The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-11-22

oiN Gil iCllhS upoil IUuuS tHaV "
has turned out. This would at leas
meet tho wants of tho next genera
tion for fire wood.
!, TO devise means for guardin,
against the effects O. drought ha
: been, perhaps, the subject of NOR
= agricultural thought than has bccl
expended upon any other topic o
plantation cconomy. And the com
bined wisdom Of the country seem
| to have resolved into tho adoption o
the panacca, deep ploughipg. Wei
lnow gentlemen at the risk of bcin;
regarded n ./ogy; n man Of fossil
IDEAS, who would 60 to market with {
pumpkin in one end Of his wallet and
\ rock in the other because it was
dolly's custom l must be allowed
TO FAY that l have this year seen
enough to convince mo that it is not
only not panacoa, but [ do believe
that under two contingencies it wero
better to have had rccouree to our
own miserable system Of surface
scraping.
The one is whore we have long wet
srcIlS, ending with those tropical tor
rents that SO often dclugc our fields,
sweeping off tho loose rloughcd soil
and leaving those frightful gullics
that arc only arrested by the hard clay
below. Tho deeper ycu plough here,
the deeper the washes that arc left,
Tho other is where drought is pro-
trac'cd beyond the usual duration of
such spells, as was this year. 1t is
claimed ny advocates of deep plow-
| ing that the ralDs are enabled to de-
sccnd into the Garth; that tho roots
can penetrate farther, that moisture
is brought up during dry seasons.
| [ grant these propositions, and
offer the following facts from obsorva-
ton of rains that fell during tho two
years in which [ was engaged in the
experiment, in substantiation of it's
merits. Which is this, that not more
than one rain III twenty was sufficient
to saturatc soil that was deeply
ploughcd and then have a surplus
for washing purposes, provided
they came at proper Intervals
for it is not argued that by this sys.
ten you have advantages amounting
to nineteen to one, for purposes of
vegetation over him Of tho shallow
piowing. But your advantagcsand it
is al immense one, consists in the abb
sorption Of all these rains that would
otherwise saturatc and wash your
fields where the plowing Was shallow
Onlo>s, however, these rains fell at
proper intervals and not periodically,
thereby interposing droughts Of long
duration, sec no advantages from
deep Flowing to the crop proper
For every one before me knows that
if body Of earth or anything else
containing moisture bc stirred or pul
veriscd, the moisture is of course the
more readily taken up by evaporation
and borno beyond the reach of roots
In fact, there is no quicker nor nc
more philosophical mode of drying n
piece of land whose soil is tenacious
Of surface water than by dcop plowipg
involving as it does this identical idea
of bringing the entire soil and sub
soil in contact with tho air. Tho idea
is then advanced thut if absorption is
promoted evaporation is perfected
and tho advantage of bringing ur
moisture from below, whilst it would
sustain for while tho plant, must III
case Of long drought tho moro
readily dry the earth.
| | am at present cutting ditch in g
bottom near my house, through which
there usually flows a small stream.-
The spring at tho head of tho hollow
has mover failed to supply water 70,
my bathing house, and yet within {
distance Of less than three hundred
yards below and in tho bottom of the
ditch, three feet below the usual bed
Of tho branch, l found the clay
cracked by the drought, and only tc
be removed by the pick. Think you
that deep plowing could in any way
have contributed to bring up mois
turo here Again, my surprise wal
excited by seeing dust three feet be
low the sufaro whilst digging for a,
fox on north hillside where the su,
had not shown for months. What man.
ncr Of plow would you have brought
into requisition to. have cotton ur
moisture hoee7 / have oven been un
able to gctup supply of drinking
water from woll that has heretofore
afforded an ample sufliciency for al
purposes, Notwithstanding there is {
good pump i'll it.
Deep plowing has its advantages
especially upon the stilf clay lands o
northern or western farmers. 1t is
ovcrrated on the cotton lands Of tho
south, and accompanied by turning
over Of tho surface, has under my owl
eye ruined some Of tho best grey
cotton lands in the state. Did any 0
you ever see cotton tap root tha
had failed to penetrate to its utmos
length even in tho hardest olay sub
soil to be found under any Of ou