The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-15
From the Fields.

From the Fields.
 l have just returned from trip from
 the south part of the state, where I had l chance to see the crop conditions. ! Crops generally are holding out well against the dry weather, which is now | general over most of the state While at
 Evergreen Thursday I had the pleasure | of seeing the first car of tomatoes loaded l and shipped. This car was sold outright
 to a party from Cleveland, Ohio; bring l ing $1.20 per crate of four baskets to the
 crate, each basket containing one dozen tomatoes. This was thirty cents per doz- | en for the tomatoes. This price was very | satisfactory to growers. Another car will
 be shipped Saturday night 10 same place | and party The tomato crop Is suffering some now from rain as well as from | blight, however the crop Is above an av- craze and the prices are very good and l promise to remain so. Evergreen has all | so shipped a good many beans.
 | he crops of canteloupes' and water | melons will be large and shipments have l already begun The tomato crop will be a | big thing for the farmers in the Ever green vicinity.
 | While at Evergreen I made a practical 1 test of cultivating crops with improved | cultivators: both one and two horse cnl- l tivators were used and the work proved very interesting as well as satisfactory. 1 With good rains now there will be fine l crops of all kinds. Peaches from the south
 part of the state will soon begin finding 1 there way to our maraet.
 Soil.
 | Paper read by Fulton S. White -efore | the Truck Growers Association of Ever
 green. Ala, June 6. 1902:
 | No doubt you will agree with me in the | statement that the most important fac
 tor in all classes of farming Is the soil | The whole success of farming depends | upon having a soil capable of producing l the crops desired. Fortunate indeed IS
 the farmer who may chance to have
 virgin soil capable of producing such crops as he may desire to grow. ana
 while this Is frequently the case yet these | rich virgin soils will soon tire and lose | their fertility unless well managed and l the work of soil building is kept up. | The formation of soil is a very interest," | ing study, and one that all farmers should | be more familiar with. I suppose that | tn. all-wise Creator In forming the earth | and in laying out the first great garden
 that the world ever knew provided this | garden with soil containing all the ele- | ments necessary for producing the trees | and vegetables which were planted or ever | to be planted in that garden. The ques- | ton as to whether this garden would 1 have always retained its virgin fertility l had not man sinned, or whether this soil | would have had to be fertilized Is mat | ter of speculation and the question may
 never be settled. but we are taught that man was placed in the garden with or ders to dress and keep pthe garden, and l perhaps this dressing consisted In part | in fertiizing the garden but at any rate
 for the soil to have continued to retain | It's virgin fertility under onstant culti- | vation would have been miracle. Whatever might have been we cannot
 say. but we know ne question of soil l building has been going on through all | the ages. and 1t is the greatt st problem | with which man has to contend. The
 soil must be kept up and kept In a high
 state of cultivation If man is expected
 to exist upon the earth.
 Only a few years ago people were aban- | doning their poor. worn out land ,nd
 homes in New England and seeking the | great broad rich praires of the west. | These lands have nearly all been taken l up and there is now no longer a great | open west to lcok to for new rich land. | 80 these poor worn out farms of New En-
 gland. as well as many worn out lands in
 the south are being reclaimed and made | to produce fine crops and fruits under the
 hands of modern science. | As the population of man increases on
 earth the greater will be the demands up-
 on the soil for his support, The matter
 of building and maintaining the fertility
 of the soil is becoming more matter of | deep interest and study each season. Our | general government. our state govern | ment and our experimental stations all over the country. all feel the importance l of this work, and thousands of dollars are spent annually In testing various
 methods for enriching our soils and man. l aging them so as to protect them and | have them retain their fertility.
 Nor is this work confined to our govern | ment or to our experimental stations. but l even better still we have all over the