The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-04-20

plan, and two on the other. and both the
corn and the weeds viii tel him the story
Of the facts, and then be can theorizs on
them as he pleases, if he does not like the
above suggestions. / hsye talked with
hundreds OF our most intsliigeat farmers.
and they all tell me one story as 20 the facts,
and generally admit the same theory as the
true explanation. But have said enough
to show perhaps, that IN pIowing or stirring
the ground with whatever tool. the object
is, or should be, to make aud keep ii deep.
fine, uniform and smooth 81 possible at the
surface, at all times, 50 IS 10 ensure due
degrees of heat, moisture and air. or rather
aqueous vapor, about the roots Of the grow
ing plants. and relieve them from the con-
slant embarrassment of uHcrushed clods,
air holes and inaccessible food in the soil
itself.
Il is self-evident that merely inEeFting
the soil with bright steel plow. does mos
necessarily accomplish but one single one
of these ends, and that is mere depth
Properly speaking, the pillow does not
cultivate the soil at all it merely kills
the weeds, and by inverting it, throws it
into such new position, that the action OF
the atmosphere, of the rains, SHOWS and
frosts can do the real cultivation if they
happen to come right, and in the right
time; they do this best in the winter and in
early spring and summer: hence, ground
only plowed in the drought of summer and
fall. or in dry time, in the corn crop, is
really never cultivated at all it is simply
inherited; the weeds are killed and the
part thus inverted operates az a sort of a
coarse mulch, under which the roots Of
crops may run, and do the best they can,
and that will be bad enough even on very
rich land. The old tree crotch of the tall
ans actually cultivates the soil more, and
better. than our fine steel plows do. or can.
though they will require more force to go
over the same ground. 1t cannot be too
greatly borne in mind, that good pillow
never was made, and never can be made,
alone, to cultivate tie soil, in any proper
sense of that term; it only inverts and
deepens it., and kills the weeds, and prepares
it to be cultivated by atmospherical infiuen-
ces, or by ether tools that should follow or
accompany it. But in itself, it no more
cultivates, or can cultivate, than threshing
machine can grind and bolt our -four /; and
we can all just as we'll eat unground wheat,
or wheat in the chat, as plant can live and
grow on coarse, G2brokea clods, of any sort,
however rich in themselves, such as the
pillow necessarily frequently leaves after IT.
The various forms IF harrows, draggles,
and rollers, are often as indispensable &c
follow or accompany the pillow. ID order to
fit the soil for the best feeding Of the plants
as the f1ourng mill AID bolt are after the
lhreshing machine. to fit the grain for the
best feeding of men and animals. True
there are other, and in some cases cheaper
and better ways of restoring the needfu
fineness 10 old worn, and clotted fields one
Is to pillow in the fall, aud let the winter
trosts do the narrowing; another is TO SOW
in grass, or rye, or clover, and let The hard
and why grass and clover roots, working
Though the fall and spring. when the
ground is all soft, pen trate and disintegrate
again. all these wadded and adhesive Jumps
SO that next time W hen the ground is plowed
il will all roll up fine and free again, Of liz
own accord, just as it did before il was trod
den and worn; but when this cannot be
done. the crushing of these clods in some
way is indispensable to success. l an
speak ing now Of course, only of such soils a.
We generally have in this pat of the State
And / have seen lands cultivated in corr
and trodden, and wadded. and plastered W
into balls, and Jumps, and clods, by cattle
horses, and smooth steel plows, turning il
over and over in the hot sun, year after
year, till the field seemed to be all clods, anC
would not produce fifty bushels of corn tt
the acre, by a change of culture. made fine
again by the proper use of rollers and cult
vators, and brought at once to produce from
eighty TO one hundred bushels per acre
with little if any additional labor in th,
alter culture.
did intend, before this time. to have
given the subject of culture and blowing I
thorough discussion. But my presant care:
aud labors forbid it now: and now snatch
little time, merely to throw out these few
| desultory hints, at this season OF the year
so that the attention of others may be mor'
| explicitly called to the subject this spring
that they may notice and experiment fol
| themselves, and give Us the results of thei
experience and reflections on this allirDpor
tant subject. Will you do so, friends?
p, nave become fully convinced if all would
notice, and communicate their results or
different kinds of soil in our State, we couit
soon produce nearly double the crop with
| the same amount of labor as we now per
form, without material injury to the soil, il
attended by proper rotation of crops, anC
other means of husbandry of resources.
The soil of which am writing, is rather
strong. clayey Ioam, and at first a blaci
prairie soil, tending by use to become stiff
and adhesive. Il also tends TO form crus
on the surface after every rain, which crust
if not Immediately broken again by culture
seems in some way, either by rejecting
back the beat of the sun. or by the air, o.
by diminishing the absorption or attraction
of moisture. or by all three combined. t.
retard at once the growth OF plants, TO &
great extent /; hence the ground needs neE
| stirring after every considerable rain, t
break up this crust anew. | did inteuC
also to speak ofthe absurdity of killing NJ
corn. in this paper, but cannot dwell upo'
it. and it would do no good if l shOuld-fo
those who are in the habit of piling all ,h
fine dirt of the field up round their corr
stalks, where IL can do no possible good
Will still CO 1tinue To do so, because thei
fathers did, and because they raise sixty
bus bels OF corn to The acre, where they nigh
| just As we'll have seventy or eighty witt
less labor. l wonder why such men dom
pile their own food up round their eyes. in
sread of putting it into their mouths the,
..Artaintv vxould do an IL their fathers har