Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1855-06-20
GREEN MANURES,

The seeds of another useful plant which
has recently been introduced by the Patent
Office are those Of the Spu:ry (spirgula ar
vensis.) which, as green manure, has been
found most signally beneficial on poor, dry,
sandy soils. It may either, be sown in au.
tumn,, on the wheat stubble, or after early
potatoes, and ploughed under in spring, pre-
paratory to the annual Crop; or it may be
used to replace the naked fallow, which is
often hurttul to lands Of so light character.
In the latter case the first sowing may take
place in March, the second in May, and the
third in July, each crop being ploughed in
to the depth of three or four inches, and the
new seed then sown and narrowed. When
the third crop is ploughed in the land is rea.
dy for crop Of winter grain. Green manur-
ing, or the ploughing under of green crops in
their living state, attracted the early atten.
ton of civilized men, and has been practised
more or less from the time of Xenophon,
who wrote about four hundred years before
the commencement of our era. He recon-
mended green plants to be ploughed into
the soil, and even that crops should be cul.
tivated for that purpose; for these, he says,
"enrich the. earth as much as dung" The
lupin is named as an excellent manure by
most of the early writers on agriculture, and
is cultivated at the present day in Spain,
Italy, Tuscany, and the south Of France, for
the purpose Of being ploughed into the soil.
The ploughing under of green CROPS is
directly opposed to burning peat, or turf, in
regard to intention and effect, and is parti.
cularly serviceable where the basis of vege-
table mould is to be increased. The soil
manured by them receives all the vegetable
food contained in the seed sown, the quaint.
ty of which in peas and buckwheat is not
very inconsiderable. Some plants employed
for this purpose, as peas, turnips, clover,
&c. push down their roots into the soil far
below the reach of the ordinary plough,
and whatever nutriment they find there they
suck up and bring to the surface in the form
of green manure, and administer it to the
growth Of other plants, as wheat, barley,
oats, and rye; the principle being to enrich
the soil by setting quick growing plant TO
draw organic matter from the air, and inor-
ganic from the sub.soil, and then ploughing
it in. When the green crops are turned in
to the soil, besides enriching its staple with
fertilizing matter, they promote the fermen.
tation and decomposition of woody fibre
buried near the surface, which is useless
incumbrance in an undecayed state so far as
anv immediate effect is concerned. In gen.
eral, they. should be ploughed under, if pos
sible, when in flower, or at the time when
the flower is opening; for, in this age of
growth, they contain the largest quantity Of
soluble matter.
For poor, light, and sandy soils, these
n,anures do well; and also for poor clays,
which, however, are much improved by hav.
ing the subsoil burnt, or rather charred, with
peat, spent tan-bark, sawdust, apple Pomace,
or any other cheap fuel. And as green
vegetable matters ferment, or sour, when
undergoing decomposition; the land should
be lined Just before or soon after ploughing
under the plants:
The vegetables grown for this purpose
should possess the following properties in
order to be cultivated with economy, and
attain the desired end: lst. They should
flourish on poor soils; I'd, should require but
little labor of cultivation; Sd, have cheap
seed; 4th, be of quick and sure growth; !;
5th, stand all weathers and vermin; 9th,
run their roots deep; 7lh, bring up. such
inorganic matter from the subsoil as the sue.
ceeding crops require; 9Th, should smother
weeds; and 9th. should produce a large
quantity of berbage that will readily decay
in the soiE-Union.