The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-08-23
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS.

An Essay Read Before the State Grunge
at anderson, s. c., august 9th, 1877,
by Col. Thomas Taylor, President Of
the State Agricultural and Mechanical
association.
Since the early settlement of this Con-
tinent the products of the soil have been
the basis upon which our prosperity rests.
We ore an agricultural people, and re.
quire peace and quiet for the pursuit OF
agriculture. Originally, the natural fer
tility of the soil was very great; the tim
Der was cut down and destroyed to ena-
BILE the farmer to grow those products
which fed and clothed the people of this
country and large portion of the people
of the world. The system pursued by
the farmers was to cut down the timber
and plant the same crop yearly without
any rest to the land, until it became al
most unproductiye; then they turned their
attention to clearing more land, and the
same ruinous system was pursued until
the whole country was cleared and ex.
hausted in what are known as the old
settled States of this Continent. So soon
as this system of cultivation had exhaus-
ted the most productive land in. South
Carolina, our people began moving to
new States, which were represented as
more fertile, when the same system OF
planting and eultivating was pursued,
until they, too, became exhausted to a
great degree. 1t is apparent to us all
that the result must be the same so long
as this system of agriculture prevails.
Peace and quiet reigned over the land
for almost century; then came about a
sectional trouble, which upset our State
government and changed our system OF
labor. 1t then became necessary to re-
sort to a different plan and mode OF pre-
paration to make the products upon the
exhausted lands pay the producer. How
was this condition of things to be re-
lieved? That was the question to the
farmers. He felt very little disposed to
make an effort with almost certainty OF
failure. Still, something must be done
to enable him to support and educate his
children. 1t was impossible to make
enough manure on his farm to supply to
the exhausted land what the plant re-
quired, and he felt disheartened at the
prospect.
The improvement in agricultural i'm
plements had been very great, and he
naturally turned his attention to supply
ing this defect in measure by ploughing
and better culture. In some instances
this proved successful; in most cases it
was ruinous to the land, burying What
little soil was left in the land to such q
depth that the plant could not reach it to
make use of it; for observation proves
that the plant does not penetrate beyond
certain depth to find and take up its
nourishment; thus the land became less
productive than before.
A few years ago the whole country
went wild upon results of experiments by
Mr.. Dixon, of Georgia, and without cal
culating the effect of deep ploughing
upon the different grades of soil that ex-
lists in each State, many planters adopted
the plan laid down by Mr.. Dixon for all
soils; they made many failures, de-
nounced improved implements and deep
ploughing, and went back to the old
shovel plough without knowing why they
had failed.
A friend of mine had plantation on
which he thought Dixon's ploughing and
culture would produce similar results.
He read Mr.. Dixon's articles with great
care and attention he bought the mules
and ploughs, and. he ploughed and SUBJ
soiled until he could almost see the gilt
ter of gold with each furrow the plough
turned. He had his land ploughed and
narrowed and ready for the seed before
his neighbor commenced work. About
this time his neighbor, who had the same
kind of soil, thrashed down his cotton
and corn stalks, and with the old short
shove! plough reversed the old beds and
planted his crop. My friend, whose
place looked like garden, could not but
feel pity for the failure that was ahead
for his neighbor. Both crops were plan
ted, and both came up. My friends
heart went out in sympathy over the
feeble effort made by his neighbor. But
10 the neighbor's crop soon passed his
in size, and continued to do so up to har-
vesting. The result of harvest was still
greater than between the growth and
fruiting; and he, disgusted with i'm
proved implements, went back to the old
shovel plough, and pronounced Dixon a
humbug. Here is case where all the
bearings were not taken into considera-
ton. My friend attempted to accom-
plish in one year what Mr.. Dixon had
taken probably five years to do, turning
the land shallow at first, and increasing
the depth gradually, by which means he
preserved what there was of soil left upon
the land for the use of the plant.
The success of the farmer has been the
result of experiment, and not of knowl-
edge; and so long as we work in the
dark no specified result can be certain.
1t is self evident that all land must be
ploughed, but how should it be ploughed
depends upon the character of the soil.
Sandy soil should be ploughed shallow
first; it may be subsoiled to any depth,
and the ploughing may be deepened each
year without injury to land or crop.
Clay and bottom land can be ploughed
deeper, following with the subsoil, and
increasing the depth in ploughing yearly.
All land should be ploughed in the fall
and winter, and get the benefit of frost
and ice; land gets great deal Of fructi-
flying power from ice and frost. We now
have exhausted land and improved i'm
plements which enables us to prepare the
land thoroughly for the seed. We need
something more. We get that in the
commercial manures, which supply to
the plant those chemical properties which
have been exhausted by long culture and
injudicious management.
We now have land and implements,
but we need something to make the land
productive to sufficient degree to pay
the producer. We find underlying some
of the land and waters in the lower part
of the State phosphate deposit, which,
upon being ground and rendered soluble,
forms the basis of a manure, which sup
plies to lands those properties which have
been exhausted These mixtures, known