Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1856-11-06
farmers Department.
EXhausting the Soil,

cd SoiiS. w OruOut lands would seem to lie
the patrmony OF many farmers in the middle,
eastern aud southern States The "great
gun, II we may 50 speak, of the western az
ricultural press is the rich, dep sol of the
prairie and bottemlS-n many Instances this
being from twelve to fifteen and even twenty
feet in depth There is doubtless in the "hand
tn mouth proceedings of many of the tillers
Of the soil much cause for deterioration of
land, subjected, as it is, to the skinnng and
bleeding processes practised by them. That
this, however. is the general tendencies or una
vOidablc results of American farming we beg
leave to deny, and the experience of everyday
life, both at home aud abroad, will, we think,
fully sustain our position.
That land from which ererWhtRg Is t7hen
0Hd no 1c'HrRS Eaade will in the course of time
fail TO produce its average of crops is palpa-
blc--hnt under q system of iudiciOus cultiva-
tion, where that which is grown upon a field
is returned to it either in the shape of manureS,
refuse matter or the plowing under OF green
crops-wherc the farmer will carefully hus-
band the various elements of fertility and give
them to the soil, land instead of deteriorating
will improve. Vegetation, while in process of
growth, draws no inconsiderable portion of IFS
vitality from the atmosphere in the form of
carbon, and where this is given to the soil and
incorporated with it, it inevitably tends to
augment its fertility. Animals, in the masti-
cation and digestion of their food, partake of
this component to supply the demands of the
system, yet much of it is retained in their ex-
crcmcntS aud, should the soil, from which
their provender is removed, receive the total of
til" droppings higher standard of fertility
would result.
An Ohio gentleman, Chas Reemelin, at pre-
sent in Europe writes TO the Ohio Farmer on
this subject, as follows
" We read in America much of the Eek
hausted soil of Europe | have seen none of
it, SO far from being exhausted, think the
soil of Europe is now better than ever, and
that it is made to yield larger crops than ever.
How can soil be exhausted which has for CEN
turcS received plentifully of manures, and ma
nurcs made upon the best possible system? l
think little reflection coupled with the pro-
per observance of European agriculture, must
lead to the conviction that the soil of Europe
is constantly receiving more back in manure,
&c, than is taken away in products OF all
farm products, the atmosphere and rains fur
nsh the larger quantity Of its component
parts, and whenever proper system of ma
nuring exists, the ground must become con-
santly enriched In Europe manure is the
cycrpresent idea of the farmer and by gath
ering all oflalS, and making manure in every
conceivable way, he does not only by green
manuring such as plOwing clever under, but
by stable, factory, street and dwelling manure,
take good care to return to mother earth the
rental she requires, and DO it without grudging,
and with compound interest. Soil is only
there exhausted where crops are raised which
are entirely removed, and of which nothing is
returned to the SOiI-fOr instance, tobacco
This is very little the case in Europe. The
fine wheat crops which smile upon the traveller
as he is rushed past them by railroad speed,
would be an impossiblty if the idea of ex-
haustion were true. The meadows, too, which
are mOwn thrice every year, and each time give
good crop, and have been SO mOwn for ages,
contradict this exhaustion theory. No the
European farmer and his land are always on
good terms with each other. The man gives
good husbandry and the land yields good
crops"
The various modes by which soil that has
lost its fertility can be restored and which are
most extensively adopted, may be called me-
chanical and chemical The first of these will
more particularly claim our attention at pre-
sent, as every cultivator possesses the means
to bring it into use. The most important of
the operations in this department is deep and
thorough tillage. The soil, as general rule,
is not plowed to exceed three or four inches in
depth. The manurcs applied are carried by
moisture below to to the SubSoil, and remain
there until brought to the surface by the sub
soil plow. Thousands of acres in Virginia
that have been subjected to this slovenly kind
of treatment, and have been sold for mere
nothing, now rank among the best producing
lands in the country, and the change has been
wrought in a very short period of time by the
simple agency of deep culture. Fcrtilizing
properties that have lain hidden for years are
turned up, and the new conner is put in pos
session of soil equal to any its powers of pro-
duction-rich in all the elements of fertility
and waving grain fields and luxuriant growth
usurp the place Of barrenness and sterty.-
The under, or subsoil, having received more
less of the rich deposits upon the surface and
an accumulation been going forward for years,
in many places it equals the earth above in its
producing capabilities, and the farmer who, by
constant cropping, has impoverished or worn
out his land, cannot restore it to its original
richness and fertility in anyway so readily and
with so little expense as by the free use of a
Subsoil pow.
Impoverished soil can be restored either by
frequent rotation OF grass, clover, or other
forage crop fed off upon the soil and receiving
the droppings of animals by green crops, such
as clover, plowed under, or the application of
barnyard or mineral mannres. In many res
poets there is a similarity between the soil and
the hum4n'iy that stands upon it. The body
often fails from exhaustion and overwork.-
Want Of rest, paucity of food, constant ex-
citcment and sloyeuneSs, are no more detri-
mental to the physical weltbeing of every in
divdual, than the same principles and action
carried into agricultural economy are to the
snccnssfnl nnnrn tinnS of the firm 4 snnnd