Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-05-27
The Use of Agricultural Factx.

Much Of the prejudice against sbook farming,
has arisen from the want Of observation of the
facts OF husbandry. 1t requires considerable
knowledge Of the principles of agriculture, and
not little experience, TO know how to use the
Iacts OF farming. One man plows deep, and gets
gres' Stops. II would seem to be safe inference
That deep blowing Is the one thing needful in
good husbandry. But we cannot draw that in
ference until we know other circumstances con-
nected with the experiment We want to know
toe depth OF the surface SOIL Its quality and the
quantity Of manure used, before we put a correct
estimate upon the value Of deep blowing.
Mr.: A. plosys twelve inches deep, upon rich
gravelly loan, with a deep yellow loan for a
slosoil, and manures with thirty cords OF stable
manure TO the acre. He gets eighty busbel, of
corn 70 ,he acre, and Is favorably mpressed with
deep plowing Mr. B., who has always plowed
1"nr or I'VE inches deep, is taken aback by the
experiment OF Mr.. A, and determines to follow
his example. He plows twelve inches deem unon
hs M sandy loan, turning up at leas, sir inches
u subsoil, that never saw sunlight before n.
manures at the old rate of ten cords To the acre
ara gels only thirty bushels Of corn to the acre
ne is astounded at the result. and calls deem
ptowing humous. He used TO get more corn
"hen ne plowed only five inches deep He does
NOS see that ne has brought up three or four time.
rs much suosoil to be MANFRED as his neiphbor
while he has applied one third as much manure
Deep plowing, while It Is one Of the necessities
OF all good farming, and is to be aimed at nv an
who would improve the soil, is good or bad in
particular cases, according to circumstances In
nri case, II wss one OF the worst things he
could nave done. In Mr.. g case II was one of
the best and contributed something toward his
large crop Of corn LIE
=. As rule, we are to deepen the soil gradually.
IL OAe pas manure enough, he NAV plow "a deem
rs ne pieases But with only twenty cord, tn The
acre, We should not bring up more than tyvo
incffs OF the yellow dirt to the surface at one
u is now said TO be better to plow in vopr ma.
nu:e The old method was to manure I'm the hill
fhe corn then got a good start but was dencIent
, IN caring. III spread broadcast and plowed In,
tn he end araIt 81,
capped With this i'm preston a farmer read, In
hs agricultural paper the results of an redmond
In Malhe, under direction of the Board Of Agri-
cu!.ure-''Ien cords OF fresh manure are applied
70 Tour quarter acres The first is powed in erobt
inches. and gives tbirty-one bushels of ears: Inc
second four inches, and gives thirty.two bushels;
Sne 'nlrd Is narrowed In and gives tbirtv-two
bushels; and the fourth is srresd nno1 tbs s,',.
face, and gives thirty-three bushels - The result
Is 30 nearly equal that 1t would seem to be safe 10
INFER thai II makes no difference whether Won
plow in your manure deep or shallow whatbc,
you Plow II In or leave Il upon the surface Rnt
ne reads a little further, and finds that the soil
vas siaveiiy ana the season dry. This accounts
ir tae action OF the surface manure. Ii operated
as mulch, and gave more corn than that which
was plowtd In. There was not moisture enou0b
70 give me corn the full benefit Of the manure
mat was appned. A wet season or wetter soil
world have shown the advantage of blowing in.
MI A prunes his orchard In the fall when the
drying winds OF November scar every stump
The old wood is removed, and the orchard mt.
on a new aspect Mr.. b sees the advantaoe ~
uimmtEg, and goes at his apple trees in EnriI
when the sap Is running, and every wound th.t
Is made bleeds, and leave, a black nnsiobtIv
scar In few years his trees are full of fno,.
holes, and the orchard goes to decay. He believe.
that pruning Is humbug
: Eese are only samples of the imperfec, obser.
Vston 81 facts that are occurring every dsv and
leading farmers into erroneous practice In our
experiments for the coming season we want 10
embrace al the particulars That affect the resnIt
1h9 keeP our eye. open. In reporting these ex.
Pe'iinenfs for the benefit Of the public, we want
I'll the particulars The progress which the farm
sr himself mskes in the knowledge Of his bust
ness VIII depend upon the accuracy of hi. obser-
Vauon AZ this accuracy is every day affecting
PecnHierv results, be has strong motive 20 keen
a record cf bis practice, and to study the acts
tte' come under his daily observation Routine
land - -e" Lug
LEI Us all remember that a successful exrer,-
neht IS ere where the conditions are understood:
On UNSUCCESSFUL one Us one where some imnortsnt
S Shs or circumstances are DOT clearly un-
GeIStcoG The large or small crop obtained :
that 10 the Pecsniary success Of any expe,iment
Is nothing to the point We must know how ~
90 IL again or how not to do II again an the cas-
may e-1hs Homestead