The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-03-08
Wnat 800 So Fsrnlng

Col. John H. Dent, a large and sue
cessful farmer of Floyd county, Ga, asks
q contemporary to give an article on the
subject: What constitutes good farm
ing"
1t is proper question for discussion
in an agricultural convention or journal,
but one on which opinions differ about as
much as soils, climates and traditions
differ among mankind. The farmer who
makes every square yard of his farm, i
small, produce the best paying crops
with least Expense and Injury to the land
is generally esteemed the best manager
for he makes the most money per scre
Col d. remarks: We want infOrma.
ton as a stimulus in conducting our
farming operations-some new ideas to
draw us out of the ruts We have been
laboring in since the emancipation oil
slaves, which has proved OF little profit.
Good farming implies that professional
knowledge which enables one to render
land productive and profitable that was
before unproductive aud Improbable
Bermuda grass, bluegrass and many
Others viii de- this with stock and wool
growing IN the hands of men who under
stand at once the business of grass cul.
ture and sheep industry, the soil and
climate where their skill is to be tested
practically. Cotton planters, whose old
hag haar, hob, =h1-,1I L.
ling to become students, and learn other
branches of rural industry, in which one
hand manages two hundred acres in
grass and stock, because nature does ten
times more to make the crop and the
future of the land-holder than the pillow,
the hoe and the WORKOUT cotton field of
the'old system ever accomplished. Cease
land killing with all its vices.
Georgia is state of magnificent dis
rances between plantations and farms.
where titled land contains now more of
the elements of crops than nature gave
it. What the soil loses from year to
year ofthe precious things that form corn,
wheat and-cotton by blowing shallow up
and down hills, By washing and teaching,
by plant food removed in annual harvests,
is matter of fact which must be deeply
pondered to become a frst-class farmer.
To have millions of acres Of unproduc-
tive land which might yield excellent ma
nure ifnothing else, and pay millions OF
dollars annually for imported fertilizers,
looks ike bsd economy. Fertility will
grow in every field just as naturally as
| q sucking pig with plenty OF milk. To
utilize this growing power one needs
grass.
The plant food in good sod is worth
'rsm $50 to 500 per acre to make grain.
cotton or vegetables. The moss that
grows on granite rock and the leaves of
the long-leaf pine yield considerable
potash, which is cheaper than potash
imported from Germany for aGeoroi
farmers. For 100 years grass has grown
on Augusta commons with the minimum
OF labor, has never run out, but has ken,
many animals and produced a great deal
of manure. Any land will do as we'll q
not scourged by the pillow and wasbinn
rains. kentucky bluegrass does well ie
Green county, Georgia, and with prona,
treatment, it will grow and form a tn.
down 20 the ocean. Georgia should r.iaa
horses and mules, cattle and sheen e..
European markets on the best cultivstoI
grasses.
Savannah exported beef, talIcw and
hides to the mother country before ~.
revolution, and the soil and climate :.
Georgia greatly favor this industru
What prevents its adoption? Notbira
but lack OF moral courage to listen =
the teachings of experience and tr,.t
and abandon the bad habit of mali.
millions of acres OF turned out old 6al5@
by unwise planting to the exclusion :,
husbandry. Georgia farmers should -
wise enough aud brave enough f. ne,
themselves out OF the ruts of exclus;vs
planting into a system OF diversified a.
riculture, including a wider rance
stock husbaudry equal to the area :.
their noble state. Why talk of Ii,
Sunny SOUTH" and blindly and sullepl,
refuse to use the blest sunshine that fall