Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-01-11

n
sence of thrift and prosperity; the ma
| tu-al resources of the country, which II
some instances are of superior aud in
viting character, are nu- developed. IL
| the midst of timber tile fences are poor
and in the midst of natural grasses the
stock is inferior. Grain raising lands
are planted and replanteh, until they
run Uu;, and until necessity compelS the
clearing # N re land. \ few senti-
mental farmers would be God send tC
some of these communities.
Thus YOU have the Two extremes OF
farming. The first extreme if 1t is one
I need not mOraliZe upon nor warIl
you against. We can affrrd to regard
the sentimental farmer as public ben
efactor We scarcely have enough of
them for seed. and until the crop is larg-
er there is no need for criticism. Men
of this kind are the men who have led
every advance in agriculture. They are
the men who, regardless of reimburse
ment; have searched every part Of the
world for improved breeds of stock
who have inaugurated the present
wealth of farm machinery-who have
experimental with fertilizers and drain
age-who have advanced the sanitary
conditions of farm life-whO have. in a
word. spent the money that has stlmu-
lated the brains Of the chemists and i'll
ventors who have contributed so essen
TALLY and incredibly of late years to
raising the standard of practical and
profitable in this country.
GEN. GARFIELD AS A FARMER.
As a specimen Of this sort of farming
l may perhaps appropriately speak OF Il
visit that paid during the lifetime OF
President Garfield 10 his Mentor farm
1t was not particularly desirable farm
when he bought it. There was swamp
on its northern boundary toward Lake
Erie of ten to twelve acreS-which was
created by a number of springs that
oozed out of the bottom of slope-and
so deep was this swamp that a horse OF
COW could not wade through it, except
in dry season. 1t was considered, and
always had been considered an IRE,
claimably waste piece of land, and as
such had always deprecated the selling
value Of the farm. After the General
had bought the farm he began to look
into hs swamp, to see if anything could
be done. He saw that, like the lOwlands
of the Nile, it was the richest part OF
Egypt, and SO he determined to spend
some money experimenting. He sunk
first one well and then another to tap
the sources of these springs, and when
at last he had succeeded, the problem
with his neighborS was how he was t.
get rid of the overflow of the well, mas
much as the swamp was dish and could
not be drained He showed them how
by putting in an automatic ram, which
forced the water up hill to his honse and
to his barnyard, and WAS thus made to
answer every purpose of convenience
and economy as a permanent water sup
ply. This he did at an expense of $500
and thus he gained ten acies of very
rich soil, which producsd large crops
and paid back all the mOEey spent on il
" it'll good interest. This Ras-Rot only
sentimental farming, but brain farming
and the General congratulated himself
on his success not only on account of the
benefits accruing to himself, but also for
the sake of the wholesome example lie
had set to his neighborS.
A SOUTHERN BRAIN FARMER.
While ] am on this branch of my
subject | may refer to another instance
of sentimental and brain sarming. 1t
was recently published in the Atlanta,
Ga, Constitution, and is a circumstance
that seems to have created quite SEN
sation and impression i'll the cotton
growing belt of the South. Some four
years ago a somewhat famous local pol
itician in Georgia, who was a man of
brains and education, and had been sue
cessful in politics. concluded very wise
~ to abjure politics and devote his at
tention to his planting interests. He
was a man of some wealth, and he con-
clvded to use some of it in experiments
looking to the restoration of his lands,
and the increase in their cotton produ-
cling capacity. He had noticed that
while the imported fertilizers i'll general
use would increase the crop, yet they
did not in any degree tend to the perma-
nent restoration of the soil to its virgin
condition. He devoted himself to the
careful reading of organic chemistry,
and he became satisfied from the prin-
ciples of fertilization there laid down
that in order to increase his crops and
restore his land he must restore to the
land as nearly as possible the same con-
Stituent elements he took from it. In
pressed with this view he had a number
of careful analyses made of the con-
stituent elements of the cotton
plant, and began experimenting with
composts that would as far as possible
chemically combine the cotton plant ell
ements. He chose for his experiment
q Of oh
the unaided crop of cotton had only
been bales. or about LA of a bale to
the acre, a crop that would not pay even
at Is cents per pound for going through
the forms of cultivation. The first ex
pertinent increased the crop to IL bales,
and sensbly increased the tone of the
land. The second increased it to IS
bales, and still more decidedly improved
the land. The third year gave him a
crop of 81 bales, and the condition of the
land was still more pronounced. This
year he raised bale to the acre, which
is the average crop of the rich alluvial
lands of Louisiana, and his great success
newspapers, and has attracted the at
tention of the planters far and near.
Many of them have examined the land
and find it wonderfully restored in its
soil, and this too while yielding con-
stantly increasing crops.
Of course the principles followed in
these experiments had been laid down
| by Liebig and other authorities on Or
ganic Chemistry, but it remained for
this sentimental and practical ex-politi-
clan of Georgia to apply these general
principles of fertilization specifically to
cotton. Results prove that there is no
mixture for land equal to brains. 1t is
great thing to have man of mean,
of brains and enterprise among a COM
munity of farmers.
INTELLIGENT ENPIRICIsM IN FARMING.
Many years ago had the pleasure of
hearing an address to the graduating
class of the Jefferson Medical Colleg.,
Philadelphia, by DR.. DunglinSon. we'll
known Professor and anthor in that
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