Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-08-13
9arirultnral


ing, II viii depend wholly upon how wet the
land is before draining. For instance, pur-
chased ten acres from q neighbor Of mine
some fifteen years ago, in order to get an out
let for number OF my drains. That land
would not produce any kind Of grain--at
least not half enough 70 pay the cost Of
tillage. My first crop, which was corn, was
very large one and the proceeds therefrom
were sufficient to pay the expenses of drain
ing as well as the cost Of the land. On a
field of twenty acres, which have owned
for nearly thirty-nine years, / could neither
raise corn or winter wheat before draining
but my first crop of corn, after draining
yielded over eighty-three bushels of shelled
corn 70 the acre, and that is a very great
crop for this part Of the country. In fact,
dor't think 1t was ever equaled, for the same
number Of acres together, in Western New
York. This field has been drained about
twenty years, and last harvest got plump
thirty-6ve bushels Of wheat per acre, which
was sown on barley stubble, once plowed.
My neighbor, from whom bought the ten
acres above referred TO, was greatly opposed
to draining at the time; but when he saw the
corn and wheat raised on the land after
thorough drainage, he commenced draining
his own land, with equally good success. AL
most every farmer in this neighborhood has
done more or less tile-draining. We have a
within about six and half miles of where /
write. Some Of the machines are worked by
steam-power, some by horsepower, others by
| hand; and yet q great many more tiles would
be used, If they were made. Some farmers
are draining with stones where they can
not get tiles; but the latter are by far the
cheapest, because the ditch for stone drains
has TO be a great deal wider, and costs about
double those of tiles; then the laying of
ha Off hoIf
here. tH
/ am not one of those who believe that all
land requires draining; still, much more re-
quires 1t than any man can suppose who
never drained any. A good way TO prove
whether land needs draining or not, is to dig
q hole or holes, say two and half or three
feet Deep and Il, at the end of eight or ten
hours water stands in them, your land needs
draining, and will pay for it. In protracted
drouths, however, the water may be dried
out of the land which at other times would
be too wet for tillage.
Believing that thorough drainage is the
foundation of all good husbandry, and that
the farmers of this country are but half
awake, as yet, to the Importance of it, am
glad to see the increased interest manifested
in the subject in different parts of the coun-
try. Twenty-one years ago, | was the only
man using tiles on this continent and there
was but one person manufacturing them; now
the demand for tiles wherever machine has
been erected, can not be met
TEE FARM AND ITS MANuRIAL RESOURCES,
1t is good maxim of husbandry, that "a good
farm, like a good joint Of meat, only requires
basting with its own dripping" or in other
words, that it will furnish of itself sufficient
fertilizing material to keep up its maximum
productiveness. As general rule we may
rely upon this statement, and we propose
here to offer few hints on some of the ma
nurial resources of the farm.
The first grand resource of the farmer will
be the plowing under of greensward--the
thicker and heavier the more effective--to
enrich the soil for other crops. Without
grass as manure, we should find it much
more difficult TO keep up the fertility of our
farms. No other crop is so constant in
growth-early and late, and under all kinds
of treatment-as that of the different grasses.
No other returns so great burden Of vege-
table growth to the SOIL and at the same time
furnishes SO valuable supply of food for
stock, in both summer and winter forage, as
this much neglected, yet every where present,
product of the soil.
The growing clover and the grasses lie at |
the very foundation of profitable farming, as |
may be seen from several points of view. |
And first, as above limited, blowing under |
d thick heavy grasss-ward furnished an am-
pie manuring for several successive grain |
crops. The decomposition of the abundant |
roots and stems of the grass supplies nutri- |
ton for growths of different character, and |
having greater money-value to the farmer. |
Hence, it may be good policy for the farmer
TO give a large share of his labor and atten-
ton to producing heavy growth of grass on
all lands when devoted to this crop, knowing
that this most cheaply and effectively pre-
pares his soil for the production of other
crops.
In another point, we see that grass-grow-
ing tends to improvement, when it is pro-
duced for the consumption of animals upon |
the farm. We can have no better resource
for manure than in the practice of stock
feeding, and especially is this true of sheep
and fattening stock, and in less degree Of
all the animals OF the farm. Indeed, it has
become an axiom of husbandry that stock
keeping must have place in the management
,f every farm to render it profitable for a |
course Of years. 1aa ul-r. e.-
Z A second grand resource of the farmer for |
nanure--for keeping up and increasing the |
fertility Of his farm--is not only to pasture
and fodder stock, but to fatten them by the |
aid OF the grain products of the farm. This |
course will not only largely increase the
amount of manure, but will give it, under |
proper management, much greater effective |
value as fertilizer. 1t was a maxim of an |
excellent farmer, Mr.. Coke, late Earl Of Lei |
,ester, shat the value of farm-yard manure |
is in proportion to what it is made OF. If |
cattle eat straw alone, the dung is straw |
alone; the cattle are straw, the farm is straw, |
and the farmer is straw-they are all straw |
together" And to come to an authority at |
home, John Johnston has advocated this |
course as the most effective and profitable |
for improving the value of our farms "Hiph |
feeding" says he, 'would make higher ma |
nuring, by both making larger Quantity |
and much better quality"
A third grand resource may be found in |
the inexhaustible muck beds SO abundant in |
most sections Of the country. These contain |
vast supplies OF "highly-concentrated vegeta- |
bic food, not only partly cooked, but sea- |
soned," to quote Dana's Muck Manual. II
has been found by many extensive and re- |
peated experiments, that lin the words of |
Professor Johnston) sit is only necessary Ia |
mix half-dried peat with any substance which |
undergOes rapid spontaneous decomposition.
when II will more or less become infected
with the same tendency TO decay, and will
thus be rendered capable Of ministering to
the growth Of cultivated plants.p We have
In former volumes given considerable atten-
ton to this subject, but its importance will
allow OF its frequent recall upon the attention
Of our readers. n
The fertiliEing matters allowed to run waste
upon most farms might supply another valu-
able resource for Improving their productive
ness. The liquid manure of stock, the slops
Df the kitchen and wash-room, the contents
If priyies, refuse bones, and waste animal