Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-01-07
FARMER AND PLANTER.
FOR COTTON RAlsERs.

me intensive" System OF Culture on an
Extensive Scale-But Little " Rotation
M" no Decrease In Acreage" n ecesssry.
IN our two former articles we have
tried to formulate, introduce or inau-
gurate n system OF practice that, II fol-
lowed throughout the entire cotton
oeit, would, without fail, result in: /.
a reduction OF the area devoted to cot
ton culture of just one-half, thereby
temporarily reducing the yield-en-
hanclng the value OF the feecy staple
.. An increase in provision crops (cow
peas) to the extent of 10, 900, 900 acres.
we said temporarily reducing the
yield, because it would be but very
short time until larger number of
bales would be raised on the half of
lO,O0O 600 acre, than are now raised on
twice the amount or 10000, 600 acres.
H. This increase of the cow pea crop
would work no hardship upon any
single individual and would iniurc
neither farm, farmer community or
country, but could not possibly fail to
benefit all alike. Aside from the hui
mus which the peavines supply, which
plays such an important, though too
often unapprecated, part in the maxi
ing OF u really fertile soil, and in which
from long-continued culture in clean
hoed crops, southern soils are notori-
ously deficient; they, also, when pot
ash and phosphates are supplied in
quantities sufficiently liberal to induce,
or insure, luXuriant growth (malsing
not less than two tons of dry COW pea
hay per acre., will furnish us with SIS
worth OF nitrogen per acre, or $50, 0U0,-
900 worth throughout the entire COTTON
belt. 4. Feed of the very best quality
would be raised on every hand in such
abundance that live stock of all kinds
would stay fat, sleek and juicy; but
ter Of the best quality could be made
in n quantity sufficient to album
dainty supply the necessities ofour own
local markets; while southern farm ers
could not only raise their own meat
right ut home, but they would raise it
cnterely Independent OF the corn crib;
as far as fattening was concerned,
merely sufficient corn being necessary
to harden the fat" and TO tide the
pigs or boys over n periol of scant pas
,urage. We decidedly oppose the turn
ing out (as 50 often lvised through the
agricultural press Of so-called poor
land"--letting it grow up in sedge,
briars and sasafrass, persimmon and
other sprouts; u standing disgrace to
the farmer himself and the country in
which he lives. No! don't turn it out.
II you have no other use for it, break
IL up, put on you potash and phos-
pilates and SOW down to peas, or bet
ter still, drill them in rows about Is or
"a inches apart and work them one or
more times Come out of the notion
that lands needs rest; it doesn't
need anything of the kind; it needs
to be kept at work growing some
ono of the recuperative corps all the
time until sufficient fertility has accu-
mulated to justify one in a more ex-
haustive crop. Always bear the fact
in mind that although lucerne clover,
or COW peas are recuperative crops and
actually enrich land, they also exhaust
land us far as its stores of phosphoric
acid and potash are concerned, and that
these two substances must be added or
there is no real increase in fertility.
| To prevent any and all misunderstand-
ing on this point we would say that we
refer to the well-worn, rundown, semi
exhausted lands that are SO common
throughout our glorious southland;
lands that have been subjected to the
soil-robbing process, i. g., taking every
ash, its nitrogen, its lime, and last, but
by no means least its humus, organic
or decayed vegetable matter or mold
AS this latter is the basis of all fertii-
ty, the key that unlocks the impris.
oned, insoluble, ineart and consequent +
ly unavailable soil contains the sine
qua non of all progressive, profitable,
successful and pre-eminently satisfac
tory farming, and in the absence Of
which even the very best Of chemical
or commercial fertilizers are more thar
apt TO be but dismal failures; it stand;
to reason that the first step toward re
cuperation is to strain every nerve, tC
make every edge cut, to Systematically
formulate our plans and energetically
dcterminedly and persistently worl
them out in practice TO increase oul
supply of this all-important and abso
lutely indispensable substance, and W,
are egotistical enough to believe tina
the plan we have outlined above is TIL,
very best, easiest, cheapest, most prac
teal and universally beneficial ant
satisfactory as well as pre-eminently
profitable OF any that has as yet beer
devised.-G. II. Turner, in Farm anC
Ranch.