The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1819-08-03
Ess AY-NO. 80.

Land may be much improved by certain course
of crops wellas by the method Of cultivation
and the application of manure. Pease are found
to make land mellow, TO enrich and prepare il
for wheat. Pease make shade when the land
is shaded the air will be condensed, and conse-
quently make room for the rushing in of more air
SO that in this shade there will be the greater
Judgment Of the'nitrous salts, and Of course, the
land viii be made rich. The same is found by
experience to be ofpotatoes and therefore it j.
accounted TO be an enrcher of the land.
Another way Of mending land, is, what they
call in England green dressing this is by sowing
buck wheat, oats or rye, & when il is grown up a.
full ofsap; it spoughed in, after this let it lie
till fully rotten, then plough again and sow your
wheat. The Dutch people, in this way, on poor
plains, raise fine crops of wheat. For green
dressing it is recommended that millet be sown
on account Of the cheapness of seeding the land !;
the cost is buta trife the stock and leaf grow
ing large it must afford good large coat to turn
under when ploughed.
Being at neighboring town, says Mr.. Eliot,
an old country farmer had been in the practice
ofgreen dressing, he had ploughed in green oats
It seemed to alter the color Of the land it looked
much better than the rest of the lot when there
was nothing but f,Irrow that parted The far
mer said he could raise land or increase the
strength to a great degree in a few years in the
following Manner after his oats were harvest
ed, he addedsorne@ seedsto the scattered oats.
ploughed tin, at the end Of September plouehcd
10 the green oats, and sowed it with rye the
next summer, when the rye was full grown,
ploughed that in at the common saving time, il
would be fit to produce a large crop Of wheat !.
all the cost fploughing and seeding, is not so
much as the cost of dung. cartns and spreading,
If we can get it, but the difficulty is, it is not to
be had upon any terms there very few such
bad husbandmen as to sell their dung.
Land may be enriched by sowing it with clo-
yer seed and ploughiug it in. Ten pounds of seed
is allowed to an acre. If seeding land with clo-
yer will not make poor land rich, yet it will pre-
vent our good land from being worn out and by
ploughing good coat of white clover, the land
will be prepared for good crop of wheat.
In England, they recover their poor land, By
sowing it with turnips and at winter put their
sheep upon it; they will live awhile upon the
tops, then scocp out the turnip itself; by that
time the land with the sheep dung will be rich
enough for barley in the spring. But poor
land is poor that il will not bea turnips of any
bigness. This method looks likely, if tried 10
make rich land richer.
We have seen it often remarked that much
land is worn out and spoiled by shallow plough
ing deep ploughiag is recommended even where
the soil is thin and shallow. We think il is gen
under, the first crop is apt to be injured by deep
ploughing. Different kinds of land require diff
ferent treatment but the cultiror, if he be
practical farmer,wll be the best Judge Of his own
land.