The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-04-23
.sdRI0ULTURAL DEPARTMENT..
Southern Agriculture.


from the car windows, seem to be cx-
Sceedingly crude or incorrect. The
general idea current among them is,
that the southern soil is poor and i'll
fertile, and the southern people wretch
ed Land very inadequntely cared for by
themselves. circumstances alter
cases." and this applies very forcibly
to the, agriculture and the people of
the Southern States.
The first strange thing which is re-
marked is the old pine fields and the
broom sedge which covers the turned
Land which has not grown up with
"'ie,i it is to be confessed,
the watcr-wOrn gnllies
and scam the land, and the
weeds, arc at first disagrcca-
&c eye of farmer used to the
cultivation of the Northern and
stern States, but one may be easily
,lstakcn in his view of even these. |
have heard persons remark as the cars
spGd through the best part of the cot
ton belt, "what wrctchod weeds these
are which cover all the land" Where
40 these southern people grow any
thing. AT the same time these weeds
were the stalks Of cotton which may
have turned out $50 worth to the acre.
not bit worse than the old-fashioncd
bare fallows which used to be so COM
mon in the best tarmcd districts of the
North, for they are really one and the
same way of restoring land to some
degree of fertility by means of the
natural process of resting it. or the
two methods prefer the southern one,
for would rather grow a crop of
weeds or timber on unused land, than
leave it bare and plowcd, for even one
summer. And it is an absolute ncCcs-
sity of southern agriculture that this
system of turning out land should be
praCticed. Where no stock is kept, or
very little, | sec no other resource for
tEo planter Of cotton and tobacco than
10 work his lands up to a certain point |
and then resort to his only possible |
method oftoloWing as means of res
toration. He is bound by his climate
ana his other environments, and as the |
cotton region Of the South is not u
stock country, and never will be a |
dairy region, and is not very good |
corn country, and seems to have been
made for cotton aud tobacco, with n
sufficient quantity of grain, fodder and |
meat to supply the domestic consump-
ton only, the southern farmer must
not be judged by q test which is en-
tircly foreign to his circumstances.
The next thing which is conspicuous
is the poor dwellings that are so com,
mon, houses without gables and open
as the poorest barns in newly settled
places in the North This, too, is a
necessity of the case. If any of these
winter visitors would pass over the
same route in July, August and Sep
tcmbcr, they would see the ADVANTAGE
of these airy dwellings in quite diff
tcrcnt light. But every man to his
taste, and if southern people desire
such houses, and object to glass in the
windows, would give them their un-
doubted right to have them. have
met with the kindcst hospitality, and
with the most nrlicntr and careful
consideration in houses Of this kind.
ana would consider the character of
the house as secondary consideration
l have lived at one time in log shantv
with roof of hcmlock bark, having
square hole in the centre for chimney
and must say that ! enjoyed life then
quite as much rs III house with every |
luxury of modern fashion,. 1t is not |
the house, but the man in it which is
the true test.
But it would be Il very great mistake
to think that one sees everything from
the car windows, and that there arc as
well cultivated farms or comtoriahln
houses in the South, or that southern
farmers are not competent to Judge
tor themselves of what is the tittcst for
them. IL makes n very great change |
in ones opinions when he is brought |
face to face with new necessities. This |
(, i> II Iva A
III regard to its agriculture and lis |
social and political conditions, and
Northern man moviong to the SOuth |
must free his mind from the force of
prejndices and be prepared to bcnin a
new life and view things from a diff
fercnt point of view if he would b,
either successful or happy. 1T is these
prcJudiccS ami the determination TO
remain aliens and foreigners in a
strahnc land, which presents the sue
cess of what are called Northern colo
MES in the South. From my expo.
mcnce of these enterprises | ain very
much opposed to them and would rec
ommcnd persons dcsirous of moving
to the South to avoid them as far as
possible, and to make themselves at
home among their new neighbors, and
above all things to avoid towns founded
by spectators and land sharks, who
try to attract victims by calling their
enterprises Northern colonies. As
snoW-takCs falling into the ocean and
quietly mingling with the surrounding
element, so must persons who 90 to
the South minglc with the people, and |
lose their identity in the general mass,
No doubt an energetic northern
man would find ODDOrfunit;oo Fnr |
changing the methods ofagricuturc in
the South, and mostly in those locoii-
llcs Where the climate more nearly ap-
Proaches that of the North as it does IN
the mountain region which have
been describing. But even in the low
country, where cotton is supreme, y
northern farmer can improve upon the
present methods, which is % chirnv NV
marked 6iy 6y strong dread and fca. Of
grass region, and there are srveroi
native varieties which grow with pro
fusion. Now grass is the basis ot