Al Mn Ll, fl. ADDRESSES ONW: BY » DR: JOHN H. FURMAN, SUMTER, S. C. AGRICULTURAL SUBJECTS! —— et ee — CHARLESTON, 8S. C:: EH, Perry & Co., Printers, BooKSELLERS AND STATIONERS, No 149 Meeting Street, Opposite Charleston Hotel. . 1885. RD Te PS ADDRESSES Ve EA ild Voice, ss AGRICULTURAL SUBJECTS Ys Yoder. DR. JOHN H. FURMAN, c- OF SUMTER, S. C. CHARLESTON, S. C:: E. Perry & Co., Prinrers, BooksELLERS AND STATIONERS, No. 149 Meeting Street, Opposite Charleston Hotel, 1885. ee 4 THE FLOWERS COLLECTION ADDRESS DELIVERED BY REQUEST IN 1861, TO THE Mrivateer Agricultural Club, SUMTER AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION, IN 1885, BY, JOHN HH. tiie M. D., Gentlemen of the Privateer Agricultural Club : The task assigned me of addressing you on this the anniver- sary of our Club, covers so great and varied an area, that I feel almost at a loss where to begin. It was the request of your committee that I should discuss the subject of Agriculture, a subject at once both vast and interesting, any one of the least important departments of which would more than give scope to my feeble abilities. Agriculture! an art coeval with the history of man; for ere yet the decree had gone forth, “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” the pleasing task was assigned him of tending the beauteous plants of Paradise. For a long succession of ages Agriculture consisted of a mere rude series of mechanical operations, though executed, it is true, by some of the nations of antiquity with considerable skill and judgment; or it has existed as an Art empirically exercised, until within the last half century, the lights of a more advanced science have been shed upon it, and Chemistry, Physiology and Geology, have contributed largely to it, both negatively and positively—dispelling many doubts and errors of theory and practice, making apparent and establishing truths of inestimable value, which had been but vaguely guessed at, or were entirely unknown. Itis still regarded by many as a merely mechanical pursuit to be worked out by the rule of thumb, the highest assigned reason for adhering to any favorite plan being “my father did so before me, and as he lived by it so may I.” d Tt is much to be regretted that agriculturists as a class, are so wedded to routine, and hostile to the adoption of anything without the pale of, or conflicting with, their own practice. 'Tis true, aversion to change is but one of the manifestations of a conservative spirit, and is thus far good; over-indulged, how- ever, it shuts out the avenues of light, denies the benefits of progressive improvement, and, though not incompatible with energy, industry and activity, still, as with the wheel simply revolving on its axis, though there be much motion, there is no progression. Far be it from me to esteem lightly the hard- earned experience of our predecessors; but while adhering to whatever has been bequeathed us, which an enlightened expe- rience demonstrates as good, we should ever be alive to the improvements of the age—ready to lay aside exploded systems and adopt the deductions of science, simplified and enforced, by practical tests, Viewing it as a science, we should have to discuss many of the leading principles of chemistry, in investigating the compo- sition and properties of soils, manures, animal and vegetable substances ; of Geology, in inquiring into the nature of rocks, and the origin of soils, of Physiology, in considering the im- portance of the various organs of plants and animals, in pro- moting their growth, nutrition, &c., and the varied and won- derful influences of the agencies, heat, light, electricity and vitality, a due consideration of any one of which would fully occupy all the time it is now proposed to devote to the con- sideration of some of the practical and every day operations of the plantation, more essential to immediate success and its finalimprovement; and they will only be incidentally referred to as occasion may require. It is therefore to it rather as an art—that is the skillful appli- cation of science to the cultivation of the soil, whereby with the least labor the largest returns may be obtained, while a gradual improvement of the land is accomplished, that your attention will now be directed, Southern Agriculture is peculiar: Taking one year to illus- trate this, we find, to accomplish a marked success, it is neces- sary not only to occupy each season faithfully with its round of duties, but every month and week must be fully employed, with a view to the ultimate result. It forms a peculiar round, every link in the chain being necessary to the perfection of the se 5 whole. With other peopleslabor is more paroxysmal; therefore, the hireling system answers; with us, compulsory labor is essentially necessary (and also for the present time, whether as slave, contract or hired labor, otherwise the risk is too great for practical men to undertake it). To plow up the land, sow and reap, may be accomplished by the occasional hiring of an adequate force; but the cultivation of that mighty staple, the king of commerce, cotton, is quite another matter; not only diligence in preparing the land, and the utmost care in planting and tending the young plants, but continued care and toil in judiciously cultivating, up to maturity, when the scarcely less arduous business of harvesting and preparing for market com- mences, giving full occupation to the entire force, until the next year’s round of duties begins. To accomplish this successfully we must estimate our per- manent force, and the probabilities of the season, and prepare only so much land as this force can do justice to, keeping it diligently and constantly occupied throughout the year. * * England has heretofore only demonstrated by her mighty efforts to produce the cotton her factories require, that free labor is not the thing, and all the unparallelled toils of her inde fatigable explorer, Livingston, in search of a soil and climate adapted to it, must only result in disappointment, unless she first forces into bondage the stolid savages that people those mighty wilds. France quietly looks on and sneeringly remarks that England need not expect to grow cotton, for she nowhere has the soil and climate suited to it, but that she (France,) has them in Algeria. Vain self-gratulation! They have both to learn that not only must a suitable soil and climate be found, but that to make cotton, they must first make bondsmen (temporary or permanent). There are two points in which our practice of Agriculture is lamentably deficient—these are winter preparation and modes of plowing. With many it is customary to allow the spring to be far advanced, or at least, the winter to be pretty well spent, ere the process of preparation begins—indeed, this is merged in that of cultivation; and the corn is growing ere the land is broken up, and the cotton is up on part of the planta- tion ere the earth has been fitted for its reception on the bal- ance. We have too long been following in the footsteps of our fathers, A change of circumstances inyolves a necessity for a 6 change of modes. Our fathers cultivated a virgin soil, when the superficial and skinning process (though ultimately de- structive,) gave large immediate returns. We have to a large extent exhausted and denuded fields to contend with, and to obtain present support from them, and accomplish their ultimate improvement, it becomes necessary to bring to our aid modes, appliances and means, they never dreamed of. What do we plow for? This may seem a trite question. But it opens a wide field for inquiry, observation and reflection. What do we plow for, and how and when should we do it? We plow to pulverize the earth, whereby the delicate hair, like roots of plants, may ramify and extend in every direction, thereby obtaining ample pasturage to feed upon. And here the advantages of deep plowing will at once be apparent. The man who breaks his land eight inches deep, gives his plants twice the pasturage that he does who breaks but four, and he who pene- trates twelve, trebles the sources of supply. We plow to let in the air and sun, that we may secure the fertilizing properties of the one, and the vivifying and amelio- rating action of the other, and we should plow deep in order that these beneficial influences may be extended to a greater area of root pasturage. The air contains ammonia and carbonic acid, both highly essential to the growth of vegetation. They are rapidly, and in quantities absorbed by porous bodies, while a compact body appropriates little or none of them; therefore, by thorough and deep comminution of the soil, we greatly increase the amount of these bodies taken up and held, by the land, for the wants of the future plant. These bodies also act benefi- cially upon the organic and inorganic constituents of the soil, rendering them soluble, and putting them in a fit condition to be taken up and assimilated by the plant. We plow deep in order that these benefits may be extended toa large bulk of soil. We plow deep in order that our lands may be saved from washing, and that the rain water may not run off, carrying with it its fertilizing properties, as well as those of the soil it leaches. Rain water as well as the atmosphere, abounds in carbonic acid and ammonia, and by enabling it freely to pene- trate the earth, we secure these valuable ingredients. We plow deep in order to turn under trash, weeds, grass and the seeds of noxious plants. By running deep we increase the depth of our soil and bury these seeds so far from the influence ral 7 of air, heat and light, that comparatively few germinate, and those that do, come up slowly—in a sickly condition, and are easily destroyed, thereby greatly lessening the labor of cultiva- tion. By plowing deep we not only turn under and give compara- tive rest to the surface soil—which has so long been drawn upon—but bring up a sub-surface, which has, perhaps, never been disturbed by the plow, into which the roots of cultivated plants have penetrated but little, and which contains much of what has been drained from the surface soil. In soils as sandy and light as are most of those in our vicinity, the high winds of March and April carry off quantities of the light sur- face, thereby rapidly exhausting the land of humus, which is its life-blood. By deep winter plowing, we turn up a compara- tively valueless surface, which if blown off, is a small loss, as there is an inexhaustible quantity left. And here I would draw a distinction between the plowing of preparation and that of cultivation. The one belongs to Winter, and should be deep ; the other to Spring and Summer, and should be shallow. If deep plowing possesses the advantages already hinted at, how necessarily important that it should be accomplished as early in the winter as practicable, that the benefits of the winter rains (and frosts in farther pulverizing the land,) may be se- cured, that the air may have as long a time as possible to circu- late through its bulk, that the trash, weeds and grass may have time to ferment and decay, and that the moisture that arises freely from the subsoil, in seasons of drought, by capil- lary attraction (when the land has been well broken), bringing with it the soluble elements of inorganic fertility from far below the surface, and depositing them there as it evaporates, may also contribute its benefits. A somewhat successful planter of an adjoining State once remarked to me, that though considered a deep plower, in his neighborhood, he did not think that he broke his land toa greater average depth than from two and half to three inches. He realized large profits when his lands were fresh, for they were good; but the yield has been rapidly falling off, and he now scarcely clears expenses. Mr. Dickson of the same State, . and of an adjoining county, cultivates comparatively poor lands, much of them worn when he began. He plows deep ; his lands are annually improved, and his profits augmenting enormously. . 8 It is true that the word, deep plowing, is altogether eompar- ative. What would be deep with us would be considered shallow by the turners up of the almost fathomless alluvial deposits of the West. What might be deemed shallow here, would be considered no plowing at all there. The character of the soil and subsoil must, to a great extent, regulate it. When the surface is thin and deficient in vegetable matter, and the subsoil of an inferior quality, we must begin with com- paratively shallow plowing—gradually increasing in depth as — we add to the quantity of humus, and the other elements of fertility in the land. When the soil is comparatively good and the subsoil not greatly inferior to it, we should not hesitate at once to penetrate to a considerable depth. In the land which surrounds us, I would begin with from seven to ten inches— gradually increasing to from ten to twelve. Even this is ob- jected to, on the ground, that too much poor earth is brought to the surface—an objection which can only apply to those ex- ceptional cases, where the subsoil abounds in mineral matter, injurious to plant life—is composed of coarse marine sand, or stiff pipe-clay. Inhospitable fields! well calculated to disap- point the most industrious and persevering in the successful enactment of any system of cultivation. If the scratching process be pardonable anywhere, it seems to me to be upon such uninviting fields. Having finished the preparation of our lands, and planted our crops, we begin more fully to realize the advantages of deep winter plowing. The severe labor of the plantation haying been accomplished during the cool short days of winter, our animals have now comparatively light work to do, for instead of drawing long and narrow plows, to break the ground, all that is required is a horse-hoe, which, while it penetrates but little, shaves an extended surface. And here I would pay a tribute to that inimitable plow, the Dickson Sweep, perfected by the great pioneer pine land planter, David Dickson, of Han- cock County, Georgia. A plow which, while it penetrates but from one-half to one inch, cleans beautifully a furrow, from eighteen to twenty-six inches in width, according to the size of the plow. Let us suppose we have a field thoroughly broken up to the depth of eight or ten inches for corn, say in January. When the season for planting comes, we lay off our rows with an ordinary 9 >. shovel seven feet apart, following with a shovel twelve inches wide and fourteen long, opening a furrow at least ten inches deep and twelve wide. Into this furrow we drop our corn three feet apart, one grain to the hill, the distance being regulated by a forked stick, held in the left hand. Hands following, deposit the manure from four to six inches from the corn. Then follows a double bull-tongue plow, or two-toothed harrow, covering to the depth of from one and a half to two inches; the top of the ridge covering the corn, is thus some eight inches below the level of the field; our corn must then remain undisturbed, until it has attained considerable size, being surrounded by mellow earth on all’sides—the seed of weeds and grass deeply buried and coming up slowly, and there being no necessity for thinning, we only run our sweeps when we deem it proper to break the light crust which is formed, and shave off what little grass may have made its appearance, before it attains any size. We do this by running the twenty-twoinch Dickson Corn Sweep around the corn, to the depth of one inch. This throws sufficient earth into the trench, about the corn, to cover up any grass or weeds that may have come up there; thus doing away with the necessity for hoeing. Four furrows with this plow, will beautifully clean out the seven foot alley. This we repeat when the time for the next plowing comes round, planting our peas in a shovel furrow, in the middle of the alley, thus giving ample distance, and securing a full crop of peas. One furrow run subsequently between the corn and peas, with the twenty- six inch corn sweep, is generally sufficient; thus laying by the crop, perfectly level, in beautiful order, accomplishing the work- ing of it, with astonishing ease, the animals travelling rapidly, seemingly more worried by the mellowness of the earth beneath them, than the weight of the plow behind. And here, apart from the great amount of land which may be tended, and the comparative ease with which it is done, there is another most important fact to be considered ; it is, that during the entire cultivation of the crop, if properly done, we have never broken the roots of the corn, a fact which will tell when harvesting time comes—and more especially if there has been a visitation of drought. * * * * * * * * Gentlemen, we plow our corn too much—did we prepare our lands better and cultivate shallower, we should hear less of the destructive effects of drought. It would be better for us, and far better for our animals. 10 » The objection urged to deep winter preparation and shallow cultivation, that the lands run together and become too hard for the vigorous growth of vegetation, will be found not to apply to lands broken properly, and to the right depth, or only to those low spots where the water accumulates in large quan- tities, after heavy rains; or in soils where clay largely predomi- nates. It would be interesting to discuss the advantages of thorough preparation and shallow cultivation, as applicable to the cotton crop also, did time admit. The principles however, are the same, There are various matters of peculiar interest to which I can barely allude. Among these the horizontalizing our cotton rows, wherever the land is rolling, thus keeping the water from sudden summer rains, upon our land, and preserving the vege- table mould and finer particles of soil it would otherwise take away with it—the level culture of our corn, by which a less surface is exposed to our scorching summer's sun, and the rain water is allowed to penetrate equally, instead of being thrown by steep beds, into the middle of the alley—a judicious resort to ditching and under-draining, by which the injurious aceu-. mulation of water in low spots souring the land, and poisoning the plants grown there, may be removed, and the land pre- pared for the benefits of deep plowing, and the production of early and healthy vegetation, instead of the dwarfed and sickly productions usually seen upon such localities. And prominent among these is the practice of rotation and resting. The objec- tion is frequently urged, that we have too much open land, This is false, or possessed of force only so far as it might act as an inducement to the attempted cultivation of more than can be done justice to. By having a surplus of open land, we can- not only manure and rotate, but we can rest, which for the im- provement of our land is all important. With us the rotation may be cotton, corn, rest—or cotton, corn, small grain or peas, and rest. Its advantages are manifest; we know that corn does well after cotton; it is supposed both these have been manured, which prepares the land to some extent, if worn, for giving a remunerative return in small grain. This again leaves the land in the right state, for the growth of grass furnishing pas- ' turage, and the following year a coat of weeds to be turned in, 11 ” for the good of the land, and the cotton crop succeeding. We thus obtain a supply of humus so necessary to the growth of cotton. There are few lands so far exhausted as not to be able to bring a crop of weeds—particularly if manured, for the cotton and corn grown previous to rest. In lands compara- tively fresh, we obtain a heavy crop. We all know how much better cotton grows after rest, and this is peculiarly the case when concentrated fertilizers are used. Our lands are deficient in clay; vegetable matter to a considerable extent, supplies its place. Guano will not pay without a due proportion of it in the soil, and especially is this the case, on our light lands where the proportion should be large. By rest and the growth of weeds we get this supply, which can in no other way be ob- tained, without an immense expenditure of time and labor, in hauling; while it in no way interferes with the prepara- tion and use of our domestic ammonio-humifereous manures. In carrying out the system which I have faintly sketched, we break our land broadcast to the depth designed, every time it is prepared for corn, in regular rotation, penetrating a little deeper each time, until we have attained the full depth to which we may deem it proper to have our land thoroughly pulverized, For this purpose I consider no plow equal to the Allen turning plow, as made by the Messrs. Culver, of Hancock County, Georgia. Turnip growing, and the cultivation of the grasses, are matters of far greater moment to us as an agricultural people, than is gencrally supposed; and especially is this the case with the latter. It is frequently objected that our climate is not suited to grass-growing. Did you ever reflect that a large portion of our time is employed in contending with this, the greatest enemy of the cotton plant ? and that a planter frequently congratu- lates himself if he has barely succeeded in rescuing his crop from its ravages? and he is proud indeed, if he has gained a complete victory over the renowned “General Green.” Many, unfortunately, find themselves in the predicament of the poor Frenchman, who inquired of a Louisiana planter, “you got any de ting calle crab-be grass? he teck hold my cout-ton, he say, you shan-no grow.” How absurd then to say, we cannot grow grass. The truth is, there are varieties suited to both our uplands and lowlands, which would amply repay us for 12 their cultivation. There are untold acres of land lying idle, which might, in this way, be made to contribute much towards maintaining the plantation, as well as building up the cultivated lands, This matter is at the foundation of all success in stock- raising. We are surrounded by swamps, which are, so to speak, the reservoirs of the fertility of the uplands, where it has been accumulating for ages. They are now idle—nay, nuisances. By setting them in suitable grasses, they would become depots, whence our stock would bring us bountiful supplies of rich milk, nutritious flesh, valuable wool, and quantities of rich manure to be deposited in our lots, giving to the otherwise inert compost, energy and power. We have a soil and climate admirably suited to fruit growing. A wide belt of poor piney woods country, extending through this and sister States, ill-suited to corn and cotton, which will, with a little care and attention, produce the choicest fruits, both of summer and winter varieties—grapes that would orna- ment any table, and wines equal to the best imported from foreign soils, at enormous cost. Why then should they be idle? The gathering, composting and preserving manures of do- mestic origin, as well as judicious selecting, combining and adapting to our various soils the numerous commercial fertili- zers, embraces so much ground, and is of so great importance, that I trust that some gentlemen of more enlarged experience than myself, will make it the exclusive subject of discussion at some future meeting. This subject yields to none in import- ance; for there is no system of plowing or culture, however perfect in itself, which will enable the plant to find in an ex- hausted soil what is necessary to its vigorous growth. We must first supply this. We have the sources of an inexhausti- ble supply around us. Our forests abound in vegetable matter ; our swamps will supply any quantity of muck, not only valu- able in itself, but a most admirable addition to ammoniacal manures, and a truly valuable absorbent of the liquid manure of our stables, lots, cow and pig pens. The scraping of fence corners, and all low spots where vegetable mould accumulates. In fact, all refuse vegetable and animal matter should be care- fully preserved and made to contribute in restoring to the land its lost humus. All the ashes made upon the place should be carefully garnered up, for in them we have a rich supply of the inorganic elements of plant food, 13 It is a reproach upon us, and a clear demonstration of the suicidal character of the system of agriculture, that has been pursued, that the once fertile, virgin soil, over a large extent of our naturally blessed land, has been reduced almost to a state of barrenness; and this, too, in spite of the fact, that all the means, domestic and commercial necessary, not only to keep them in their original state but to improve them continually, are within our command. The truth is, we have been too much blessed. The abundance of fresh lands, lead to that feeling of security, growing out of a consciousness of large resources to be drawn upon, which, in its turn, begot an indifference to, and a contempt of all the means necessary to keeping up and improving the soil. But a few decades back, it was usual to speak dispar- agingly of the man who, becoming alive to the necessities of the future, and prompted by a love for the old homestead, under- took by the slow process of manuring to build up his lands, as well as his fortunes—as one not properly alive to the true interests of himself and family. The true policy among accu- mulators of fortunes, (and thence spreading to the mass of the tillers of the soil,) being deemed to consist in the rapid clearing up of lands—the carrying out of a superficial system of culti- vation, by which their cream might be rapidly skimmed, (the larger portion of it, however, washing into the creeks and rivers, and thence into the ocean), and then as soon as they showed symptoms of exhaustion, and the grass began to contend for the mastery, the pulling up of stakes, and seeking a fresh field, where the same destructive process might be repeated.