The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-07-17
FARMER AND PLANTER.
AGRICULTURAL SINS.
The Transgression of Natural Law viii
Surely Bring Retribution.


The Transgression of Natural Law VIII
Surely Bring RetributiOn.
Any transgression of natural law is
sin, and will surely be punished. 1t
masters not if it be committed through
ignorance or neglect. retribuGion will
come sooner or later. 1t is true adj
age that Ignorance of the law excuses
no man." However morally good a man
may be, if he goes contrary to Gods
established laws, even by error or heed
lessness, he will suffer the penalty.
Many are the infractions of natural law
in the average farmers life. He opens
UP piece Of fertile land, rich in the
accumulated humus of centuries, may
be; no reserves all the heavy timber,
utilizing a small portion for fencing
and fuel, but burning much of it on the
ground. This, though an appar-
emily wasteful proceeding, when
we think of the vast amount Of good
fuel and timber destroyed by fire, is I'M
aVoidable in many cases. In order to
get the land in state of cultivation
the heavy timber must be removed,
even if it be done by fire; but the torch
does not always stop with the burning
of the heavy timber. Much of the
lighter trash that could and should be
plowed under is raked up and burned.
The farmer does not think of the time
when his land will need all the vegeta
BILE matter he can get upon it. Nor does
the torch always stop with the clearing
up of the land. 1t is frequently called
into requisition every autumn to burn
the corn stalks or grass in the fields. l
have seen scores of farmers in our rich
prairie counties windrow and burn their
cornstalks as though they were a hate
full nuisance instead of a valuable assist
ant Gf cut up with stalk-cutter,
and plowed under in the fall) in
making the next crop; acting both as
mulch and manure. l know
some OF our black land farmers
argue that their land is already sup
piled with vegetable matter and does
not need any more. They probably do
not know that just as fertile lands in
some of our Western States have been
greatly depleted by just such treatment.
The most fertile soil on earth must ulti-
mately succumb to the starvation system
of alarming. Adequate compensation
must be given for all crops removed if
we would get the full return for our
labor. No sane man would attempt to
extort labor from horse day after day
without feeding him. Yet the old pio-
neer style of farming is about as unreal
sonable as working a starved horse.
The only difference is, the land is more
like DR.. Tanner than the poor horse-it
can stand starvation. It's final exhaus-
ton, however, is only aquestion of time.
Ultimately it will utterly refuse to re-
spond to its unreasona bic owners de-
mands, and yield nothing. Even the
valley of the Nile would become ex-
hausted but for annual fertilizing.
Nature does the work for the Egyptians,
though, while we must do it for our
selves. 1t makes one feel sad at this
season of the year (March) to see some
of our old, worn fields being plowed
preparatory for the coming crop. The
soil is compact for want of vegetable
matter. The sin of land starvation has
been going on so long that, even with
the most favorable seasons, only a very
meager crop can be expected. If these
old lands were sown down to cow peas
and the vines plowed under when be-
ginning to bear, great improvement
would be made. In two years a good
crop of corn or cotton would be made
and if the pea vines were rein
forced by stable manure, forest
leaves or swamp muck, just as
good or better crops would be made
as the land ever produced. Continuous
cropping does not injure land that is an
nualfy MANFRED, either by green crops
or otherwise, and rotation of crops
kept up. The Landreths have one farm
that has been in continuous cultivation
for century, and shows no diminutior
in yield. Continuous tillage without
the continuous application of manure
and the destruction by fire of all boulm
and grass, are both serious sins agains
mother Nature, and will always be pun
ished by poor inferior crops. Yet these
are by no means the only agriculture
sins that are committed by a large mum
Der of farmers. A very serious offensC
against nature is the neglect of out
dumb animals, but as this article ha
already reached its proper limit, shall
reserve my remarks on this cruel sin To-
my next.-Dtck Naylor in Texas Farm
and Ranch.
TOBACCO RAISING,