Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1877-08-30


take these from tho land because they look
so fine and you arc short of rough food for
your mules aud cattle The natural fertility
of our lands cannot bo disputed. No State
has more natural advantages than South
Carolina. We can grow all tho crops that
arc grown on the continent, from the olive
aud banana down to the most substantial
needs Of the people. Where can we find
such an Edcn3 Yet with these natural ad.
vantagcs, we arc poor. Gentlemen, tho
remedy is within our reach. First, we
must acttle iu our minds that We will stay
where wc arc. There is no better place to
move to, and then VIC must work in the
constitution Of the land. The land holds
the power to prepare the food for the plant,
but you have to put the material into it,
just as YOU supply the stomach with
food, which is then churncd up, and then
distributed to make blood, bone and muscle.
How is the fertilizer to be used with the
largest results to tho farmer? Is it by ap--
plying largo quantities to tho acrcY en-.
phaticaly say no. You require only what
the land will utilize for the plant to consume
and all over that supply is wasted for that
year, and think is lost to the farmer. How
will you ascertain the quantity the land
will enable the plant to use? UP to this
time that has been experimental and caleu.
lated by the result obtained. In some in>
| stances it has been rcmunerntive; in others
the reverse. assert, without tcar Of con
tradiction that fertilizers cannot be used
successfully without asccrtaining-frst,
what the land has been exhausted Of, second,
what quantity of fertilizer the land viii en-.
able the plant to consume. This can be
obtained only by analysis. This would be
expensive to the farmers singly, but not 20,
as whole. There is one fact to be kept in
mind. The constitutional tone of the land
must be partially restored before you can
reap large results from the use Of fertilizers.
Land that will produce 500 pounds Of seed
cotton without the aid of fertilizers will
certainly produce from onc-third to one
half more by their use. 1t may double the
yield. That, however, would bo too large
and estimate as a general rule. I have had
with the application of 200 pounds of Pa
ciic guano, oD river land yield of 1900
and 500 pound per acre of seed cotton,
which did not yield moro than 500 to 600
pounds without it. have also had tho
same result from tho Etiwan, both beating
! Peruvian euano. This land, however,
seemed particularly adapted to the applca
ton Of fertilizers, aud tho crop has never
fallen back in the past four years. These
lands were cleared by the Indian, before the
white man settled tho country.
The manner and mode of applying fertil
zcrs is very uniform; it is sowcd in n deep
furrow and the dirt Tapped upon 1.-THE
cotton being planted upon tho top of tho
bed. Sometimes second application is
made after the cotton is thinncd to stand
by running furrow close to the cotton,
sowing the fertilizer and throwing a
furrow upon it. This second arp!i-
cation gives new impetus to the plant,
and gocs far to pcrfccting its fruit if there
is enough vitality in the land to give sus
tenancc to the plant for 80 long time
There is very often visible in the month of
August upon tho cotton plant what is called
rust by many farmers. The leaves decay
and drop off and the plant dies. say its
not the rust in most cases, but proceeds
fror, the soil being unable to supply food
any longer, the fertilizer having exhausted
all the vitality that was in tho land for that
crop. The cotton had attained good size,
we'll fruitcd, all opened and picked early in
September. 1t may be said by some that
preaching and practice arc two different
things. | admit that you mny preach
always, but unless VIC practice we cannot
expect to cure tho land Of poverty. Tho
longer the land is without medicine and
food for the plant, tho more difficult will be
the task of building it up. There is no time
like the present to begin with the remedy
TIIOS. TAYLOR.
Richaud County, s 9.