The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-03-07
We Must Take Fresh Grip on
First PrincipleS.

, IL St LtSlpiSS.
! Too many farmers imagine
that the important things about
farming are mere matters of
detail-that if a man knows
how to plow and hoe, to break a
mule and milk a cow, to adjust
a moving machine and build
fence, he is prepared to farm.
Too many think that there are
the main things the boy needs
to learn when he studies agri-
culture; that it is the first busi-
ness of the farm paper to tell
its readers how to do these
things; in short, that the good
farmer is the man who knows
how to do we'll the different
kinds of work necessary to run
a farm. This is a very wrong
idea. 1T is important to know
these things, of course, and un-
fortunately, many farmers do
not know how to do properly
many of the common tasks of
the farm; but there is not
where our great trouble lies.
The great trouble with South
ern farming is, that we have
forgotten the underlying prin-
ciples of successful farming.
We do not value as we should
the basic facts upon which any
permanent system of agricul-
ture must rest.
There will, of course, soon be
any number of careless, ineffi-
cient plowmen at work in South
ern fields, and they should be
taught to do better work; but
no matter how well man can
handle plow, if he thinks that
he can break the same piece of
land and put it in cotton year
after year, he is going to work
harm by his blowing.
No matter how we'll the
dairyman can milk, if he cannot
tell whether or not the cow he
milks is paying for her feed and
his time, he is not likely to
make his milking profitable.
So it is, through the whole
list. The big elemental facts
are the things that need first
consideration, are the things in
which we are most deficient.
We forget that when we make
poor land, we are surely making
hardship for ourselves and our
children. We forget-especial-
ly when the price of cotton goes
up-that any single-crop sys-
tenn of farming is bound to re-
suit in poor land. We imagine
that it is small thing to drop
out a legume crop from our ro-
tation, because we may get a
little more money this year
from corn or some other crop.
We overlook the fact that every
crop takes plant food from our
soil and that we must return
this plant food if we would not
exhaust the land. We do not
consider that the CALLED places,
and the brush patches and the
sWampy strips add to the cost
of cultivating the fields they
mar. We try to think that in
some way we can make up for
the soil and the plant food that
the winter rains take away
from our land.
SO when we come to our live
stock, we forget that the poor
cow, the non-laying hen, the
idle mule are making us poorer
every day we keep them. We
do not consider that, unless we
know how to feed, we are vast
ing, all winter long, what we
worked all summer to make.
We fail to see that when the
manure heats or washes away,
it is Just the same as if dollars
were burned or thrown into the
river.
Farmers of the South, we
need, first of all, and most of
all, to renew our acquaintance
with the fundamentals of our
business. We have, many of
us, lost our bearings. The
Progressive Farmer.
Mule Bites Off Cows Tongue.
Mr.. VIII Freeman of the
! Cross Roads section had a fine