The Monticellonian., 1906-08-23
FARMER AND PLANTER
THE VALUE or ROTATION.
Opinion of HIssissippisn Who sss
 Travelled Tn the Cotton Belt"

Having trayeled over the entire Cot
 ton Belt. from Virginia to Texas. and
 from Kentucky to the gulf of Mexico.
 and having been actively engaged in
 the raising of the fleecy staple as a
 cash crop for the last 3i years, we
 hope We will be pardoned for our
 seeming assumption and egotism in at
 tempting 10 do our mite toward mak-
 Ing the wilderness to blossom as the
 rose" We would not have undertak-
 en this task were fl not for the fact
 that. after many years of close obser
 yation. we have become satisfied in
 our own mind that the one thing and
 the only thing that that ails the south
 ern farmer today is lack of system.
 II Is lack of system that has depict
 cd southern soils brought into exist
 ence our old sedge fields, serrated our lands with impossible gallies, glutted the market with cotton, caused
 the cotton planter to lose that spirit Of independence that should eharae- terize every American farmer, and in- stead Of encouraging selfreliance has gradually brought him 10 the place
 where he depends upon the merchant to furnish him with the veriest neces- saries Of life. such neeessafies. too. as could be produced on any and every well ordered southern farm.
 The soil is the source Of all our wealth. but through lack Of iudicious system of farming, or rotation, Of fer tiliZation and Of culture, and business methods, il is unfortunately true that much of this wealth Is not to the farm CT, the state and the nation that might have been attained had malicious sys- tenn Of rotation been consistently fol lowed from the early settlement of thfs contry until the present. But the mischief Is done and there is no use crying over split milk" (lost fertility. but as "it is never too late to mend'- or. to do good there is still q chance for every farmer who will properly di xerslfy his crop to the extent of rais- ing plenty of provision crops for him self and family. together with plenty of forage for his live stock Of all kinds; who will scrupncusly sage all his manure and persistently practice judicious rotation of cfops-a rotation that shall not only make poor land rich and rich land richer, but one that shall be so pre-eminently satisfactory that he who puts 1t in practice will never wish 10 return 10 the old ruin ously wasteful practice of his forefa- thers, and so profitable that his pocli- etbook shall stand out with fatness" the whole year through. instead of be- ing filled but once q year and suffering from 'sweeny" the balance of the year.
 System means order, regularity, and method in everything We do. and no farm can be the grand success fl could and should be that is not planned so that all of its parts made Il complete and efficient system, where each part doyetails. as it were, into the other. adding strength and completeness to the whole.
 No system of farming is complete that does not embrace soil improve ment and renovation by malicious rota- ton aud plant fertilization, neither can any system be considered complete that is not IS readily accessible to the ne-horse farmer or man of limited means, who cultiyates his thousands of acres. In fact. it Is the poor man. the one or two-horse farmers we desire to reach and, possibly. influence. for the reason that the poor man. of all others, positively cannot afford to cul- tivate poor soil: and. second because they tthe poor mem are unfortunately largely in the majority. A three or fouryear rotation Is what our farmers need and must have to be prosperous. Even a two-Near rotation is better than none, and with the large cotton grow. CT may be made to answer very well. but in order to make any system of rotation really effective, it must be adhered to consistently and systemat- ieally, regardless of the price of cotton or the increasing fertility of the land C. II. Turner. of Mississippi, in Southern Agriculturist