The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-11-17
! T fT1TW NJ IT ~ TT II IT II
CTLfrRE OF TIE S)li.

Va. EDi FOR In a rcricw Of certain geo
logical books recently published, find the
following remarks, which NAV be interesting
to ynur readers who have read the discussion
ia the Progressive Farmer, OH The dutcrosa-
ton oc SOILS.
rlfcrp is "A hitherto unnoticcI cause in
constant oncra,ipn as n degrading agent in
all civilized countries. We n fer to the Gull
turc Of the soil. In different localities vari
ol> systems Of farming and various rotations
are followed. a very common one, pa.;icu-
Ssilv IN well managed districts, is to keep a
stock Of cattle for the purpose Of aitnrding
along with the straw used for litter, manure
! is now on these farms customary TO pur-
clla$s manurc from without in the form Of
Bones, guann, &C., but these substances are
converted speedily into additional crops and
scl.i oil the glound and moderate fertility
could now MS was formerly the case, be kept
up without them tor tie sake of simplicity
then, we leave these est"ancous manners
quite ont Of the question.
Upon such farms as these to which we re-
Gl, not uncommon mode of cropping is the
fur Shift system, as il is called. In it field
cropped in one year with tulnips, tie next
with wheat or barley, among which grass
and clover &c are sown, which gives the
third year a crop Of hay, and the ground is
then ploughcd up, that in the fourth year a
crop Of oats may be grown. If we assume
that a farm is cultivated upon this plan for
twenty years, each field will have produced
Ill succession five crops of turnips, wheat
hay and oats. The amount of these crops
ru acre varies very much according to the
Sit"aton, climate. and the skill shown in the
management: but the following, although
good, are not uncommon crops-thilty-two
t@ns If turnirs TO che acre, forty bushels Of
Wh'at, seventy bushels Of oats and the grass
and clover crop will weigh (dricd) about a
ton and hale Crops like these extract a
great deal from the ground.
Il is quite evident that in this manner so
much i, taken BY the crops from the ground
atd sold of principally to large towns. -
Thus of the wheat or barley, while the straw
is returned TO the soil, where it gives back
that which it formerly took away, the grains
nrc sold to a distance, and all the potcSh,
>oda, sGiphur, &C., iat they have in then
structure, and which they obtained rom the
sol, Is iu'ca G~y as efttt"oy as ia @irFnrm
Of he soil wrre shorcld into cart, coareq'd
o'rag, nd p"ched INTO a rirer .johy mics dis
.anl. OF the oats only portion Of the grain
Is sold oft, the rest being given to Tic farm
horses, and ultimately returned TO the land.
The sayaljnc portion Of the oat is consumed
Ill rtSpiralion but the carbonic acid is re-
tnrrd 10 Che sol: at any rate, if the farmers
ncighborS get some Of his horses carbonic
acid he gets as much Of theirs, and so the
balance is preserved. In like manner with
the hay some is sold bnt some is consumed
upon the farm. The turnips are given to lean
sn,cp or cattle. Th,sc when fed are sold
their increased bulk having been. derived
t1om The turmips, which turlips arc nothing
Else bat soil in another form.
If the farmer sold everything that he grow,
and consumed nothing IAN impos>ihiity in
this country,) he win, provided he obtains
such crops as VIC have stated, take from each
acre Of his land, in twenty years, eighty
hundred weight. Practically the farmer re-
stores by far the greater part Of all lhis, but
still he does abstract a portion: and this be-
ing done year after year, the degeneration Of
the soil trcin this cause must he very great.
i may be very strikiuely cxcmpilicd in a
field whc,c tic drainage has been for num-
Der Of years. These tiles when originally
put into the ground would be about eighteen
inches deep, but if measured now, they will
be found much nearer the s,afacc, or rather
tie surface '"W be toR,d accrcr M,m.