Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1847-06-24
ON THE RENOVATION OF WORKOUT
LAND.
To the Editor of the american Farmer

ON THE RENOVATION OF WORKOUT
To the Editor Of the american Farmer:
SIR: Ny attention has been powerfully
arrested by the communication In your last
from COL CAPRoN: and the perusal OF 1t has
afforded me much qualification. 1t interest
ed and edited me. and set me to thinking
Few men deserve more the thanks and ap-
plause of the agricultural community than
the Colonel. Few, | may say none, have
done, or are doing more to awaken the
farmers of Maryland to more just sense OF
their interests than they have heretofore dis
played. venture then to express the hope
and belief that. in this field SO worthy OF
his talents, he may find Laurel, less pro-
ftable, perchance, than the one which al
ready entwines his brow; but not less hon
able. The account of his onslaught upon
/ the poverty-strcke field, which he has re-
generated in a manner so mastery, is graph
ic and exciting, and the victory achieved
deserves to be classed with others OF some
what greater present renown, which have
also been won in the Taylor fashion,
There is, however, no pleasure without Its
alloy, and the pleasure afforded me in this
case by the Colonel's lively recital OF his
exploit is materially lessened by the almost
insurmounlabe difficulties which would at
tend the attempt land am strongly melted
to make it, to initiate him. 1t is easy to
enumerate these difficulties; would it were
as easy to remove them. In the first place,
| cannot have these ashes delivered on my
farm at any price, should have to haul
them with my own team from the city; this
would require for $500 bushels So loads,
which it would take l04 days to accom-
plish, and this must be done in the winter,
by way of back-loading end making the
usual allowance for bad weather, roads Sc.
the operation woudex,end over four months.
Then the SO wagon loads of manure would
make 100 OK cart loads for, alas Mr.. Edi-
tor, | have no mule teams. Nor could ]
spare so much for | must reserve 40 loads
for my two acres of potatoes. Then it
would be impossible with OK teams to get it
out in time for the oat crop Again, my
resources for extra labor are very limited,
and the necessity of lining at least one
twenty acre field every spring requires all
the extra labor that | can command and
were to attempt to bestow SO much labor
upon one field, as is contemplated by the
Colonel's system, | should inevitably de-
range, almost incurably, the whole program
me of my summers work. This, ! admit,
is a some what selfish view of the subject.
and yet hazard little in saying that the
large mass Of our farmers are pretty nearly
in my condition, and that very few in favor
ed localities and blessed with plethoric
pockets, will find themselves able to follow
the Colonel's most efectual prescription.
would not, however, on any account, be
construed as wishing to detract from the
merits of the Colonies Buena Vista opera
tons. ! would not pluck one laurel from
his brow, but would much prefer to add an
other wreath to those he now wears so grace
fully. His is the merit, somewhat rare, of
setting an example 10 men Of abundant
means, would it were followed Mr.. Editor,
of investing their surplus change in the i'm
provement of the soil, instead of smuggling
it in stocks, banks, ground rents SC. SC.
Apart from my desire to offer to Colonel
Capron my thanks and congratulations as a
member of the farming community, had
another object in the present communica-
ton. Whilst regard with favor, and wit
ness with undssembed pleasure, such bold
strokes in the war Of Improvement, as the
one which has been considered, very
much fear that in the rage for rapid and
brilliant operations, and the desire to parti-
cipate in the astonishing results produced
by highly concentrated and bought manures,
we may temporarily neglect the slower and
more tedious, but may venture to say,
surer and more legitimate meaus Of improv-
ing the soil. 1t is by logged perseverance,
untiring patience and hard labor, guided by
skill and judgment, that American agricul-
ture must ultimately rise to the European
level-or above it. Now it will be difficult
to define what | mean by skill; but to at
tempt the definition, would say it is the
art of making the soil improve itself, willis,
it yields support. Will be pardoned for
hazarding the assertion, that it requires lit
tie agricultural skill to improve land upon
the high pressure system? There is essen
tally very little difference between buying
a highly improved farm for $50 an acre, and
buying poor one at $40, and expanding
$40 on it in four successive years. The
advantage in profit may be found on the
side of buying the highly improved farm, if
the skill is possessed to turn its improved
condition to account, and this amount of
skill is often met with.
The advantage in qualification, and the
applause of others, may ramain on the side
of the improyer, though, after all, he merely
illustrates the axiom that an abundance Of
manure applied to any land-improveable-
will make it rich. Asl have before intima-
ted, cases will occur Of the spirited and ju-
dicious application of large means to the i'm
provement of the soil. They will general