The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-04-28
Home and garQ.
Home Manures VS.. The Commercials

Not many days ago we met Mr.. A. h.
Hinson, a very prominent farmer, Guilt
rating large acreage OF land IN Butler
county, Ala, near the line dividing that
county from Lowndes. His main crop is
cotton, though he always manages to
raise enough feed and supply crops TO
meet all his home demands. His land
lies mostly on what biologists term the
Cline Hills bordering the Black Prairies
on the south.
"Are your lands rich enough 10 pro-
duce your crops without fertilizer" we
asked.
'By no means, he replied, provided
we expect really good crops"
"Then you use fertilizers
"Centainly."
What kindY'
"Well, from the beginning, so TO
speak, employed such fertilizers as !
am able to make on my oSn plantation,
up to about three years ago. These fer
tilizers consist mainly of stable or barn
yard manure, with cotton seed and the
like. With them / was able to make
near bale of ginned cotton to the acre,
Three years ago the ad gertised merits OF
commercial fertilizers, generally, led me
TO try that kind Of manure for enrlching
my land. The first year my cotton yield
fell off TO considerable extent, but
thinking il the fault Of the season
tried il again Second wear still a
greater shortage. They told me 1t was
undoubtedly the fault of that 'particu-
larly hard season, 30 / concluded to try
it even once again. bought the very
best commercial fertilizers | could hear
of, and applied them with most liberal
hand.
81 rented a few acres Of my land that
wear to negro, who was not able &c
buy commercial fertilizers. Having ne
use for my barnyard manure, under the
circumstances, ! permitted the negro &c
apply portion of it TO the land had
rented him Ii was the poorest land on
my plantation, but, would you believe
it, with all my extra work and extra
expense, that negro almost doubled me
as to quantity in his production OF
cotton?
"There il no use talking. The cotton
planter who buys commercial fertlll
zers and throws away the fertillzing
elements of his own plantation Is
planter bursted, every time. The usua
waste Of his plantation, if properly col
lected, is worth far more than anything
he can buy. This year | am using nc
commercial fertilizers. ! am satisfied
that my motto for the future will bt
"no more commercial fertilizers for ne.
Every planter can sufficiently enrich hl'
land by home made fertilizers if he vii
ii he won't he had best quit the farm
and 90 into some other kind OF busl
ness"
We would add that this is the way We
made cotton before the war; why no
make it the same way now? They tel
US slavery had something to do with GU
success before the war. Slavery haC
nothing to do with enIiching our lands
1t is possible that we did not swallow 81
many Yankee tricks before the war a
we do at present. Our commercial fer
tilizers are near all made at the North
you know. A day or two ago we saw I
train load of so called "South CAROLYN;
Fertilizers" that had been shipped to I
county in South Alabama from New
York What did that mean? Surely
it was not necessary for South Carolins
to ship her fertilizers to Alabama by
way OF New York Comment is un
necessary. New York is away VI
east" in the poorest portion of our con
tinent She needs for her surrounding
country all the fertilizing elements sn'
can possibly produce. Why send then
here?-Mobile Register.