The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-02-14

In Europe. some crowded parts
Of Il. and III Asia. ii : lot uncom.
mon to sec soil carried in baskets
ana aprons even. 70 ! bare
rocks. There space j. the beside
ratum. labor IS nothing. Here the
conditions are very different. We
cannot afford TO transfer SOL bod
liz from one place 10 another. Not
even a rich soil. But this ditch
bank and fence corner, what IS it +:
Only a littlc better than the tim
soil OF the adjacent burrows. be-
cause Of a little litter, from the de-
bris Of a decaying fence /; pune bark.
and wood. and weeds and broom
scdge.
II the fences were removed and
the fence row planted, the two rows
Of cotton occupying is place would
grow a little higher and produce a
little more fibre, and that is all.
How can this dirt pay for blowing
and shoycling. and turning. and
hauling and drilling-fou or five
times hauling. Such treatment
would nearly If not quite exhaust
the value Of ordinary stable ma
nure. 50 much IS patent enough.
But t Is not merely a matter Of III
ference that this expenditure Of Ia
Dor is injudicious and wastelul. |
procured from II of the best farms
III Edgecombe, a sample of some
Of the best fence corner dirt,
and an analysis showed what | had
confidently predicted. that there
was less tim fre per- celf. Of humus
and all other fertilizing ingredients.
And 1t is safe to say that two to
three per cent. viii cover this aver
age, for nlne-tenths of all the ditch
banks and fence corners. Which
means that 9. to Is per cent. Of all
the labor expended in this way is Il
dead loss.
OF course, | have not taken into
account any side issue-such as re-
cesslty Of repairing fences. cleaning
fence corners, &c. One thing ut a
time. Neat farming IS good and
clean fence corners are good and re
pairing Of fences is necessary, / am
sorry to say that many Of the best
farms and farming regions Of the
State are not worth the cost Of fen
under the present condition,
and the sooner the whole absurd cX-
pense Of fences is abolished, the
better, but the present matter Of
IS The enormously cxpen-
slve mode Of fertilizing.
1t is really astonishing, this want
If calculation, Of just a little con-
.'lderation, a little figuring, a tritle
IF addition and subtraction. It is
mere routine, the following Of GUS
.om-custom established when la 5
was abundant and cheap-al- -,
though it never was cheap enough !
o Justify this practice, and never t
vas half as cheap as commonly I'M !
!
But, it may be asked, what shall ]
ve do: We must have something !
0 compost with cotton seed. Not I
lecessarily. But peat and muck
re generally obtainabIe, and viii !
letter pay for hauling several miles :
han fence corners for handling i
nee. f
And then the natural and uni c
ersal fertilizer of this region is
aarl- and while everybody Is fence
orncring and ditch-banking, not
IN ten IS raising a bushol Of
larl. =
| called to a farmer, IA crack =.
lrmer, 90 the other day-who was :
a the field, a very poor field, with :,
alf a dozen hands, pulling down :.
ences, grubbing and blowing and !
.noveling up dirt, poor dirt, very .
cor dirt-and asked him If there Il
mari in the neighborlood. There y
as, within a mile, plenty Of It. | Is
lggested the use Of it. None Of 9