Southern planter : devoted to agriculture, horticulture, and the ...

432 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.
For the Southern Planter.
Defects in the Agricultural Productions
of Albemarle County.
An Essay read before " Hole and Corner Ch(b,
No. 2, of Albemayie Go.,'' by Dr. Jno. i2.
Woods.
The duty imposed on me of preparing an
essay on some subject connected with agriculture,
has been delayed in its performance, from
the fact that every topic I could think of had
so often been discussed, nothing new was left
at my disposal.
Under the circumstances, I shall endeavor to
expose what I conceive to be errors in our system
of farming, and to suggest changes which
I deem necessary for that improvement and regeneration
of the soil, which every enlightened
agriculturist must desire. The heavy tax incurred
in the purchase of Peruvian Guano, the
large amount of labor and manure expended
in the cultivation of tobacco and the almost
universal habit of cultivating so extensive a
surface, are errors which, unless corrected,
must greatly retard the improvement of t::e
country in many respects.
The delusive impression, that guano would
not only produce remunerative crops of wheat,
but permanently improve the soil, stimulated
the farmers to purchase an immense amount,
and too late, they find it to be only a powerful
stimulant, losing its efficacy unless the dose is
considerably increased and ultimately impoverishing
the soil.
While it has benefited a few, if it had never
found its way into our country, I allude to our
peculiar region, I am confident its condition
would have been far better than we find it to
be at this time. Enabling us as it has done, to
grow wheat on soils too much exhausted for
this peculiar crop, has, to some extent, paralysed
efibrts which we would have been driven to
make, to bring them up to that degree of fer-
tility which has been styled the wheat point.
Let me suppose for a moment, that the amount
expended in its purchase, had been invested in
what are known to be permanent fertilizers,
the different salts of lime, the sulphate, carbonate
and phosphate, and food for the fattening of
cattle, doe§ any one doubt, but that the capacity
of the soil, for the growth of both grain and
grass crops, would have been greatly increased.
In riding over several fiirms, on which guano
had been extensively applied, and the usual
quantity of grass seed sown, I was struck with
tlie naked appearance of the field,—I had never
seen them presentingso bare and uninvitingun
appearance. This may be partly attributal)Ie
to the several dry sprir»f;s, but the repeated failure
in the stand of clover for a series of years,
since the introduction of guano, leads me very
strongly to suspect that its application 'is peculiarly
prejudicial to the early growth of this
our most valuable fertilizer. That the expen-
diture of so large a sum has very sensibly increased
the monetary pressure I have no doubt,
and but for the high price which tobacco has
commanded, the effect would be much more seriously
felt. It is needless forme to enlarge on
this: a subject affecting so immediately our
pocket nerve, must command attention.
We come now to the remaining proposition,
that the labor and manure expended in cultivating
large crops of tobacco and such an immense
surface, are the greatest obstacles to successful
improvement. I do not wish to be un-
derstood as recommending that high degree of
cultivation practised in parts of Europe, where
i
! labor is exceedingly cheap and lands enormous-
ly high, but seeing what has been done, by renters
or tenants, not the owners of the land, in
soils far inferior to ours naturally, should at
least stimulate us to imitate their example, as
far as our altered circumstances will admit.
To make the tobacco crop at all remunerative
when selling at ordinary prices, not only must
it occupy the choicest spots on our farms—but
all of the manure gathered together from every
available source must be rendered tributary to
it, all other work must yield to the planting,
almost endless Avorraing and succoring, the cutting
and curing, &c. To the growers of tobacco,
1 need scarcely allude to the everlasting
struggle which a full crop entails, and the imperfect
and hurried manner which all of our
farming operations are performed. If we had
such a soil as that of Southern Kentucky, Illinois
or Missouri, where tobacco is grown, on
any portion of the farm, without consuming all
of the manure made, its extensive cultivation
would be less objectionable, but, its application
entirely to soil already good, for the production
of a crop returning nothing to it, must ulti- -
mately render the largest portion cultivated in
other crops still poorer. Clover and plaster
may assist in preserving somewhat its fertility,
but when relied upon alone, before many 3-ears
their efiicacy will be greatly impaired. I by
no means wish to recommend the total abandonment
of the cultivation of tobacco, when
commanding remunerative prices, but the making
of only sufficient to give employment in
weather too disagreeable for the performance of
out door labor,—that the return realized for a
few years, would be considerably curtailed, I
readily admit ; any change from the worst to
tiie best system, will be liable to thi^ objection.
The advantages of this change in all of its
bearings, would more than compensate. It
would enable us to perform all of our farming
operations more thorough and perfect, to erect
more permanent and substantial farm buildings;
to sow our wheat much earlier, making
the chances for a good yield much better, and
almost ensuring a good stand of grass, which
is very uncertain when sown as late as we are
generally in the habit of seeding a considerable
part of our crop. To apply more labor and
manure to the corn crop, to attend more to the