Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-07-07

hilly land pioughcd m Lat manner, soon
produce like effect, notwithstanding The
imprnved practice ui deeper pluugliiug.
How have The beauty and value OF this
red ridge of country suffered from this
cause And how much is due 10 the hap
nv improvement ;utrodnced By a member
oi this society, whom need not name
l,y il cultivation in horizontal drills with
!. piuuSh adapted 10 IL Had Tie practice
ptCVailed frutn the FIRST settlement Of The
country, the general fertility would have
been tuo!e than The double of what The
red hills, and i;.lccl all other hill, lands
now possess; and The sears and sores now
,'cia, in. ihen World nu Where be seen.-
lapvliN, experience is growing that this
remedy aided by d mere rational manage
ment IN other respects, Is adequate Ia lie
purpose al iiea'ing wha, has been wound
,,i, as NeiI as OF preserving the health Of
~ha, l,aS escaped lie calamity. Ii Is i,uiy
gratifying Ia observe Eow fast The i'm
pro,enicnl is spreading from the parent
EXAMPLE. The value OF Our red hills, IN
Der mode of cultivation which gnards
their fertility against wasting rams, is pro
baby exceeded by that of no nplnds
whatever; and without HAT advantage
they are exceeded in value by almost all
DtieIs. They are little more Than lease
ir years.
Besides The inestimable advantage from
-hoiixtuiial ploughnS, in protecting lie
son against the wasting effect Of rains,
tlilrr is great one III lis preventing The
lai'.s themselves from being lost Ia tie
crpp. The ln,iian corn is The crop, which
unsi exp0ses the soil 10 be carried IF Ivy
Ills, rams aud il is al the same time the
crop which most needs them. Where The
iAud is not only billy, but the soil thirsty,
(as is The cas-. particularly oughoui this
mountainous range,) the preservation OF
the rain as il falls, between the d,iIird
ridges, Is o. peculiar importance ana lis
j gradual setting DOWN. ar@S 10 the roots,
is The best possible mode Of supply ing
them with moisture. In ibe old methed
ofplougmng shallow, with the burrows up
and down, the ram as well as the so!i MAS
lost.
Ill. The neglect Of manurcs is another
error which claims particular notice. IL
may be traced 10 the same cause with our
excessive cropping. In The carly stages
Of our agriculture, II was more convenient
and more profitable, TO bring new land III
10 cultivation, titan Ia improve exhausted
land. The failure of new land has long
called for The Improvement OF old land;
bul habit has kept Us deaf 10 the call.
Nothing is more certain than that con-
tinuai cropping without manure, depriyes
the soil of lis fertility. Ii is equally GER
tam that fertility may be preserved or
restored, by giving 10 the earth animal
or vegetable manure equivalent 10 the
matter taken tromit; and that perpetu.
al fertility is not, in itself, incompatible
with an uninterrupted succession of crops.
The Chinese, ii is said, smile at The idea,
that land needs rest, as If like animals il
had sense OF fatigue. Their soil does
not need rest, because an industrious use
Is made of every trrtiliziug particle, that
can contribute towards replacing what
has been drawn from il. And this is the
more practicable with them, as almost the
whole OF what is grown OH their farms is
CONSUMED within them. That a resi0ra-
tion 10 The earth Cf all that annually grows
on ~, prevents It's empoveriShment, is
sufficiently seen IN orr forests where
The anulal exuvise of the trees and plants
replace The f'riii,y of which they deprive
the earth. Where frequent fires DESTROY
the leaves and whatever else is annually
dropped on the earth, il is well known
ihdt lie land becomes poorer; tI.iS destruc-
,ionoi Tie natural crop, having the same
tmroverlshmg effect, as removal ola cu-
tlvaIed crop. y still stronger proof that
an annual restoration TO the earth of all
It's ANIMAL product sill perpeiuaie lis pro-
ieii uncu!tlYaied and unpastured. Inihis
case tux SOIL, receiving from The decay OF
ne spontaneous weeds and grasses more
fertility than they extract from IL, is for a
tl'nc al least Improved, not Impoverished.
lis Improvement may be explained, by
she feriilizDg matter which the weeds and
grasses derive from water and the atmos-
phcre, which forms nett gain to The earth.
AZ what point, or from what cause, the
formation and accumulation of vegetable
mould from this gain, ceases, is not per-
maps very easy TO be explained. That it
does cease, is proved by the stationary
condition OF the surface OF the earth IN old
forests; and that the amount Of the accu-
mutation varies with the nature of the
subjacent earth, is equally certain. 1t
seems 10 depend also OIL The species of
trees and plants which happen to contri.
bute Tire materials for the vegetable mould.
Butt most eligible mode of preserv-
81 ing The richness, and of enriching the no.
verify OF farm, is certainly that of appIy-
ing 10 the soil a suilicieDcy of animal and
vegetable matter in a purified state or a
State ready Tor putreiaciion i'll order to
procure which, too much care cannot be
observed IN saving every material furnish
ed by the farm. This resource wasamone
'he earliest discoveries of men living by
iS'lcuthre and proper use OF II has
peen made a test of good husbandry, in
an countries, ancient aud modern, where
us principles 81 profits have been studied.
>, some tanners OF distinction headed by
VII, supposed that mere earth, in pull
VerZ'd state, was sufficient without ma
hufe, for the growth of plants and conse-
qu'mly that continued pulyeriz; ion
would render the soil perpetually produc-
I'VE; theory, which never would have
occurred to q planter of tobacco or Of In
dldn corn, who finds the soil annraily