The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1894-06-23

FERTILIZATION.


Neaerai Principles" Of Fertilization.
How to Increase tho sAverare.v
The great reproach to agriculture a tina Ia
sary average yield per acre. a. renort,
IA .ne census returns, compared with that ha
sessec py our best farmera Thousands
farmers harvest from six to ten bushels
mneat, Twelve to sixteen OF corn, twenty a,
'ntry OF oats one hundred and eighty
s~o nundred pounds Of lint cotton Der acr
,ha. .o o.ners. tneir neighbors. make twenty
snrty.nve bushels of wheat. fifty To sevent,
hse bushels Of corn. eighty to one hundre
ousneis OF oats, and five to seven hundre
Younos OF cotton per acre. 1t Is strange that J
nony-in iact, majority OF farmers-will cor
.ent themselves with results that are a reproac
Iasricuture and the country These are NO
.uo results OF laziness or dissipation, except 4
70 =. .sscs' oas OF bad management, attempting
~uo Wore tnan can be done well and conse
quent faulty preparation OF the soil. and moo
si.ation' lack Of care In the selection q
varieties and seed. and often of Ignorance n
the pest methods Of cultivation. Last inn,
sne wriHr saw turning plows choking ever,
swo OF tnree rods with corn roots and cottor
...u " Win the same implement in July. The
ar;. .s.ionai way to account for the great dis
parity OF yields is the great number Of farmers
VINO 90 not read agricultural papers. attend
| farmers institutes, For make anv efforts In
aoep up Win the improvements of the day.
Texas Farm and Ranch. December ls, 1893
We have no fears of giving too mucb
OF q good thing when we quote the
ABOVE article entire; in its entirety it
IS unfortunately too true. The sav-
erage" yields per acre are so small as
70 be out of all proportion with
the natural fertility of the soil:
ana as above stated the bepparlv
average yields are a reproach to auri.
culture. But how about that large
army who fall below the ayerace--tSe
minimum farmer? The writer of above
enumerates some of the causes which
operate to bring about these minimum
crops viz; First, in rare cases, laziness
or dissipation. Second, bad manage
men1 Third, attempting to do more
tnan can be done well this is, in orr
opinion, and throughout the entire
south, If not the whole of Uncle Sans
vast domain. the main and leading
cause), and consequently, fourth. FAM
ty preparation of the soil. and fifth
poor cultivation; sixth, lack of care in |
the selection of varieties, and seventh. |
seed; eighth, land often of ignorance |
OF the best methods of cultivation.
mat each and all of the above are
true causes, we are satisfied. The
remedy in each case is so obvious. and
SO often dwelt upon by farm
writers of any and everv grade.
That we forbear further comment
thereon at this time and proceed with
Dur subject, viz, the general principles
u rational fertilization. Our friends
u the inexhaustible Brazos river bot
'om' and the famous fertile black land.
vii doubtless think it is like our inn
,udence to even talk fertilizers to a
lexan. We fancy we hear Uncle
snort say: THAT fool of a Mississ;n-
nan ought to be kicked to death bv a ,
ackass, and I'd like to be the one to dol {
:" But though the major portion of c
,exas Is SO exceedingly rich as to be a
imost Observation-Disclosures being MS d
lack and rich thirty feet below as at
ne surface, not even Texan nor a
Yankee can invent a pillow
nat will bring this rich, black. unc-
Gus soil from those great depths to
ne surface. Neither can they. bv anv =
nown method of cultivation, induce 6 6
le iaterals or feeding roots to go down :
search OF this vast bed of hidden =
rtility. This fact tends to y
Iuai1ze things, to even them up. :,
ID throws us all on COM
on level by combining us to the top v
yer, or upper twelve to eighteen a.
ches OF soil. Although it is imposs,- q
9 to exhaust a soil thirty feet deep of q
its fertility, it is not impossible TO g
impoverish, by continued cropping u
ID want OF judicious rotation. - :.
upled with the soil-robbing process OF
taking everything off the soil and sc
tting nothing back, that obtain in !"
naturally rich and fertile sections sc
country, the upper layer-twelve >"
'hes-of soil as that the cultivation ~
sreof ceases to be remunerative. Tn
rs fact has been abundantly sub- gr
inflated on the older-settled portions an
what used to be the great west, viz. WI
Llama and Illinois. Thetime to save ni'
hing is when we have it; it is ever
tlnglv too late to undertake to save ,
'fter it is gone. "A word to the Sta
u is sufficient" ETC.. ETC., etc. Texas tn,
ruly a grand and great country, an Ur
pire within itself. It is full of mao the
cent possibilities as well as 9e3
at is OF infinitely greater import. Ke
and possesses quite vie
ariety of both climates and soils It SIC
his multiplicity of soils that en- Ke
dens us in writing this article; real the
is the latter fact that creates the iSta
essity for it At farmers institutes tue
in the agricultural press, no sub. asr
has been deemed of greater inn at
lance, none having been discussed
e than that of rationM fertilization:
in spite of so much discussion. no
lect connected with vital, practical a..
culture seems to be less under @
d. Were all soils alike in chemical 20, ras
position. mechanical division. or -''o-
ure and productive capacity, even no,
Ugh they were all poor, -judicious I'D 40,
lization would cease to be the com. e sa.d
problem it now is. This conn.,
itv of the foxfsJ,~:~-