604 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



rNo. 10 



not only the upper stratum of the soil must be 

 compounded of the proper earths and other sub- 

 stances necessary to constitute a rrood soil, but the 

 subsoil also must have properties to correspond 

 with the upper. A lew inches of the very best 

 soil would be of little avail over a stratum of im- 

 permeable clay, or over a thick bed of pure sand 

 or gravel. The former could not afford room for 

 the extension of the roots of plants, and it would 

 retain too much water which would stagnate and 

 destroy vegetation, while the latter would sutler all 

 the water to sink and leave the surface too dry for 

 the desired purposes. It is frequently impossible 

 to remedy the delects of the subsoil; but, when it 

 is feasible, the upper stratum may be improved by 

 adding to it such substances of which it may be 

 deficient, even to the degree of bringing a very 

 steril soil to a high state of durable fertility. In- 

 deed, we can see no reason why such soils should 

 not, by proper moans within our power, be brought 

 to the very highest state of fertility to which land 

 has ever reached in any part of the world. Land, 

 at the north, has been made to yield upwards of 

 170 bushels of corn to the acre, which land was 

 probably not originally of the highest grade. We 

 have the same means of improving our land as 

 the people of the north, and we have a more sure 

 climate in our favor. Can any one show that it is 

 impossible to make much of our land equal to the 

 best of Alabama? We think it not only possible, 

 but practicable. In order to do this, however, we 

 should know the constituent parts of those richest 

 soils, so as to know how to form one, the most re- 

 quisite for fertility. 



Many of the arls. assisted by science, have 

 been in our day, carried to such perfection, that 

 he who should, only a few years hack, have ven- 

 tured to predict that which we now witness, 

 would have been thought a fit subject for a lunatic 

 asylum. Agriculture is, at the present time, in 

 the state that some of the improved arts alluded 

 to, were a century ago, and no man would now 

 dare to predict what wonders may be achieved in 

 this department, if proper means be adopted and 

 prosecuted with zeal. We venture to assert, that 

 there is not one object of the pursuits of man, 

 more deserving the use of these proper means, 

 and o( the most zealous perseverance than agri- 

 culture. This is true, with very iew exceptions, 

 in every part of the world; how much more then 

 is it of a country like this which is essentially and 

 exclusively dependent on the produce of the soil. 

 This is emphatically true of the south-eastern 

 states. Depend upon it, not only your prosperity, 

 but jour independence, nay, probably, your very- 

 existence rest on the exertions now recommended. 

 We shall not say, gentlemen, for your own sake, 

 but for the sake of your wives, children and their 

 posterity, and for your own posthumous fame — 

 reflect on this, and act promptly. 



Arable soils are composed of silicious, alumin- 

 ous and calcareous earth, to which may be added 

 the magnesian. This last is most frequently ab- 

 sent, and its use, as a component part, is not yet 

 well ascertained. It is supposed not necessary to 

 the formation of a fertile soil. The o'her earths 

 in due proportions, with a suitable quantity of ve- 

 getable and animal matters, or putrescent ma- 

 nures, form the richest soils known to agriculture. 

 Either of them, by itself, is perfectly inert and 

 steril. The first, viz. sand, is usually," if not al- 



ways the. most abundant, in all cultivated soils, 

 even in those denominated aluminous or clay soils. 

 The third, viz. calcareous earth, which is most ge- 

 nerally in the form of carbonate of lime, is the 

 least in the component parts of fertile soils. Sili- 

 cious and aluminous earths are never absent in 

 cultivated land; but calcareous earth is frequently 

 so, at. least in a perceptible degree. Without it, 

 however, no soil is naturally or can be made by 

 art permanently fertile; for although putrescent 

 manures exert their fertilizing powers, when no 

 calcareous earth is present, their beneficial effects 

 are comparatively evanescent. We have said 

 that neither of these constituent earths, by itself, 

 is otherwise than perfectly steril. We have suffi- 

 cient, proofs of it in the chalks of Europe, and the 

 bald prairies of our western country, as regards 

 the calcareous earth; and we need not point to ex- 

 am tiles of pure sand, or pure clay to prove our as- 

 sertion. 



From what proceeds, it is evident, that when it 

 is desired to ascertain the qualities of a soil, it is 

 best done by analysis, by which alone the propor- 

 tion of each of its component parts can be ascer- 

 tained. If it be found that one of the necessary 

 earths is wanting, or is insufficient in quantity, 

 such a soil can only be rendered fertile by supply- 

 ing the deficiency. We have said that of the 

 three principal earths, the calcareous is the most 

 frequently deficient, and this is unfortunately the 

 case in a great portion of this state. But although 

 it is most often found wanting in the upper soils, 

 we are not left quite destitute of resources; for, in 

 a considerable section of the country, all below the 

 falls of the rivers, rich and extensive beds of car- 

 bonate of lime, in the shape of fossil shells, are to 

 be found a few feet below the surface, and these 

 can supply the deficiency. By means of these 

 very extensive strata of shells, immense tracts of 

 land in the low country, which are now abandon- 

 ed as exhausted, can be, not only restored to their 

 primitive state, but also be brought to a state of 

 fertility far above that which they ever possessed. 

 It cannot be denied that to perform this requires 

 much labor — and your committee do not pretend 

 t3 free you from the original sentence passed upon 

 us: "In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat 

 bread." The question then is, is it worth while 

 to undertake such a great work at the cost of so 

 much labor? — or is it not better to abandon our 

 impoverished state and seek fertility in the western 

 wilds? Too many, far too many have already ta- 

 ken the latter alternative, and the population and 

 wealth of our dear state are far removing to the 

 west. If this system of emigration is persevered 

 in, we ask, in dread of the answer — we ask, with 

 the feelings of men exposed to the most imminent 

 danger, what is fo become of the state — the glo- 

 rious, the hospitable, the chivalric state of South 

 Carolina? We wait not lor an answer — but we 

 bid, or rather pray you to turn your eyes towards 

 Italy, to the Csmpania di Homana; to the former 

 mistress of the world herselfj and there the an- 

 swer is most solemnly written in most distinct char- 

 acters. That countiy, once the garden and pride 

 of the world — the dwelling place of its masters — 

 where is all its glory? Gone, gone forever. The 

 palaces and gardens of the Ceesars, and of all 

 the great names which are yet the pride of his- 

 tory, are all replaced by infectious marshes, 

 where nothing but desolation, misery and death 



