According to the back page of the April 1852 issue, “In May of 1850 a number of Planters living in Georgia and Alabama, met in Columbus, Georgia and formed themselves into an Agricultural Society. The advantages of such an association were at once apparent, and with the view to contribute as much as possible to agricultural improvement, it was determined, at a meeting of the Society in January, 1851 to establish an Agricultural Journal. As the result of that action, The Soil of the South, made its appearance in the month of March last.”

The Soil of the South was the official organ of the Southern Central Agricultural Association, based in Atlanta, Goeriga. The journal was published in Columbus, Georgia by T. Lomax and Co; its agricultural editor was James M. Chambers and its horticultural editor was Charles A. Peabody. The journal was published from March, 1851 until 1857. In 1856 it merged with The American Cotton Planter becoming the American Cotton Planter and the Soil of the South. Under this title it was published in Montgomery, Alabama by N. B. Cloud. The publication ceased in 1861.