Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-08-15

sideration in rsference 70 capital in farming
lands. This capital should be made more
productive By permanent .mprogements, or
be whhcrawn and invested in some bust
ness thai will pay better. With so many to
sell real estate and so few to purchase, It is
nearly or quite Impossible for farmer to
change bis invest ent, therefore the i'm
provement of bis land to tive him larger
annual interest on his prcparty Is slI that
remains for him to dc. un.ess be is willing
to sacrifice half OF bis estate to get the 9TH
er half in currency. Before attempting 10
sell, it Is wise 10 consider the. stability
of good title TO a part of mother earth.
Capital in a bank, to be loaned cut to A, B
and G, is in precarious condition. 1t NAV
return big Interest witL the principal, or
both principl and interest," may be lost.
Lending money in any form has not proved
the safest business in the country at all
tines, no. has sell.n. goods, or manufac-
turing industry. Every pursuit has its ups
and downs, It's dark and bright sides.
Without envying the prosperity of 10Th I in
'terests, let us study 10 build up the capital
we have in Tennessee farms, and in lands
susceptible of producing grass and stock.
1t is an instructive fact th9t horses are
higher now in British gold than they have
been in thousand years in Eugl and.
England has made world of wealth, and
rich people very naturally like horses for
pleasure and service. The cost of trans
porting horses on large emigrant steamers,
which carry few passengers on their return
to Liverpool and other ports, is small.
Hence, our farms Llay raise this kind OF
stock, If well seeded and managed, at a
large profit. Il viii be converting land, la
Dor and grass into gold, and at the same
time improving and keeping our real estate
for on children or o'her heirs. With The
growth of years, the wants of society
change, and we must learn Ito change cur
crops, tillage aud husbandry, to meet the
new order of thirgs. By raising far more
grass, stock and manure, we
shall improve our farms. In
this way We may double their value, and
increase our profits on farming four fold.
Capital, after all, is very imaginary and
wstery stuff. How much water do you
suppose Commodore Vanderbilt and other
millionaires have added to their railway,
insurance, steamship, m manufacturing, bank
ing, mining and Guiding stocks If this
water vera taken from ihe Cumberland
river at dollar hogshead, it would pump
it dry from its mouth to the mountains
Water forms over forty per cent. of the per.
fectly dry organized matter of every plant
grown in Tennessee; ard water and COM
mon air form over ninety five per cent. on
fair avara9e Of all our crops. eEr
We mus Vanderbilt our farms to dou-
BILE snd treble their market value, by the
skillful use of water and cir; the one for
perfect subsoil irrigation, and the other for
perfect subsoil ae alton. Put good grass
seed all over the surface of farm, with fer
tilizing gas and water in the sliI and sub
soil underneath, and vegetable vitality will
give you rich herOage over the whole plan
tatioD, that may soon be converted into
gold. Capital and production are eonverti-
bic terms, provided you produce really de
sirable article. So long as Euglishmen will
pay high prices for horses and mules, our
interest lies in raising them. Other nations
will soon buy them By the million head.
There is but one fIir way to measure capt.
tai in plantation, aud that Is to measure
the intelligence of the owner, or of the pur-
chaser if lie sells it. One man will make
two or three times as much money from a
farm az another, and at the same time
improve the place. The difference is in the
men. One farmer studies nature and otey:
herlaws; the other studies nothing, thinks
but little, and follows the Oldest traditions
Nature uses vegetation to improve the soil
and good farmer uses grass and clover fol
the same purpose. Clover and grass keel
stock much better than weeds; therefore a.
weeds should give place % plants that vii
make hors flesh, beef, mutton, wool anC
rich manure. The remarkable pow
cTty of the South arises from tbt
general neglect Of grass and clover to Ike |
land from washing, and draw fertility from
the atmosphere and deep subsoil. In late
speech at the Tho aaston courthouse door
Gov, Smith, Of Georgia, said that only COX
immigrants settled in that State last year
while 10000 citizens emigrated out Ct thu
State; leaving balance CT 1900 sgains
what il sometimes called tn 'empire Stats
of the South" This is the way to destro!
the value of all farming and planting lands
1t is squTlly the bad policy of Tennessee
To impo7erish the soil aid driv d. mankind
away from IL, is to cheaper all good lands
Depopulation Of rural districts kills eitie!
and villages, not less than cholera
To make the depletion of the soil, and the
depopula,ion Of ali corn and cotton grow
ing districts certain, Nashville and otbe
Tennessee towns waste all or nearly all Q
the fertilizers drawn from the country
Probably 10 other State in the Union ia
suff red so much from cholera this sum
mer as Tennessee. Why this sad pre-em
inence? Its system for wasting fertilizer
is probably the most effective in AmeIics
if not in the civilized world. Will not tn
approaching Farmers Convention conside
this great and weighty matter? A reform
is needed, and cannot come too soon.