The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1846-07-16

- FOn lie Genesses Farmer.
GREEN CROPS AS MANURE.

GREEN CROPS AS MANURE.
An illilerale farmer asked. " Ehy d0es
not my ten acre Geld sink down. as / and
nv ancestors haze taken more IAsn hun
dEsd er1ps from u. without ever adding
\ paniei- Of manure r.
lie MAS not aware that the substance Of
his crops. was principally obtained from
the air. and from tie moisture in Ille soil,
50 THAI the quantity Of soil itself Vas III.
! de affected. .--e-........
To prove that plants may be pr0AHeed
from no other Substances Than air and NJ.
! ter. .el the l,,ilowing experiment be per-
formrd. Procure quantity VI pounded
glass. wash Il in = clean glass vessel, and
plant in IL grass seed or gain; let il be
elevated from The g,oun1 and kept remote
IRON any thing that can drop into il or
come ia contact with il. MOislen il fIe-
quenlly with perfect pure wafer, so that
not q Farlicle Of any Thing else come
near il. The seeds will vrgetaie and
gov g. a height Of several inch,s; and
the glass Will not be diminished in the
least. II the experiment, instead of be-
Ing made wIsh pounded glass were made
| with sllex, alumiRe. and Carbonate Of lime,
in those proportions in which they exist
when they farm the most fertile soils, the
result would he the same. II is true in
al good sells there exists vegetable and
animal matter. The quantity Of which il
affected by the grewlh Of plants, but these
substances form but a small proportion
Of The whcl.. and vegetable matter in
sIils is as lisely To be increased as dinin.
Ished by the growth Of plants.
Il will thus pc perceived, that The prac'
lice of enricLing land BY green crops, i:
in fact nothing else Than Ob,sining manure
from the air ald rain that ri Inls form
a channel through which feriiiIzipg sub
stances are conveyed 10 the soil, which
are taken in by The leaves and pass through
the stems 10 the roots. ,u....
The roots OF grass in good swart
ground make formidable sublerranear
forest in miniature, and il i" asserted ON re-
spectacle authority, that more than twelve
tons are thus addict 10 the feriilizing pro
perties Of every acre Of soil. Wher
therefore The leaves and stems, as well a:
roots, are also thus applied, the whole
quantity becomes very large.
Crops turned under for manure, should
always BE- in green state and never ripe
and dry. In the former case they fermen
and become fit fnr supporting vegetation
in the latter, they CONTINUE unrUl,ed fol
years.
Loudon, speaking on this subject, makes
the following Interesting statement: "a
mong the most active paris employed as
manure. have found The wild species oi
the genus Snaps, (mus ard ploughed in
fresh in the bottom Of turnip drills, at the
rate of twenty tons per acre. Tie pro.
duce brnugh, al auction Rl2, while the
rest # The field, manured with tons oil
f:m-yard dung, brought only from SO to
gl0 per acre, Other weeds, such as net.
Ties, uis,les, &c. produce crops superior
10 farm yard dung Poia,oe strms. fresh
ploughed in on clover lay for wheat, | have
found TO produce crops exceeding By two
bolls per acre in quantity, with more pro
porIionale weight Of straw, than other
paris Of the sane field MANFRED with
Iarm-yard dung, but otherwise under the
same circumstances. The stems from
three acres Of good potatoes, will manure
an acre Of wheat, 10 much better purpose
Than fifteen tons Of fsrm-yard dung, the
usual quantity allowed in that part of The
rotation, clover and whoa, being The crop
which generally precedes talow."
i We think, that in no case farm-yard
manure should be rejected or wasted, be.
cause all the manure which can possibly
be had is always needed in good farming /;
but fields remote from manure yards, may
frequently be enriched a, less expense By
green manure. than by carling farm-yard
+ dung upon them. This will be evident
when we take into account the expense
Of drawing and spreading on the land.
and The tact, that crop Of vegetable
growth is already upon the ground, spread
as evenly as is desired on the other.
we have observed in all parts of the country
in the latter part of the summer, pastures literal
ly covered with an enormous growth of the CON-
mon field thistle, (Cmcus hnceokatus) that
little else could grow upon the land Ii this about
the time ofvblossoming, were cut, raked in heaps
with horse-rake and allowed to ferment, they
would furnish a vast amount Of manure, and pre-
vent the seeds spreading.
II --~---~>->~>o>>
| Pickles.-As the time of year is ap-
prosching for putting up pickles, we pub
lsh the following as some Of the bes, me.
thods:
| Cucambers. - Cucumbers should Law