Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1878-11-14
Letter from the Tugaloo valley,

TUoALoo HOME, S. G., October %, 1873.
MEssRs. EDITORS: A fow i'm portant THOUGHTS
have suggested themselves to mo, rs tho pros
poet brightens for tho opening of the Tngaloo
River for navigation by steam. Since tho
introduction of progressive Turning in this
country, the farmers Of the Tugaloo VAL
ley and all othor valles, isolated from steam
transportation, have found their alluvinl low
lands to be less rcmuncratiye than compare.
tive poor upands favorable to market. Cause
and effect are inevitably linked together, and
consequently whom tho caugo is removed the
effect ceases. Let tho farmers of tho Tugaloo
Valley remove the cause of this lack of real
izing the full oxtent Of their low lands, and
by substituting mhigher and more progres.
si7e plan OF cultivation, they will become
more prosperous and independent.
Adaptabilty to circumstances is q great
incentive to success in life, in any and every
| particular, and it is not less so in farming.
There arc thousands of ncros Of low made land
on Tugaloo River, subject to inundation that
is adapted to nothing but to grow corn. and
until the farmers have low frcighss given
for exporting this heavy, bulky product, thoy
need not expect to be very highly rcmnncra,
ted by cultivating their bost land.
will now give few Of tho most promi.
nent points that stand connected with this
very desirable change.
lst. BY doing all they can to havc tho
river weil opened to, tho full cxtont of their
ability, it it becomes necessary for them to
havo it to do. Two foet Of draft is eli that is
claimed for tho eight horse power boat, and
there can be obtained threo feet of water by
removing transverse lodges of rocks and by
dredging and forcing the water to the boat
slulco, four feet depth ia not impossible or
very impracticable. Whom this is done tho
farmers have access to an inexaustible bed
of limo rock that they may at a small cost be
able to give their land good coating of lime;
not that am in favor of using lime alone as
fertilizer, but when used in composing or
turned under with vegetable matter on land
II becomes great vehicle to hurry IN
decomposition, and thus enables the buildine
up of our land with moro bulky substance
and have tho plant food that we hayo hereto
tore been unable to accomplish for want OF
efficient transportation. mover haye uscd
any guano that did not pay mo Handsomely
but it all has to be too highly concentrated to
keep handling of it from conflicting with
profit. to enable tho building up Of land
properly. 1t is said, feed our land and !,
will feed us; but land, like the stomach
needs bulk as wol as nutriment, rnd lime, in
my opinion, is ono Of tho bess ana cheapes,
agents to reduce bulk to plant food tha, VIC
can employ, and when wo can build up and
reinstate our river lands with cheap and
bulky matter and produce more bulky
material, corn. which is so we'll adapted te
these low lands, lying on Tugaloo and Seneca
Rivers, with cheap transportation to Augusta
tho best market in the South, in man,
respects, we at onco overcome the difficult,
that has hitherto kopt the farmer from real
izing remuneratve crop from their lands
Augusta IL a large manufacturing oity, ont
being situated in the cotton bolt and having
to depend mainly on shipping her supply Of
corn many miles by railroad, the price rarcl,
! comes under 81 per bushel, and if shippins
q is made successful the farmers certainly can
ship corn to that market with profit ohoape
4 thar Tennessoe can.