT-
cnger carts, nightly emptied into the rivers on
the east and west of the city. Ships laden
with guano from the tropics, and fish scrap,
and desiccated meat from the oil presses anu
shanbles of the Northern and western states
crowd our wharves, and smaller craft swarm
| in river and creek collecting phos-
phate rock for the manufacture OF COM
mercal manures, and hundreds OF thou