The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-10

The case supposed represents grst-class
guuno. Observe the difference In market val
Mated phosphate; the latter COSTS about one
third more. Now cotton planter, by com.
posting stable manure and cotton seed (or COT,
ton seed meal obtained by swapping the sedd)
ter and more reliable than the best guano IN
the market. In other words, ammoniated
phosphatcs or guanos ought to be driven out
of the market, not pound should be bought
cede them universally. AT this point our
farm economy has been exceedingly detective.
Hundreds Of thousands Of dollars have been
spent annually for ammoniated goods where
there was no need to spend one. observe we
are not decrying commercial fertilizers; we
do not even mean to say that alnmoniated
phosphates are not good; they are excellent
manures. What we mean to say Is. that the
cotton farmer can have them through COM
posts at greatly less cost; that he ought 10
buy only acid phOSpaates, and possibly some
kairt, and get his supply of nitrogen from
vegetable matter in his soil, RON the parn.
yard and from his cotton seed. Every dollar
spent for ammonia on cotton farm might De
saved.
The proper use of fertilizers is no less i'm
portant than the judicious purchase OF them.
makes labor, and everything else used In pro-
ducng crop, yield larger returns, But hee'
Wy manuring must be jbdlciously done; 1t is
by no means free from danger. Poor, thin
take heavy manuring kindly; neither Will O
soil that is not or cannot be Kept in good tllth
a fit recipient for heavy doses of manure. AS
n rule the best lands ona farm nre those on
which heavy manuring pays best. or course
there is q limit; heavy manurl lng is not to be
advised on land that will make seventy-hve
bushels Of corn, or forty bushels OF wheat, or
one bale of cotton per acre, but such land IS
not common; we mean the best land on ordi.
nary farms. II farmer, who Is In the habit
of cultivating fifty acres in cotton and corn,
manuring moderately, would select twenty.
on them, he would clear more money. HIS
land, too, would steadily improve and become
capable Of receiving heavier doses OF manure
half the number of plow animals, half the
number Of plows and other tools, half the
smith bill, keep land filled with humus, break
deep and cultivate we'll, and you will never be
upon it. Apply heavy dosas Of amnoniated
guanas on poor thin land. destitute of humus,
shallow broken and poorly cultivated, ana
you may exhaust your vocabulary IN abuse OF
upon your own folly and lack of Judgment;
To sum up what has been said conduit buSl-
ness OIL Il smaller scale, avoid crops requiring
much labor, especially cotton, never raise a
horses or any other needed thing which can
be raised at home at reasonable cost. If bad
ly encountered with debt. sell out or surrender
property aud make s; new start; rent one, n,
will soon be able to buy 1t. Make and save all
the manure you can and buy acid phosphate
to compost with It, Never buy ammoniated
goods plant the best spots of land, manure
surplus land in oats or grass. or II too badly
worn, give 1t rest. Get out Of the treadmill of
raising cotton to buy corn, to raise more cot
ton to buy more corn.
Our old methods were good under the con-
ditions prevailing before the war, but they are
exceedingly detective under existing crcum..
stances. Let US break loose from the force OF
habit and remodel our methods. An agrcul-
ture based on slave labor and one based on
free labor must necessarily differ, but we nave
not practically recognized The difference. We
our ;orefatherS and use the simple imple-
ments adapted To freshly cleared lands
abounding in stumps and roots; we employ
labor lavishly, though unsteady, costly and
hard to control we cultivate crops which call
for the largest amounts Of labor instead of
those demanding the least and our methods
neceSsitate Vast horde of middi iemen to be
supported ut our expense. 1t Is wonderful
that we could have kept up the unequal Strug-
gle so long. A people less intelligent, less
hopeful and energetic would have succumbcd
long ago. Let us take courage and start aIrcsl
on u better way. We have goodly land and
Il kindly climate all we need Is Il better farm
economy, Il better adaptation to present sur.
roundings.
CompoSts.
Whilst composts, put up five or six weeks
before they are used, do we'll, they are better
if prepared several months in advance and
cut down and mixed over after standing five
or six weeks. The present Is nm excellent
time to attend to this matter. Barn-yard ma
nure, cotton seed, acid phosphate and kainit
are the recognizcu cOmponents of good COM
post. The first three are Indispensable, or ra-
ther, manure, or cotton seed and phosphate
arc indispensable. Manure and phosphate or
cotton seed and phosphate, make an excellent
article, but where one has both seed and man
ure it is bes; to use both. The value of kainit
in the compost has not been SO clearly deter
mined, hut the probabilities are that 1t con-
tributes to the value of the compost, as SOL
vent OF other materials, rs q tiXer Of ammo.
mia, and, to some extent, as plant food. The