Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-03-09
rn states a congeniality Of climate and

ern states congeniality OF climate and
soil more suited TO its proftl-
BILE culture than even It's tor
rid nativity. But II il eery likely
that in the tfahsmutatidh 81 it's native
habits ID an annual its vita force has
Undergone constitutional degeneracy:
And this tendency is constantly spread
ing and strengthening itself by the neg.
lect of the farmer to reject all such
plants-to propagate his crop from and
selecting the vigorous and hardy. That
individual plants like individuals OF tho
animal kingdom, possess more vital
powers than others of the same kind,
under similar conditions, Is apparent to
all. In every cotton field there are
scattered Throughout stalks that resist
the fiSoss Of Winter and The following
spring send up sprouts that bear abun.
dainty.
Although am not much OF cotton
farmer, | plant few acres of my little
farm each year in the 'delusive fluff"
as much for experimental observations
as anything else, and these have led
me to an opinion somewhat in line with
Mr.. Hillyer's argument Many of the
questions propounded by Mr.. Welborn
to Mr.. Stell have occupied my expert.
ments, and | would answer them near.
ly all as Mr.. Stell has, with the eNcep
ton of the first The cotton dies on
my place worse where there Is d stiff
red clay subsoil, Sweet potatoes also
rot after partly maturing 6h The
SAME soil The land has been
in cultivation forty odd years,
but produces we'll of corn,
oats, etc 1t was originally post oak,
and slopes from the lime foot hills to
the alluvial and deep, loose soil of the
river bottom, The cotton with me
does not die in spots, but single stalks,
and the dead one may stand next to
prolific and vigorous one. 1t can not
be possible that the two, separated
only by n few inches, are not subject
to the same deleterious influence of tho
soil. II there be any And / am coa.
strained to believe there must be a
more subtle and physiological work
here, tohtingent probably, in its
destructive results upon the mechan-
zeal conditions of the soil, i'll proper.
TONED plant food, or climatic
changes. The constitutional ten
dency Of the plant or protoplasm may
or may not develop the disease. as the
surrounding conditions are favorable to
it or otherwise, just as II person may
carry in his veins the seeds of ancestral
faint that lay dormant and upper
ceived until whatsoever time the vigor
and health is impaired. The cotton dies
most just at the time of its heaviest
fruitlng. All observing farmers know
the heavy cold rains of June and July
are singularly favorable to its ravagcs,
and if you should go through a patch
at this time of the year you will find
stalks with their leaves just wlted, rs
though the destroying agency had but
that moment only touched the vital
spark"
Whether fungi, humic acid or alkali,
very little has 50 far been discovered
by science OF practical use to the plant.
er, and the primary cause of this gan.
green of the tap-root IS still problem.
My own Investigations have not beer
a revelation of jug-bottomed fact in
this respect, but yet have learned the
results and effect without knowing the
causes, other than stated in surmses
above, but am satisfied that anything
that will promote the thrift and the gen"
eral vigor of the plant is remedy for
root rot. Cor. Texas Farm and Ranch.