The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-10-01
Live Stock.
SHEEP IN THE SOUTH.



Soil Poverty-Natures EOOnomy-Cottoa
Growing-Cotton and sheep-Can They
Live Together and Both PrOsperi-Yes-
The Great Cycle Completely Carried Out
It Briags Success-The Value Of Sheer
Manure Highly Estimated-Manure From
Highly Fed Sheep Rich in Vegetable Klo-
ments.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The matter of concentrated or ar
tifoial fertilizers has become one of
great Importance to Southern agri-
culture, more so to the cotton region
than to any other large part of our
whole country. The cause for this
is not entirely on account of original
poverty, so-called, of the soil, but
more because of the system of Guilt
vation pursued, by which continu-
Gus and large drain of the plant-pro-
ducing elements from the soil has
been kept up with but small return
of such to the land.
The result is poverty of such ele-
men6s.
1t is not in the province of these
special articles to enter upon an ex-
haUstive discussion involving chem
ical analysis of manures, fertilizers
or soils; yet may advance several
plain and fundamental propositions,
such as every one may fully compre-
hend, in order to reach the facts CON
cerning sheep manure as a valuable
fertilizer and how to use it most
proftably. If in doing this I get out
Of the old ruts and off the old padea
track, please have patience, for q
trial trip and careful study may con
vince that am not so far out as to
be unproftably engaged.
In the economy of nature we have
the soil and plant life and animal
life, Earth is the basis, we may say,
while plants and animals constituto
product or growth from it and are
therefore dependent upon it for ex-
istenCe and growth. But we must
note relatively the influence that air
and water also exert in this economy
of nature or to state it more plainly,
in this change of earthly matter intO
plants and animals, and reversely,
in the change of plants and animals
back to earth matter.
We may also say that animal life
mainly depends upon plants and is
therefore indirectly a product of
earth.
It is also plain to state that vast
portion of the earth's surface in
the South is used to produce cot
ton, and that lint cotton and seed
are continuously shipped away, that
the parts of that soil which produces
cotton will surely be exhausted in
time, until it will not produce enough
cotton to pay for trying to raise it.
Then we call that soil poor.
If the planters had animals (sheep
for example) that weuld eat that
cotton and seed and return them
back to the soil in the form Of ma
nure, it would be plain TO every one
that the cotton land would not "get
poor" But he cannot do this or
else the usefulness of cotton to him
as a crop would cease.
So it comes to the mind in the form
of a question: Can sheep be used to
consume a portion of the cotton
plant, together with other vegetation
and return the cotton elements TO the
soil?
The answer is,. yes. They win
consume the cotton seed meal, an
important element to them, with
other food, and by being fed the
varied products of an equal area to
that of the cotton land they will re-
turn to it three times the plant eIe-
ments drawn from it by the cotton
crop, provided their manure is intel
ngently handled and mixed with
basic fertilizers purchased with only
part of the net income derived
from the sheep, and properly applied
to the land.
In this economy we have first the
earth yielding the plant life in abun-
dance, next the plants feeding and
growing the sheep, and lastly the
sheep, (animaD returning to the
earth the fertilizing elements she
had given up TO sustain the plant
and animal life; thus is COM
pletely finished the great cycle of
nature and thus is carried out the
frugality demanded by the natural