The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-11-30
Asblaan'llo i Ga. farmer,
ADDRESS.

! -rs2 9frt 10 "A ~ ~ h e y .
/ off, II KAppart, Esq, Secretary of the Ohio
State Board cf Agriculture, before the Ash-
! land county agricultural Society, Oct. IA,
| 1859.
1 L cannot, however, deny myself the satisfac-
| tion of quoting some remarks of a practical
man on this subject, not only because of their
! intrinsic value, hnf because they show what
progress practical men are making in the
/ science of agriculture, and place the stamp of
experience on the suggestions and reasonings
! of the man of science. In an article on the
culture of land for wheat, by Mr.. Mort, n (au-
thor OF an excellent work on soils), in late
number of the Agricultural Gazette, it is said,
''Nhen land is plowed only to the depth of
three or four inches, the active soil is SO very
limited, that the least change in the weather
is injurious to the plants growing in it. The
manure, under this system of shallow plowiug,
forms a layer near the surface; the roots of the
plants ralhify only through the furrow slice in
which the dung is placed, and consequently
the plant has but little hold of the ground
Being thus spread out horizontally near the
surface, the roots are easily exposed to the
weather and its influence; in dry season the
shallow SOIL and the manure in it, becomes
parched and Inactive; in wet weather, the roots
having BUT little hold of the ground, soaking
rain and a little wind loosen the pla! and it Is
blown ont In a deeply cultivated soil the
plant exerts the whole of ita energy at first, in
the production of roots, which strike deeply
into the soil, filing the whole Of it with then
minute fbres.
/ "Upon the arrival of genial weather, the
organs of the leaves being excited arc prepared
for vigorous and Iuxuriant growth; and wide
field having been laid under cultivation for
the purpose, the roots easily provide the nour
ishment required to support them under it. Ii.
| i IL ho, Had
will be found that the roots have ramihed Sc
! extensively that rariatio, of temperature
can affect them: they draw their nourishmen'
from sources beyond the influences Of tt va
riableness OF external agents. Thus: deep cul
tivation, by encouraging depth Of roofing, Ell
| tects indirectly for the plant comparative IN
dependence 9f the weather, but it has a direc'
| influence. in the same direction, for if the
weather be wet, the water more IT adily passes
down to the drains, and if It be dry, 1t retain,
| tor a Aager time a sufficiently 9f moisture. O.
two crops equally luxuriant IN their growth
that Is not so Liable to lodge which is grown o..
The deeper soil; for its growth has been MOI
gradual and natural, and less the result of
tifcial excitement. OF course, it must be un
den ood that deep cultivation can be safely enter
| ed upon only in soils that are naturally ar
tifciaily dry" This last is a precaution moi,
necessary to he given in England than with
but altogether, though authorities might be
multiplied on this head to almost indefinite
extent, yet we Should hardly find anything
more applicable to our case or more clearly ex-
pressed. We would recommend The careful.
perusal of the ffty-second section OF Mr.. Nor
| ton S valuable work On suil, where the subjcc
is clearly treated and its advantages strongly
put.
1t will not be amiss to quote one short SEN
tence from Liebig On this subject: "ln hot
summers" says he, "accomr anied 10y light and
partial showers OF rain, porous soils Of NJ
great fertility yield often better crops than.
richer stiff soils. The rain falling on the po.
rous soil is immediately absorbed ana reache>
he roots, while that falling on the heavy sol.
is evaporated before 1t is able to penetrate
them.
My excellent friend Mr.. French of n. Il:
says: Drainage in,prores he qudhtycf crops,
In dry season, we frequently hear the farmer
boast OF the quality of his products. His hay
crop, he says, is light, but will ''speLd" much
better than the crop of wet season; his pota
toes are not large, but they soundand mea
| ly. Indeed, this topic need not be enlarged
upon. Every furmer knows that his whea
and corn are heavier and more sourd when
grown upon land sufficiently drained.
| Drainage preoents drought. This propos :
ton is somewhat startling at frat view. how
would as soon think of watering land to max.
it dry. A drought is the enemy all dread
Professor Espy has plan tor producing rain
by lighting extensive artificial fires. A great
objection to his theory is, that he can not limit
his showers to his own land, and all The public
would never be ready for shower on the same
day. If we can really protect our land from
drought by undertaking it, everybody may
at once engage in the work without ofcnse to
his nei ghbor.
If we take up a handful of rich soil of al
most any kind, after heavy rain, we can
squeeze it hard enough with the ha1 d to press
out drops of water. If we should take of the
same soil large quantity, after it was dry
that not drop of water could be pressed out
by hand, and subject 1t to the pressure of M
chinery, we should force from it more water -
Any boy who has watched the process vi milking
cider with the old-faEhioned press, has seen the
romace after it had Ecen once ressed appa
rently dry and cut down, and the screw applied
anew to the "cheese, give out quantities OF
juice. These facts illustrate, first, how much
water may be held in the soil by attraction
They show, again, that more water is held by
puverized and open soil, than by compact
and close one. Water is held in The sol be-
tween the minute PARTICLES of earth. If these
PARTICLES lie pressed together con.Tactly, theie
is no space left between theuI for water. The
same is true of soil naturally compact. This
compactness exists more or less in most sub
soils, certainly in all through which water does
not readily pass. Hence, all the subsoils are
rendered more pernleable to water by Leng bro
ken up and divided; and more retentive by
having the PARTICLES of which they compo-
sed separated, one from anOther-in word, by
pulverizaticn. This increased capacity to con-
tain moisture by attraction. is the greatest Sc
cnrity apaiDst drought I he Ilants in dry
time send their rootlets throughout the soil,
and flourish in the moisture thus stored up for
their time Of need. The pulverization of
drained land may be produced, partly by deep
or subsoil blowing, which is always necessary
to perfect the object of thorough draining;
but it is much aided in stiff clays, also, by the
shrinkage of tie soil by drying.
Drainage resists drought, again, by the very
deepening of the soil of which we have already