The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1877-08-24

year what NIr. Dixon had taken probably
i've 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 knowledge;
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 it should be pioughed depends upon
the character of the soil. Sandy soil should
be ploughed shallow first; it may be sub
solled 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 subsoi, and in
creasing the depth in ploughiug yearly
All land should be ploughed iu the fall and
winter, and get the benefit of frost and, ice !;
land gets great deal Of fructifying pbwer
from ice and frost. We now have exlSaus-
ted land and improved implements which
enable us to prepare the land thoroughly
Tor the seed. We need something more.As
We get that in tho commercial manures,
which supply to the rlant those chemical
properties which have been, exhausted b.
long culture and injudicious management.
We now have land and implements, but
VIC need something to make the land produc-
tive to sufficient degree to pay the produ-
GER We find underl ying some of the llnd
aud waters in the lower part of the State
phosphate deposit, which, upon being
ground and rendered soluble, forms the basis
of a manure, which supplies to lands those
properties which have been exhausted
These mixtures, known as commercial ma
nures, have become generally used, and
have even, with our experimental applica.
tlons, paid the produce. in some instances.
This vast source Of wealth to the State and
farmers seems to be providential, and is the
means by which We will be enabled to re-
cover our losses in great measure. If the
farmers had known now to make proper use
OF this discovery, their lands would have i'm
proved yearly, instead of failing, after repea-
ted applications Of fertilizers 1t is almost
the universal system of the farmer to apply
the cetton seed, with its increase by the use
OF commercial manure, to some other cxhaus-
ted land, instead of returning the same to
the land that made it. Thereby they render
the land less productive each year, after the
first tor second application. This sy stem will
not build up our exhausted lands, but have
the reverse effect. The rotation of crops in
some degree removes the difficulty, but even
that will not effect it entirely You must
return all tho increased production of an
acre OF land, which is used as manure, to the
same land, and not attempt to build up two
pieces of land with the production of one.
NO liuu can stand suol, Lopl~,;y.. .n1 o
the producer The best evidence OF fne
fertility of our lands is that they have been
able to stand such a system of culture aud
produce anything. have travelled over some
of the best farming lands in the Northwest,
the New Eng glaDd and Middle States. The
same system would and did, for time, rem
dci these lands very poor. The owners,
however, saw the error of their c"lturc, and
adopted system Of rotation planting
piece of land once in three years, sowing
grass and limcing. What was the result !?
Their lands increased in yield steadily until
they surpassed their virgin state. The same
thing can be done here, with equal success,
by Il rotation Of crops-sowing peas and
clover and turning in the same Do not
take these from the land because they look
so fine and you are short of rough food for
your mules ana calIlc. III. a~.,.r.I rort;Etv
of our lands cannot be disputed No State
has more natural advantages than South
Carolina We can grow al the crops that
are grown on the continent, from the olive
and banana down to the most substantial
needs Of people. Where can we find such
an Eden? Yet, with these natural advan-
tages, we arc poor. Gentlemen, the remedy
is within our reach. First, We must settle
in our minds that we will stay where we are
There is 10 better place to move to, and then
we 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 churned
up and distributed to make blood, bone and
How is the fertilizer to be used with the
largest result to the farmer? Is it by ap-
plying large quantities to the acre? ! EN-;
Phatieally say no. You require only what
the land will utilize forthc 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
calculated by the result obtained In some
instances it has been rcmunerativc; in others
the reverse. | assert, without fear of con-
tradiction, that fertilizers cannot be used
successfully without oscertoininp-.frSt