Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-01-08
agricultural department.
From the Southern CultivatOr.
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.

| clearly the necessity OF change In Ooutncrn
farming, and the close Of the year is fitting
time to investigate and decide what these chan
ges should be- In some respects the progress
sive Southern farmer stands in the very front
rank of agriculturalists In no part of the
world have certain Of the applications of sci
ence to agriculture been more intelligently
practiced and with better results, than in
these Southern States. Nowhere has specific
manuring which is to be the leading idea of
perfected agriculture, been more studied or
adopted. But whilst this is true it must
be candidy admitted that there are grave de-
fects in our system; defects in the details of
the farm, and in what as sub-branch of Po-
litical Economy, may he termed our Rtral
Economy.
The primary defects arc, want of adjust
ment between the three great classes of
crops-tood, renouating and money crops. It's
beyond question that too much preponderance
has been given to money crops-cotton, as the
representative of these, well.nigh absorbing
the whole energy of our farmers. 1t is not
difficult to understand the reason of this, and
it is easy to make excuses for the fact, but
few can be found at present to justify the
course pursued. The recent monetary diff
culties have shown that the price of cotton
may 90 down, whilst food may remain high,
and that it is not safe to raise cotton to buy
provisions. Bread and meat take precedence
of clothes. 1t is much easier to economze
in the latter than in the former. Recently,
while European gold came over freely for
wheat, at almost unchanged prices, cotton
could hardly find purchaser at 80 per cent.
off from the ante-panc prices. But we 90
not propose to argue the point Of raising pro-
visions at home, having recently discussed the
matter in another connection. Onc.fourth of
the crop in cotton is enough when everything
is counted, corn, potatoes, small grain, peas,
clover and grass.
RENOVATING CROPS.
Whilst these play very important part in
the most advanced European agriculture,
they have been almost wholly ignored by US.
There, crop of clover or beans or other legu-
minous plant is put on the land with as much
regularity as manure is applied to it, and with
the best results for as the experiments Of
Mr.. Lawes have shown, rs much wheat may
be raised on a given piece of land by sowing
eight crops alternately with beans, as from
sixteen crops Of wheat planted continuously;
the bean crop being clear gain. One ofthe
renovating crops, COW peas or clover, ought
to furnish nitrogen to every field on farm,
at least once in three or four years.
ROTATION OF CROPS.
A regular rotation of crops is to be found in
every country where improved husbandry
prevails. At the South, before the war, there
was an imperfect one Of cotton, followed by
corn, followed by small grain but even this is
often abandoned now. and cotton after cotton,
almost without end, is the order of the day.
We need not hatter ourselves that our soil or
climate or crops are SO peculiar and eXcep-
tional, that we can neglect conditions of sue
cess which long experience and sound reason
ing combine to show are highly important
or essential In truth, it is just the reverse;
the humus-cxhausting character of cotton
CROP our hot sun and long summers, make
iudicous rotation of crops more important in
the South than in cooler and more humid eli
| mates.
NEGLECT OF SIDE CROPS.
Another great mistake in our farming; is
the neglect of many little side crops, which,
by proper foresight and management, might
be dovetailed into the general crops with ve-
ry little trouble or labor How many more
sweet and Irish potatoes might be raised with.
out a farmer missing the time, labor or land
devoted to them-how many more turnips
and cabbages, how much more fruit, how
much more millet and corn forage. Instead
of buying Northern hay with cotton money
at $4,000 a ton, how easy to keep mules all
the summer, by having a few acres of Bermu.
da grass and giving it a good top dressing OF
manure every spring. Animals turned upon
such lot at night, would require no long
forage whatever from May until October.
How much hay might be made from land thus
treated 1t is said that DR.. Ravenel, of
Charleston, by manuring Bermuda grass
plot with solution of nitrate of soda, we be-
lieve, obtained hay at the rate of sixteen tons
per acre To be sure, Bermuda is difficult to
cut with an ordinary grass blade, but mow-
ing machine would shave it down beautifully.
How many waste spots about the branches
might be utilized by cultivating the Osier
willow, requiring little other labor than the
planting of the cuttings.
RURAL ECONOMY.
In addition to these faulty details in farm
work and management, our farmers have not
been skillful in buying and selling. Through
vicious credit system, they sell their produce
in the fall upon glutted market when prices
are loau, and buy supplies in the spring and
summer when prices are high. In early win
ter, corn and bacon can generally be bought
low for the same reason that cotton then sells
low to wit, an excess ofsupplies over demand.
But the farmer has raised little corn and
perhaps a hog or two. That will last until
spring, and so he puts off the evil day until
| prices have advanced.
Political economists tell us that just in pro-
portion as nations exports exceed its I'M
ports, its trade is sound and healthy; gold
must come in to restore the equilibrium. 1t
is good deal so with the farmer. The more
he sells and the less he buys, the better his con-
dition-he is then accommodating. But if he
sells a great deal of cotton, and has to buy
great deal of corn and bacon, and lard
and forage, and -four and axe-handles, and
cradles and snaths and wooden rakes, and
thousand and one things he could easily
have made on his farm, the balance Of trade
may often be against him; gold has to 60
out instead of come in; in other words, his
capital has gone just that way during the last
eight years.
WORKING CAPITAL.
Another great defect in our system of
farming is deficiency of sOorking capital;
By the time or before his land and mules and
few common implements are paid for, the
farmers money is all expended, and in most
cases, the ordinary work of making crop, is
done upon credit. Their is nothing left for
the Improvement of the farm-such as drain
ing irrigating, removing stumps, establishing