The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-14


One o. the greatest problems befor-
the Southern farmer To-Day Is how %
. effectively reclaim his WORKOUT agli-
cultural lands Sd ys the Southern Agri-
I cu,turalist. Years Of constant tillasc
/ in corn. cotton and wheat have eX-
. hausteG the supply u available vege-
F table matter. Constituted for the most
part o. heavy red clay, they have be-
come exceedingly close and tenacious
in texture and almost Impervious 10
water and tn roots Of plants IN order
10 raise profitable crops the soil must
De friable. open. porous. deep and Well
supplied with vegetable matter How
To get this vegetable matter in a cheap
and effective form should be an unusu-
/ ally interesting topic 10 the Sou nerl
farmer.
Southern farm lands may be reclaim
I'd III one Of three ways, though a COM
bination u all IS made necessary By
the peculiar circumstances Of the pres
ent tire. The methods briefly stated
are. first, thorough and continuous
culture Of the soil: second. the use Of
bsrnyard manure. third. blowing IN
der a green crop, such as cOwpea- The
American farmer has never given any
very serious attention 10 the culture Of
his land. The idea seems 70 have pre-
vailed that deep blowing and subsoiling
of our heavy clay soils, and sufficient
culture thereafter 10 obtain a garden
like tilth, was simply waste Of labor.
Our farmers have not generally recog-
nized the fact that the roots Of plants
must have the widest range in the soil,
and thus come in contact with a larger
number Of soil PARTICLES from which
they can extract moisture and ample
supplies OF plant food. The soil must
be deeply broken. therefore. in order
that the roots may penetrate into the
remote subsOil. and convey plant food
toward the surface. On an average.
the soil IL fairly well supplied with
plant food. though II is often not IN an
available form. Constant culture pre-
sents new surfaces for the dissolvng
out OF plant food. and thus Increases
the available supply of the soil IT,
old idea that the soil was about SIX
inches deep is entirely at variance with
modern practice and modern knowl-
edge.
In order to get the best out Of the
soil, deep and relentless tilIage must
be prscticed. Intelligent tillage is new
er lost. but IL viii never supply the soil
with vegetable matter, an essential
quality Of a fertile soil. This can be
most cheaply conveyed to the soil by
the feeding Of the crops grown on the
farm 10 i've STOCK, ana returning the
waste TO the fields in the form of barn
yard manure. At the present time the
South is inadequately supplied with
farm stock. There is a dearth Of IL
everywhere. and the great and crying
need Of the country is the prompt de-
velopment OF animal industries on a
scale Commensurate with the needs and
the capabilities Of our Southern soils.
No greater variety Of foliage crops and
no better supplies OF food for the cheap
manufacture Of beef and dairy prod
ucts can be found anywhere in the
world. But strange to say, animal
husbandry is still an infant industry,
and not appreciated because not ia
miliar enough to our farmers. The
minute our farmers become manufac-
turere Of their raw products. and return
the waste 20 the soil, the agricultural
lands will rapidly build up, and in a
few years can be brought back to the
virgin condition Of fertility which made
them so justly famous hundred years
ago.