The Concordia eagle. [volume] (Vidalia, La.) 1873-1890, 1880-04-01
Ho,c to Improve Your Lttnd.

the farmers improve their land
each year. but the greatest num-
Der of them follow, in the cul>
ture, the routine learned from
their ancestors and, as this
question is one of vital inter-
est for everybody, l ask tor a
space in your able journal, for
the insertion of this letter and
other ones, at a future date:
The agriculture of a country
is not as 5uoyant as it should be,
if it is not based on these two
fundamental principles: LIST.
that the soil renders all posi-
BILE fruit End, that the expenses
In cultivation shall be smaller
than the value of the crops,
Any large, or small, farm with
out these two conditions can be
only of an apparent and icti'
tious prosperity, but it is not OF
positive value.
Chemistry, botany and ento>
mology, under experienced
teaching, have learned us rules,
according to which the work
has to be done. to ensure sue
cess. A farm does not render
all the profit it should, if it is
not well fertilized /; if the cul>
tivation is not adapted to the
nature of its soil ; if the seeds
dom: fill the requisites pre-
scribed by science; if they SOW
constantly the same seed in the
same land if the soil is too
wet or too dry f; if the insects
destroy the plants, and if they
don't cultivate all kinds of
plants they should.
All soils are composed of or
gapic substances. sulpbates,
phosphates, silicates, nitrates,
carbornates and chorides OF
lime, soda, potash, alumina and
magnesia, aud some iron. The
growth of every plant is based
upon these principles and the
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and
oxygen in atmosphere. That
is to say, the cotton, for exam
pie, takes from the soil in two
parts of its ashes, 50 OF potash,
10 of magnesia, 4 of lime, 80 OF
phosphoric acid, a of sulphuric
acid, 2 of carbonic acid, l OF
iron, l of chlorine, aud 8 of
Slice and charcoal. 1t is very
fair, then, to suppose that the
ground has lost each year. of its
fertility, as much as the weight
of these ashes ; SO that there
will arrive a time when the
ground will become barren.
if we don't restore to it these
elements.
Three ways are known to
remedy this evil, viz: The fer
filters, the rotation in the crops,
and the faltoaO. The fertilizers
are natural and artificial. The
guano of Peru belongs to the
first class; the fish refuse, pulls
verified bones, stable manure,
and green manure, are the prin-
Gpal ones belonging to the sec
ond but they are not id0neous
in the same degree, and al
though in principle they all are
profitable ones, this property
varies ia each one and for each
plant. The best fertilizer for q
cotton field is the cotton seed /;
the best for onions, cabbages,
melons, lettuce, &c, is the fowls
excrement, well pulverized and
perfectly mixed with the earth
one month before planting the
seeds.
Very few among the farmers
in this parish are able to buy
fertilizers, and they must be
cautious in doing it, because
there are a good many kinds,
and they could be cheated in the
bargain if experienced chem
lists or honest merchants have
not previously assured the per~
centage of soluble substar ces
and nitrogen contained in them.
The best manner then of saving
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