Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1851-02-12
AGRICULTURAL.
IMPROVEMENT OF WORKOUT LANDS,
BY PLOUGHlNG IN GREEN CROPS, &c.


1t must be admitted as an agricultural
truth, that soils which may have been long
in culture, without having been cultivated
in clover, or the grasses, or received peri
odical dressings of barn-yard or other pu-
lrescent manures, must necessarily have be-
come deprived of the greater portions of
their mould, as every crop which may have
been raised upon, and removed lhere(rom,
carried away much Of the soluble parts of
the animal and vegetable matters which were
therein. And as it is, also. an admitted truth,
that mould is an indispensable ingredient in
every productive soil, it stands to reason,
that, when in the course Of improvident cul-
ture, it may have been distracted, it il es-
sen,ial that it shall be restored, in order that
the soil may be reinstated in its former
powers Of production. The question then,
hoao this restoration shall be brought about9
is one full of interest 10 every agticulturis,
Those who have ample resources-who
have full supplies of animal and vegetable
manures-who have the materials on their
land 10 lorm composts, comprising the ele-
ments in queslion-need look no farther for
the means of restoring the needed cons,iu-
enls TO their soil. But those who are diffe-
rently siluale aled-who make but little manure,
and are but Ill supplied with the raw material
tor forming composts, must turn their atten-
| ton 10 the next best means Of placing such
matters in the soil as will form mould What
those means are, is the subject Of the present
paper. We have often advised the growing,
and ploughing in, of green crops, and we here
| naf hat oIy 4
belief ofits efficacy, in the first place, and the
necessity of SO doing, in the next. We are
among those who believe, that no soil can
be truly productive, unless both organic and
inorganic food be present ,herein-we be-
'leve, that the air can supply portion of
the organic food; but we are firmly con-
vinced, that the great body Of such food has
to be supplied from the earth when the fruit
is forming, and that, if it be not there, the
plants grown in it will be but poorly fed.
We believe also, that the capacity Of the soil
to avail itself Of the food of the air, depends
materially upon the fact of the existence in
it of mould-lhal, in proportion to the guam
'ity of decayed or decaying vegetable and
mineral matter which it may contain, so
will be its powers of attraction and conden-
sallon,-so will be lis power to appropriate
the lertllizng gases of The air. To be sure,
the rain, the hail, and the snow may bring
:hem down, and by the process of percola-
ton, they will find their way into the earth
bu. if either happens to fall upon sandy
soil, wherein there may be no mould TO fr
the gases which may have been brough
down, those gases will speedily escape, and
confer but lille benefit on the growing crop,
because of the want Of power in the soil to
retain them. The affinity of clay for such
gaseous bodies, would, by the power Of re-
'en'ion, inherent in it, chemically, as we'll as
physically, exert much greater, and more
friendly influence, in dispensing such food
10 the plants growing on it, than would
sand, whose affinity is dependent upon the
mould it may contain but even cayey
soils need mould nearly as much, Ultimate
y, as do sands, as when the growing crops
come to form their fruits, the earth is, to
very great extent, the source whence the
substances for the formation of such fruits
have to be derived.
The next question TO be considered, is
What plants shall be cultivated and plough
ed in? This question is to be solved by
circumstances. The facility by which seed
can be oblained-,he facility with which the
plants to be selected can be grown on poor
lsnd-and the construction of their leaves,
whether they be such as to enable them
TO derive considerable portions of their food
from the atmosphere. This latter conside-
ration is highly important, as all that they
derive from that source, will be SO much TO
be added to the fertility of the soil, when
the crop comes to be ploughed in.
In England and other European countries,
there are various plants grown for this pur-
pose-!he Red clover, as with US; but then,
this plant, without manure and lime, will
not grow and form such sod as to make
it an object with American farmers to turn
i, in. Indeed, any soil that will grow good
crop of Red Clover, in our opinion, does
not need such extra attention. Lupine,
Rape, Rye, Sainfoin, Spurry, and Buck
wheat, are all grown in Europe for being
ploughed in-the turnip is also used for the
same purpose. In view of all the circum-
stances which should operate to determine
opinion, as to which are the bes. plants to
be cultivated in our country, as crops to be
Plougheu III ds lunp'o'efs o' pour id"o' d''e'
much reflection, we have arrived at the con-
clusion that Buckwheat, Peas, and Beans,
are the only plants abou. which any serious
ideas should be entertained. They all bear
many branches, much and luxuriant foliage,
and possess series and formation of leaves,
which eminenlly qualify them to absorb,
feed upon, and sssmila,e in their structures,
the fer,lizing gases of the air; and hence,
when turned under, will not only restore to
the earth, all that they may have gained from