Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-10-16


| Northern farmer has 100 acres. Corn 10
| American sgriculture Is the same as gold IN
our currency. Its tho best article We have
with which to measure the fruitfulness Of
| Of Northern, Southern, and Western soils,
and the relative value Of all ether crops.
Corn grows both earlier Ia the spring and
later IN autumn IF plsntel earlier or later
for the purposs) In the South than in the
North; and also il makes larger Is well
as longer growth on every acre in cultiva-
ton. The most successful dairy man in
the great dairy State of New York cult.
Yates corn forage for bis cows very extern
siyely and probably. But the same area
of Iand that viii keep three cows in the eli
mate Of New YORK viii keep four in the
climate Of Nashville a gain of S5s per
cant.
Corn is fair representative of bread,
milk and meat-products Of the soil of in
estimable value---to raise which three acres
oflsnd in our climate, (soil being the same)
are equal to four in New York. Putting
all these facts together, the mission of the
Southern farmer appears TO be TO work to
the best possible advantage a large surface
of ground in superior climate with very
limited amount Of rather uncertain labor.
1t is clearly out Of the question to put even
q third part of our land under the plow
from the lack Of plow hands and stock.
Three quarters Of our surface must be in
woods, denuded old fields, or grass for
dairy husbandry, producing wool and NUT
ton, beef, horses and mules. Perennial
grasses, like bluegrass, orchardgrass,
herdsgrass, oatgrass, timothy, foxtail
and fescue grasses, grow on farms
from year to year with no cultivation.
We have tried thess and many others for
years, and know that they viii stand our
Southern climate under wise treatment. 1t
takes some longer time to get strong turf
under the hoof of grazing stock inthe South
than in the North; but there is no stronger
turf in the cool, misty climate of England
than the Bermuda sod on the commons of
Augusta and Athens in Georgia, which
have had no artificial seeding, no blowing,
no fencing-Dothing but hard trsmping and
close biting for half century. Blue grass
whose seed were scattered by men going to
market with wagons, camping over night
and feeding ripe hay to teams, has held the
soil Of Georgia for six years with no protec-
ton from cattle running at large. A wise
man sees from little what q good deal
means. II our climate and soil cause Euro
pean grass to flourish on one acre they
will do the same On q million acres.
What prevents our developing at once the
vast productive powers Of one or two hum
bred million acres of farming land, the best
the sun shines upon, which are now wholly
unproductive? Some say that we lack capt.
tai; others that we lack labor, and must
have immigrants from Europe, or some out
side population. Both of these opinions are
erroneous. knowledge of the true value of
grass in agriculture and all civilization, is
the one thing needful in this matter.
knowledge of how easily large plantation
may be covered with lasting verdure, and
how comfortably and easily the owner of
the estate may live when he wisely permits
nature to move to augment the fruitfulness
of his fields by grazing and manure, and he
does less with the p!ow to consume their
vegetable mould, and cash them with gull
lies. This system is ;neither farming nor
proper planting; it is simply land killing
and driving capital, enterprise, and many
people out of the South. It should be dis
carded al once and forever as an error Of
the past. IL is not two thousand years, SC
cording to Gibbon, since creditors Of Rome
might, by force Of law, dismember debt
or's body, taking each more than pound
of human flesh to satisfy his unpaid judy
ment. Our Common Law and that of Eu-
rope came from the Justinian Code, with
savage features of this character. 1t is not
two hundred years since Parliament passed
an act prohibiting the Irish from pulling
wool offfrom heep,instesd fshearing them.
Has not mistaken conservatism In
Southern agriculture built wall of preju-
dice against European progress2 Such
wall really exists, and our fighting and kill
ing grass, constantly depress the market
value of all farming and planting lands, and
drive tens of thousands of native born
Sousherners out of the old planting States.
Resistance to new ideas, new facts, and i'm
proved farm economy, is The real difficulty
under which we signally fail to render three
fourths of our soil highly remunerative in
crops from one decade to another. Farm
ers insist on following both tillsge and hus-
bandry in the old ruts of past ages, and 1t
don't pay. The labor of one man should
utilize the rain and sunshine of 100 acres in
place of 10-a clear gain OF 80 acres
of good crops. 1t is practicable.
Ali annual crops like corn, wheat, to-
bacco, cotton and rice, require annual seed
ing and cultivation. One hand cannot take
care of much surface. But when meadow
or pasture holds the ground ten, twenty,
fifty or one hundred years, the condition of
things is entirely different One Of the
best farmers the State of New Yo'k has
ever produced had ], 900 acres of land under
improvement, made from the primitive for
est, and never had plow on his farm. II
was all in grass for dairy purposes. Fresh
land, titled with sharp harrow drawn by
oxen, was seeded thick with grass seed. In
this way boy driving TWO yoke of oxen
will soon prepare fifty acres for seeding.
Tennessee should raise more good oxen for
labor and beef.
cows WASTING THEIR MILK.
One of our Southern subscribers writes
us for remedy against COWS wasting their
milk. We have usually found the only
remedy, milking three times day. There
is a weakness in the muscles of the taaf or