THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the turmoils and cares of the city, and the 

 vicisitudes of fortune to which its dwellers are 

 exposed. Rural life and emploympnt have the 

 elements of the beautiful and the aj2;reeable, 

 or they would not possess so many charms to 

 the occupant of all other departments of human 

 enterprize and industry. 



Why then do so many young men, turning 

 from agriculture as unworthy their attention, 

 seek other employments, or crowd the mercan- 

 tile or professional ranks? There may be 

 various reasons for this. Some may desire a 

 more speedy return for their labor, and think 

 it found in daily or weekly wages, not consid- 

 ering the uncertainty of constant employment, 

 or comparing their actual profits with those of 

 the working farmer. Others may be led away 

 by the attractive and fashionable appearance of 

 acquaintances who have found employment in 

 the city ; or by the hope of rivaling the one out 

 of twenty who succeeds in making a fortune as 

 a merchant, forgetting, meanwhile, the confine- 

 ment and drudgery of the every-day life of 

 their gentlemanly friend, and the nineteen fail- 

 ures which have taken place while the latter 

 has suddenly risen to wealth and notoriety. A 

 large class are impressed with the idea that in 

 cities exist greater facilities for finding a com- 

 fortable living without much active labor ; and 

 this thought has charms for the indolent M'hich 

 they cannot resist. How bitterly they will be 

 disappointed, miserable multitudes, who are 

 waiting with Mr. Micawber for something to 

 turn up," can sorrowfully relate. 



That the young man who has been liberally 

 educated must study a profession — that in law, 

 medicine, or theology, alone, can be found use 

 for his learning — is an idea too prevalent even 

 now. It M'ill be a better day for all when it is 

 discovered that the highest honors of the college 

 do not unfit a man for the practical duties of 

 agriculture — that it is not burying one's knowl- 

 edge to graduate from the university to the 

 farm. Some of our most successful agricul- 

 turists have reached farming through law, 

 finance, politics, literature, or merchandize; 

 going by way of the professions to their present 

 field of labor. When such men take the direct 

 route, as they are beginning to do, farming will 

 rank not only as healthful and pleasant, but as 

 profitable and honorable in the esteem of men. 

 Increase in position will give increase in kiiowl 

 edge and refinement, and make the life of a 

 farmer always and everywhere, what it should 

 be — the truest and manliest of all life on earth. 



J. 11. B. 



From the Country Cmlleman. 



Differences in Soils. 



Soil is the earth wherein crops of every kind 

 are produced. The component parts are argill, 

 sand, water and air. Argill is the soft and 

 unctious part of clay. Argill and sand con- 

 tains each, in nearlv equal degrees, the food of 

 36 



plants. There are difi*erent kinds of soil, which 

 may be divided into four classes, namely : Clay, 

 Sand, Gravel and what is termed Peat Earth. 

 There is, however, another kind of soil called 

 garden mold, but, as it is mainly an artificial 

 creation, it can hardly be ranked with natural 

 or original soils. Loam, too, has been consid- 

 ered by some as an original earth, but in reality 

 it is an artificial soil, produced by calcareous 

 matters, and animal and vegetable manures. 

 In process of time the strongest clay may be 

 converted into a loam, by repeated applications 

 of the substance just mentioned. Sandy soils 

 may also be converted into light loams by the 

 application of lime, chalk, marl and clay. And 

 even peat may be turned into a black, soft loam, 

 and rendered fertile and productive. 



A clay soil difiers from all other soils, and is 

 tough, wet and cold, and requires a good deal 

 of labor to render it fit for bearing artificial 

 crops of corn or grass. When once wetted it 

 does not soon dry, and when thoroughly dry it 

 is not easily wetted. When it is plowed in ,a 

 wet state it sticks to the plow like mortar, and 

 in a dry summer the clods can scarcely be 

 broken or separated by the heaviest roller. 



Sandy soils are managed with much less 

 trouble and at an expense greatly inferior to 

 what clay soils require ; but the crops which 

 are produced from them are generally of smaller 

 value. There are several varieties of sandy 

 soils, and in some artificial plants will not 

 thrive unless a portion of good earth is previ- 

 ously mixed. A true sandy loam resting upon 

 a sound subsoil, is called the most valuable of 

 all soils upon vVhich all kinds of grain may be 

 raised with advantage, and no soil is better 

 adapted for turnips or grass. Sandy soils 

 thoroughly invigorated with clay and marl, by 

 judicious management, may be made to produce 

 the largest crops. 



Gravelly soils freely imbibe moisture, and 

 part with it with great facility. From the 

 lightness of their texture, they are neither ex- 

 pensive nor difficult in the means of cultivation. 

 They are tjsuallj'- barren, but by frequent ap- 

 plication of manure, and by frequent returns 

 of grass, they may be made fertile and prolific. 

 Deep plowing is essentially necessary, so that 

 the surface soil may be augmented, and greater 

 room given to the growth of the plants cultiva- 

 ted on them. If shallow-plowed, it is either 

 burned up in a day or two of drouth, or equally 

 injured by an excessive fall of rain. 



Peat earth, probably, is an artificial soil made 

 and produced bj certain substances deposited 

 upon the surfiice of the earth. Philosophers, 

 however, disagree on this point. By one it is 

 called a primitive earth ; by another, a vegeta- 

 ble which grows and increases, and continues 

 to if/crease until it destroys all other soils; and 

 by a third, that it consists of ligneous and 

 aquatic plants. It has been said that one-fourth 

 of the habitual globe is peat, or moss earth, 

 and it is, perhaps, surpris^ing that so little is 



