The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-12-20
THE GREAT CREATIVE INDUSTRY
ItS Attractions, Capabilities, Wants, Ad
vnntages and Disabilities.
NUMBER II.


NUMBER II.
Can Yemunerative crops be realized
from year to year with constantly in
creasing fertility? This occupies the
whole ground--theory and practice.
This is the question of questions to the
entire farming community, and should
be pondered by every individual farmer.
What answer does the history of agricul-
ture in this community give to the ques-
tion7 What, but an emphatic negative?
Quilted, sterile fields and wide wastes tell
a melancholy tale of havoc and destruc-
ton. Take, if you will, trip by rail to
the capitol &C your State; keep sharp
lookout, and, with occasional reliefs Of
green spots of fertility, you will see a
country denuded of its primeval forest,
| and vast tracts with not solitary speci-
| men left TO speak of the grandeur, beau
ty and glory of the past, but visible
everywhere. waste, sterility and desola-
tion. Less thar it ce2--:.y;I ::2z ;:-cnght
the Ottoman Turk had dcspoiled it; the
| Bedouin Arab had annually raided it
and seized upon all he could lay hands
| on. Such was the sad impression pro-
duced upon one who has lately seen this
| region, and it made him tremble for the
destiny Of his native land in the near
| future.
| How many fields reduced to cult:Ta-
ton fftyy years ago still retain their orig
inal productiveness? Here and there It
may be q few acres favorably located and
cared for produce fair crops, or bank or
bottom enriched by alluvial deposits, but.
| for the most part lands cultivated that
| far back have been turned out, and much
of the same has been feiied II second time
and put to cotton. Thousands of acres,
III living memory have been treated in,
this manner, and with some honorable
exceptions and slight general advance
this is our agricultural system of to-day.
Is this rapid decadence and declension
inseparably incident upon the cultivation,
of the soil? by no means. Not neces.
sarily so, but arising partly from reck-
lessness, partly from ignorance and dis
| regard to physical laws. Nor is this i'm
poverishment permanent. The recupe-
| rative energies of nature are wonderful.
The sun will continue to dispense his
heat, the air to watt its gases, the dew
fructify the waste places again. They
will be reclaimed. ~ .,
The wisdom that imnczed labor and
toll upon man as the price of food, be-
slowed on the earth such qualities, when
akiIf:lly and intelligently directed and
utilized, IS / be capable to produce in
endless succession. Hence, the pursuit
OF agriculture is permanency, not to be
superseded by Che alembic Of the chemist
nor the advancement and perfection of.
science. But bread must be made by
/ bone and muscle as long as the genera
| ion of man cldures.
Nor is this retrogression general or
universal: In other quarters of the world
the same lands have been continually
cultivated from remote antiquity. China
| hes been densely populated for forty
centuries, and her productive capacities
are not known to be diminished. Much
Of Europe .sas thickly settled before the
beginning Of our own era. Italy sus-
tanned a population during the Common,
wealth greater perhaps than at present,
and yet the identical fields parcelled out
70: the soldiers of Marius and Sylla, and
tho seven acres of ,Cincinnatus are pro-
ducing profitable crops at this day.
| England has doubled her production of
II
that theirs is sp intensive system, coase.
quent upon an over.crowded popnlstion :
thst 1t is necessary in order To- sustain
existence itsclf; that the most rigid econ
omy must be practired in che cultivation
cl .l.c;. farms s,nd il tae consumption OF
their products, which often are but bare
subsistence; and TINT we wko live la this
new world nFe not under the same exi-
gencies; that we have broad and spleni;
did domain TO choose from; that when,
we cut down and wear out We have only
to migrate to fFeaher lands. Granted
chat these are tfhths: yet, already in the
eastern tier of State, even in our newly
peopled country, the renoyating system
has been found necessary. We begin 10
realize Tint ii we wodid be supported by
our farma, and leave on, them any yalua-
nia possessions Tor posteTi:t.y, We must stop
this premature decay and rapid deterio-
ration. This has been successfully begun
ia many portions of the country. Bare
mention need be made to refresh the \
recollection, to many of the Systematic
cultivation, the admirable management
and the magnificent crops In large sec
tlona OF Virginia, Maryland and Penn.
Syivania, where bpt o. few. years before
urorueH waste ana steriii we're on ali
sluea apparent, Like imp. ovement and
regeneration we believe are possible for
.ns uho live in q country in physical fea.
tures similar, IN variety and abundance
of production not inferior. Not rs some
have contended, solely by eating up our |
tafms IN small parcels and selling out 20 |
imrnigtanso, and so rob ne Of the glory
we may achieve for ourselves. Nor as |
Others say By eeaeentrating all our means |
and resources on few acres. We offer