Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1847-07-22
RENOVATION OF WORKOUT LANDS.

RENOVATION OF WORKOUT LANDS.
The following letter addressed to Col. H.
CAPRoN, on subject interesting to farmers,
is the one referred to in the communication
OF that gentlemen published in our last from
the American Farmer:
In complying with thy request to
furnish some notes of the method a.
dopted to improve my farm, should
first, perhaps, give some general idea of
the kind Of soil, and condition when it
came into my possession.
The under stratum is a stiff tenacious
clay, making good 'brick without
straw and the soil itself, like most of
the lands in this section of country,
had been worn out, or greatly impover-
ished,by "the old Maryland plan,'' of
Rising alternate crops of corn and to-
bacco; and what little fertility was left
in it, after the tobacco culture ceased,
because the land was too poor to pro-
duce remunerating crops any longer
was, by long course oftenantry, pretty
efectually used up: this was certainly
the case with my farm oflittle over 100
acres. An able bodied man, owning
the land and doing all his own work,
might possibly make a trifle over a
bare support; but l had not this adj
vantage, being compelled by i'll health
to resort to The country, and abandon
the pursuits for which l was educated.
/ knew literally nothing about farm
ing, but did not doubt that by plough
ing in green crops, sc. sc. my poor old
fields could soon be made productive.
Like many wisermen, however, / found
this plan of "renovating worn out
lands" much easier in theory than prac-
tice. There were two strong objections
in my case to this method-a good one
though it is, under favorable circum-
stances. My land was found, after re-
peated trials, too poor to produce the
green crops, to turn in and it was also
necessary in the mean time, to grow
something to live on, for | had not the
money to spare, to buy with.
used plaster by the ton, but with
no apparent advantage; nor was ]
much more successful in adopting Gen.
Beatson's plan of burning clay.
My first and most important change
for the better, was the substitution of
oxen in place of horses, for all farm
work ploughing included. found
that two yoke of exen could be better
kept and at less than half the expense
of one pair of horses, to say nothing of
the wear and tear Of harness by pro-
per management, each yoke ploughed
nearly as much as the horses, even in
hot weather; and after working A to 6
years, were worth about first cost in
beef
The next experiment, was the appli-
cation of a few hundred bushels of
shell lime, hauling the shells tpenty
miles, and burning them on the farm
and although heary business with my
slender resources, should have perse-
vered, but from an accidental circum-
stance.
About Is years since, an individual
who owned lime kiln in an adjoining
county, offered for an advance payment
to furnish 200 bushels of stone lime for
$2O-the refuse of a previous kiln, and
air slaked.
This 200 bushels was applied to four
acres, Con one side) of the poorest field
l had and was, believe, the most ex-
tended experiment then made in the
neighborhood, with stone lime. Some
two or three persons had experimental
on small scale; one of which only
had applied as much as a load of lime !;
and in no instance as far as | could
learn, was the application repeated, for none
appeared satisfied with the results obtained.
After four years, very little change was
perceived in the vegetation-nearly all the
grass sown with the small grain having per-
ished-nor was it to be wondered at; for
the crop Of corn, grown at the time of the
application of the lime, did not yield foe
bushels of merchantable corn to the acre
most of the oats succeeding the corn was
too short to harvest.
After seven years, this field coming again
in course was planted in corn-the season
most unpropitious; yet without the addi-
ton of shovel full of any other kind Of
manure, the yield was generally estimated
at 80 to 35 bushels per acre; on the adj
joining land, not lined, the product was
still about four to five bushels-the part
adjoining as also the four acres had so BUSH
els of lime for this crop, (making 1870 BUSH
to the acre for the portion previously limed)
but the application was SO recent that no
effect was perceived in the crop, and the
increased fertility Of the four acres, was at
,ribu,ed entirely to the previous dressing of
two hundred bushels.
Corn that season, readily sold for ST. per
bushel, as the failure in crops was very