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


from the car windows, seem to be cX-
rceedingly crude or incorrect. The
general idea current among them is,
That the southern soil is poor and in-
fehtile, and the southern people wretch
edi and very inadequatcly cared for by
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
'r,is, it is to be confessed,
r., the water-worn gullies
and seam the land, and the
. weeds, are at first disagrcca-
g cye of farmer used to the
cultivation of the Northern and
.Atcrn States, but one may be easily
lstaken in his view Of even these. /
nave heard persons remark as the cars
spsd 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 NAV
have turned out $50 worth to the acre.
In the same manner the old fields are
not bit worse than the old-fashioncd
bare tallows which used to be so COM
mon III 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. OF the
two methods | prefer the southern one,
for would rather grow 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
tho planter of cotton and tobacco than
no work his lands up to certain point
ana then resort to his only possible !
method oftolloWing as a means of res
toration. He is bound by his climate
and his other environments, and as the |
cotton region Of the South is not a
stock country, and never will be a |
oalry region, and is not very good |
corn country, and seems to have been |
made for cotton and tobacco, with a
sufficient quantity of grain, fodder and |
meat to supply the domestic consump-
ton only, the southern farmer must
not be judged by test which is en-
tircly foreign to his circumstances.
The next thing which is conspicuous
is the poor dwellings that are so CONS
mon, houses without gables and open
as the poorest barns in newly settled
places in the North. This, too, is q
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
fcrcnt light. But every man to his
taste, and if southern people desire
such houses, and object to glass i'm the
windows, | would give them their un-
doubted right to have them. have
met with the kindcst hospitality, aud
with the most delicate and cnrrlul
consideration in houses Of this kind,
ana would consider the character of
inc house as secondary consideration
L have lived ut one time in Il log shantv
with roof of hcmlock bark, having n
square hole in the centre for CHIMNEY
and must say that | enjoyed life then
quite as much as in a house with every |
luxury Of modern fashion. 1t is not |
the house, but the man in it which is |
the true test.
But il would be a very great mistake
10 thlnN that one sees everything from
The car windows, and that there are as
well cultivated farms or comfortable
houses in the South, or that southern
farmers are not competent to Judge
Tor themselves of what is the tittCst for |
them. 1t makes a very great chanpc
In onc's opinions when he is brought |
face to face with new necessities. This |
applies very iorcibly to the South, boih |
III regard to its agriculture and its |
social and political conditions, and a |
Northern man moviong to the South
must free his mind from the force of
preJndlces and be prepared to begin Il
new lie and view things from diff
1erent point Of view if he would be
either successful or happy. 1t is these
preJudlceS amt the determination TO
remain aliens and foreigners in a
strahnc land, which presents the suc-
cess OF what are called Northern colo
mes in the South. From my cxDc
flchcc or these enterprises | am 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 ncighbors, 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
flakes 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 man would find opportunities for
chonglng the methods Of agriculture ia
the South, and mostly i'm those local..
tics where the climate more nearly op-
pfoachcs that of the North as it docs IN
the mountain region which | hovr
been describing. But even in the low
Sont,ay,,, oonn,ny, f'n'el Wmere cotton is supreme,
present methods, which is % chirGv s
marked 6y strong dread and Ica. Of
grass. The southern is naturajiv u
grass region, and there are scveroi
native varieties which grow with pro
fusion. Now grass is the basis NJ
npricnltnrG eYerY whore .n., ~ IL u |