The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-08-08
DrOughts.

The greatest drawback to the farmers Of
South Carolina, in fact to the farmers of all
the Southern States, is long and parching dry
spells. With proper cultivation and small
quantity of manure, our poorest lands will
yield immense crops of grain Of almost any
kind, provided we have no drought. 1t takes
drought of but few weeks in July and Au-
gust to cut off che corn crop. Two facts are
true. First, droughts are more common at
present than they were in the early settling OF
this country; and second, droughts have q
more injurious effect upon crops now than they
once had. 1t is easy, on philosophical princi-
Piles, to account for both these facts. In reall-
ty, they are but one fact. The one is simply 3
result of the other. They stand connected
with each other in the relation of cause and
effect Many reasons may be assigned for the
decrease in the fall of rain. The main reason,
we conceive, however, to be, because the forests
have been cut down. The effects OF forests up
on the atmosphere are two fold. They hill the
air with dampness, and again this dampness,
when it is condensed into clouds, is attracted
by the forests. The roots of trees run deep
down into the ground and absorb the moisture
that is contained in it at considerable depth
below the surface. This moisture, much of it
at least, is evaporated by the leaves, and thus
the air is loaded with water The amount of
water that is drawn up from the stratas of the
earth lower down than the roots of ordinary
cultivated plants penetrate, is enormous. This
water, if not drawn up by the roots of trees,
would gradually make its way into creeks and
rivers, and ultimately into the ocean. All ma
ture is kind of workshop. The waste mate
rial and refuse matter of one part is taken up
and used by another part, and thus there is a
continual round of operation. When the laws
of nature are not transgressed, nothing grows
old and there is no scarcity of anything. Our
fathers, when they cut down the noble forests
which once decorated our hills, inflicted upon
us, their children and grandchildren, curse
grievous to be borne. If let alone, nature
would in time restore things as they were once.
Our old fields would in few years grow up
and restore, in great measure. the fertility to
our soil which it once possessed.
both of which result in decreasing the amount
of rain. Dry and parching winds are unim-
peded in their progress, and the result is that
they carry off the moisture which is in the at
mosphere Another result is that small streams
of water have in many instances been entirely
annihilated, except during the winter months
This has decreased the volume of water in the
creeks and rivers, and consequently decreased
the attractive force of the clouds and the
amount of water evaporated from the surface
of the earth in our particular section.
In view of all the facts, it is suicidal to cut
down any more forest trees. There is in South
Carolina enough of cleared land, if properly
cultivated with such seasons as once were in
the State, to support ten times the number OF
inhabitants that are now in the State. All the
old SCARED hills should be sown in grass so that
their bald faces might be shielded from the
summers sun. In the meantime, crops which
mature earlier in the season should be cultiva--
ted Such crops cost less to produce them, and
consequently are more profitable. They are
more certain. Wheat and oats, when sown at
the proper season, are more certain crops than
corn. We have high authority for saying that
rebels inhabit parched lands. Those who scar
and mutilate the face of the earth are rebels
against the natural laws Of the universe, an and
need not expect to escape with impunity. The
exclusive cultivation of cotton will reduce any
people to poverty, and convert we'll watered
land ito parched desert. 1t is simply mat,
ter of time The result is sure, foretaste of
which we experience nearly every season.
YorkuiILe Enquirer.