Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1854-06-22

lived. AID was sown with regularity, perhap!
lone-,hird or one-half Of what ! SOW nigh
be sufficient; my estimate Is, that from the
spring fIos,s and hot summers sun, take
one wear with another, nearly bali The clio
yer seed sown fails to reach maturity. Bu
if the land has been impoverished by ou'
FoId AIa,yland system of culture, viz: corr
and lohacco.-or rather, first tobacco when
cleared and as often as i, would pay, then
alternating with corn and wheat till TeSted
sufficiently for other crops Of tobacco and
corn, as long as the crop would paw any
thing over the cost Of plowipg, 1t would be
almost throwing away grass seed TO SOW Ii
under such circumstances.
The frs. step then to ge. clover to grow
is to improve the soil, for without restoring
back to the soil the sources of4erility thus
Iavshlv and recklessIy abstrac,ed from IL
no crop Of either grain or grass can be pro-
fahlv grown. ! have found nothing as a
foundation to build my Improvements on
equal to line-ani all the better, ii IN con-
junction with more active agents, such as
vegetable manure and ground bones, guano
also. but no! Immediately preceding or sub
sequent to the application of the lime, for
when in contact the ammonla is lost.
| For the improvement Of the land and
growth of clover, prefer the same amount
Of money in ground bones, 10 guano, deci-
dedly; wi:hou, either lime or bones, plas-
ter with me is valueless; with them, it acts
powerfully, and inducing ranker growth
Of clover than ten or twenty times lis cost
in guano usnslIy has done. i've the facts,
not having time to assign ,ha reasons why
i. is, or should be so, though could doubt
less do it TO thy satisfaction.
have made very i,le use Of the various
fertilizers so extensively and InGustrIousIy
heralded before The agricultural public oi
late days; such as experimental with pro-
dnced SO Illle efec;-in some cases none
that was percepIibe in the slgb.es. degree
that they were discarded entirely. They
were no, adapted 10 my land; or did moi
know how to use them is quite cerian.-
Difference of soil and locality may account
for some difference in effect; but varlatIon
in materials and proportions, is probably a
more likely cause Of failure in the great ma
| jori.y OF cases.
| To bring the field OF GO acres, now much
! reduced, into profitable culiya'ion al on &C,
or 10 ge. j, well Sc, in clover, will require
the aid of manure of some kind; but as
am no. advised Of thy facilities Of procur-
ing lime, (oysler-shel or ssone,) mari, or
bones, il is but guess work to advise as to
the most economical Of the three.
| 1T would be considered by many aImos,
Species of agricultural heresy to say any
thing agains, gusno; or not TO advocate lis
use on all occasions. II is certainly very
good thing, as an auxiliary TO increase our
crops, if not in improving our worn-ouI
lands; but the quick return when IL does
paw. (lhough am sure it often does not, il
fair calculation was made and the faci-
lily of application, is too great temptation
TO be resisted by many who have more GER
tain means, and equally within their reach
10 produce beuer results. In our lower
counties particularly. where SO many have
mail on their farms or have free access 10
it, and also shell and stone lime by water
transportation, they pay $50 ton for qua
no, and almost entirely neglect their own
resources, and which am satisfied would
often pay\a better interest IN lhe end. was
one of the first in the State TO use guano
| only about 200 pounds on single acre ol
wheat) and have used more or less every
year since, now some ten years. some
times, and as was the case IN my first ex-
pertinent particularly, aston1shed every one
who saw The growth Of wheat; moi alto
gelher unlike in effect ihe eXhuberant spirits
that follow the first, though very small glass
| of ALCOHOL Nor does the parallel end here
| for the exhaustion Of The land that followed
and as clearly shown by the succeeding
grass crops compared with The adjoining
ground on each slde-one with vegetable
manure and the other will, ground bones
and ell previously lined alike, was just as
marked as are the spirits Of The Inebriate
between "dtunk and sober" The increas-
ed crop of wheat by the aid of guano, ovei
both the manure and bones, was probably
lost three times over in the failure Of ight.
er crops of grass and clover seed. Thi:
guanoed acre extended quite through lht
field, and was inferior 10 no other portion
II is now ten years since The experiment.
lis in fact only one of number showing
nearly the same results )-end although the
whole field was again heavily lined. manur'
ed and boned for The subsequent rotation o
crops, three or four years since, the crop o
grass last season was not so heavy-not Sc
much lodged on this acre as on either side
adjoining. can attribute it 10 no olhe
, cause Than 10 this crop of wheat The yielt
was fraction over 35 bushels (,he location
exactly suited the season) aud by weighin!
, dozen Of The sheaves to obtain an average
, the crop was estimated, and think fairly
so, at 4 1-2 to S tons i. was the heavies
, growth of straw have ever harvested
!, Now. is it reasonable 10 suppose .ha, sucI
drafts as these can be made on any bank