The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-03-19
farn,er' S GoIu1nn.
From the Homestead.
ACTION OF


the stone, no fencing, no wedding and al
most no labor, except planting and har-
vesting; and this may be pretty much
all done by horse power, wholesile-wise.
The fruits of the earth once in posses
sion, then comes the tug. How to dis
pose of them with profit, is the great
question which the western agriculturist
has to answer. His calculations have
to be made before hand to meet the for
seen difficulties. His corn must be turn
ed into beef or pork, and the fat of the
animals half walked off on the road be-
fore they can be got to market. His
grain is sold, is disposed of to specula-
tors at a low price, and if kept for a bet
ter market, is apt to be injured. The
advantages of q virgin soil of exhaust
less fertility are set off by the distance
from the market etc.
With US the question, how to come in
possession, is of much more Importance
than that of how to dispose of our har-
vested crops. What shall We raise, and
how shall we raise it? What crops on
this OF that piece of land will best re-
ward labor, and how may the labor be
lessened? How may the amount and
value of the manure be augmented?
How may the land be brought and kept
in condition to require least expendi-
lures in labor, manur etc., and yield
the best returns? What land will pay
for draining, or in any way bringing it
under thorough culture? Those and
similar questions nre those which the
Eastern farmer has to answer. His
markets are at his door, and the ques-
tious that arise after his fruits are har-
vested give him little concern; jet give
him exercise for his wits when the time
comes, to make good disposition of them
BY and rational tillage, our
hard New England soils are made as
productive as the p~rairies of the west,
aud of all knowledge which a N. E. Far
mer needs, none is more valuable to him
and none may be brought more frequent
ly in use, than that of the theory of ma
nuring, tho effect of manure upon the
soil. Manures are not only those things
which are added to the soil as plaut
food. True, this is q very important,
perhaps their most important use-but
if we consider this as the only value we
derive from their use, We shall fall into
great error. Manure nets physically,
often with quite as great effect, as it
does chemically. The chemical effects
are those most talked about and better
understood than the physical or mcchani-
cal. Every body knows that different
effects are observed after the applica-
ton of fresh, and of half rotted, yard
manure, which (if the latter is we'll
taken care of do not differ very much
in chemical character. AS regards their
inorganic constituent and proportion of
Nitrogen, in which it is thought almost
their entire value lies, they are quite
identical. An application of common
yard manure upon a light soil, makes it
more compact, while the same upon u
soil has the tendency to make it
mellow and looscr. A strawy,
manure makes any land porous,
and promotes the circulation of air and
its effects are more or less lasting, &C.
cording to the rapidity of its decompo-
sition. Manure warns a soil in the
same ratio-very rotten manure produ-
a short intense and heating effect
On heavy soils a green crop, as clover
or oats, or a heavy sod turned under,
produces scarcely n~perceptible warming
effect, but very lasting, loosening and
tightening results. Upon loose lands
effects of precisely the opposite charao-
ter may be observed; they become more
and retentive OF manur and
moisture.
The application of clay upon sandy
soils, or that of sand upon stiff clay is
frequently made with marked beneficial
effect, due to tho mechanical and not to
the chemical action of the substance ad-
1ed. So n dressing of leached or un-
leached ashes, or of lime, or of many
other substances, act on stiff soils in
Iced chemically, but still SO far as the
plant is concerned mechanically, bene-
iting as it does the plant, not by fur
it food, but by rendering the
'oil of a character better adapted to its
Thus lime is often an excellent
application upon soils containing one
to ono third carbonate of lime in
his composition. Lime is said to s,0s t.
~ sour soils; ashes produce often the
anne effect; and strange enough sulphu-
&c acid, foil of %vitrol.) the sourest or all
our things, has been sometimes used
With success to produce the same speet-
ming.
Changes in the character of the soil
nay DO Of q purely mechanical charac-
er rs in the case Of q mixture of sand
md clay-or they may b Of n character
10th chemical and mechanical as just
mentioned.
1t is of the greatest Importance in :
experimenting with anure to have 6
hese points in mind. We have accounts
f too many, far too many experiments
hat amount to just nothing at all, they
ost a great deal Of time and labor and