The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-11-27

! nS'eof obu tsey aTe more troublesome tC
make and preserve. This ie one reason
why the phosphates. are preferred. Ia
tne early history Of agriculture ia South
carolina no one though. of manuripg his
Land. 1his was too much trouble. The
farmers thought it better TO clear new
land, wear it out, aud move of to fresh
country. This vicious custom has Cost
South Carolina millions Of wealth aud
thousands of her citizens. How great
would our State be to-day il she could re-
claim all her emigrant citizens and the
wealth they carried off.
The spirit of emigration Teakens also
the patriotism of the emigrant, and he
no longer loves, as he ought TO, the home
OF his birth, or the home Of his adoption.
But since the overthrow of Radical rule
10 South Carolina, this spirit of emigra.
lion has ceased, aud every one thinks of
improving his lands instead OF wearing
them out. In former times the ignorant
farmer never thought of preser 'ing; his
manures, and very often built hi, Bb.bies
and cow lots on the side Of hill, so that
the rains and aoods might keep them
clean. / have heard. farmers say that
they never manured o foot of land in
their lives. Now there is rcarcely a
farmer, no matter how ignorant he NAV
be, who does not try to manure as much
OF his cultivated fields rs possible.
In the early history of South Carolina.
the largest portion of the lands were in
woods, and cattle were permitted to range
over it at pleasure. The Legislature
passed laws requiring every one to fence
his fields, and declared how high law.
full fence should be. But lew years
since, the legislation was most wisely
changed, and 40 act was passed .requiring
every one to fence his stock, and author.
| lzllg the. farmer to cultivate his fields
without any fence at all. Iregard this
mo fence law" as the wisest Act the
Legislature; has passed for years past,
The expense Of fences in South Carolina;
was five times more than the whole live
stock of the State was worth. The wis.
dom OF this law. in requiring all cattle to
be kept up, is seen all over the country,
in theimproved breeds of cattle, hogs and
sheep. II is seen too in the increased and
improved. quantity of butter brought to
market. Instead of baing engaged in
the latter part of the Winter and early in
the Spring, in making and repairing his
Itepces, the farmer now; has time Ito haul
e,t his !nmalures m and maEeEat thorough
preparation for his crop.
The first consideration of;eyery farmer
should be to drain his low grounds thor.
ougl y, and keep his uplands from wash.
ing by deep plonghing, aud sowing them
IN small grsin and clover occasionally,
and hillside ditching if necessary. Deep
subsoiling will almost render the farmer
Independent of ordinary droughts. In
Order TO enable the roots of plants 10
extract the fertility of the soil. il
should dibe we'll pulverized, and no
clods eft unbroken. When the ground
is we'll broken and pulyerized and deeply
sEosoiled, very shallow p!owing after.
| wards 10 best for the crop. 1t ia i. mistake
to suppose that breaking roots improves
tIeir growth. AS we'll might we expect
to Increase the volume of water In creek
bv cutting off the spring branches which
i feed it.
1t is great mistake to plant so much
cotton as we do, and depend on the great
West for our corn, -four, bacon, lard,
horses and cattle. It is doubtful whether
| there is any profit in growing cotton un.
der ten cents. When the planter sells
his cotton and purchases his supplies he
| will very often find himself in debt. He
should make corn, wheat and meat
enough to do him, and raise his own
horses, mules and cows. Then he may
plant as much cotton as he can cultivate.
But there are great many crops more
profitable at this time than cotton.
think tobacco is one of them. So are
| the grasses when we'll cured and fed to
the stock. They improve the land too,
and keep it from washing. Lucerne is
one of the finest grasses the farmer can
grow, ;eud it may be cut three or four
times during the season. tits very nu.
tritious, and stock are fond of it, green
or cured. General Davie, whilst our
minister to France, said he saw tie peas.
antry of that country eating it es green's.
It requires less labor to grow wheat,
rye, oats, barley and the grasses. than 1t
does to grow cotton; and this should be
an important consideration with the
farmer who has 10 hire bis labor. These
crops, too, are more profitable in proper
tion to the labor! In raisi1g them than
cotton. They also improve the land,
instead of wearing 1t out as cotton does.
For many years it was supposed that
| the gsaPe cnltnra would never epcceed in
the United States. In 1886 visited Mr..
Edward Everett, then President of the.
Cambridge University. He had been
minister TO Crest Britain, aud travelled
all over Europe. He said TO me that We
never could succeed in cultivating the
grape, that there was aomething In our
climate which made our grapes inferior
| TO those of Europe. he remarked that
the Chinese:whosi siiged in the same lati-
! tude that We do, on .the other side. of the
| earth, and were very ingenious people,
never had been. able to make wine, and
swt could not In The United States. Bat
within few yeas after this ronys rsation
/ wine was successfully mad in Chic aud
Caiiforuia, Aud 1t 10 NOW we'll known
that the grape grows remarka6s; @s!! 4:
South Carolina, and that excellent wins
is made in many parts of the State. DR..
Marshall, in his lifetime, planted lsrge
vineyard on. the side Of Paris Mountain,
In Greenville, aud made several thousand
gallons OF zine Afr. BUST and several
other gentlemen living near Greenville
Oity, have rfourishing vineyards. sssr.
Oharpani, q FrencbmaD, has recently
commenced a ayjneyard on g large scale,
and 60 far has been successful. He eays
that our climate is better adapted to the
culturelofs Tie grape than Efance. Mr..
Gafreaux, q Swiss, has sold grapes this
year and made wine ON one and aItflIrd
acfes, 70 the amount Of six or nine hun.
tdred dollars, and i have seen it stated
that Ar. Wahner, of Valhalla, has made
on; ono acre, grapes end wine to the
amount OF seven or eight hundred dollars.
How much more profitable, then, Ia the
culture Of the grape than that Of coitsn.
II would be well for our farmers to take
tbis culture into serious consideration.
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