Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1862-10-17
y q RIG CUL URAL.
'tivation Of Cay Soils.

Cultivation Of Cay Soils.
All farmers experience much great
er difficulty in cutivating heavy clay
soils than those Of lighter texture, and
therefore in the choice of farm the
latter are usually preferred But clav
soils, nevertheless, possess certain adj
vantageS that are not geuerally ap-
preciated, and which will not unfre-
quently amply compensate the extra
labor bestowed upon them. If they
are not so coupact as to retain water,
and are comparatively free from the
oXids and salts of iron that are iniu-
rious to vegetation, they constitute
the bestof all soils for the production
Of wheat and grass. They usually
have in abundance all the clements of
fertility, and are, under good husband
ry, almost incapable of that exhaust
ion which attaches TO soils of light
CT texture. They absorb moisture
when broken up more lreely, and they
retain longer what they q absOr b.
Even those which are ,,ty compact
and adhesive may be rendered valu-
able by draining and m.nuring But
the strong CIays that are naturally
adapted for tillage arc superior in
some respects to ali others. They
will bear repetition of the same
crops much ofteEer than lighter lands,
but every intelligent agriculturalist
well knows the advantage Of rotation
Of crops, SO as to make different fam
lilies Of plants succscd each other
ha ppn4ifafal0 ,r
clay soil, especially il it be near o
large city where there is a good mar
ket for hay, is 10 thoroughly drain it
if wet, and thea 10 cultivate three
wears in grain and hoed crops, and
three years ia grass. II the Soils
vcry stiff and requires to be broken
down and ameliorted, the best method
of proceeding is to break it up early
in the autumn, tapping the burrows so
as to expose as large a surface as pos
sible to the froSt5 Of winter and early
spring. A decided advantage, Wher-
ever the subsoil is not wet, will be
found in following the burrows ploW
with the suLsoil blow. not merely for
the purpose of giving additional depth
for roots Of plants to penetrate but
also with view Of increasing the sup
ply of plant food end Of allowing the
air 10 permeate freely through the
mass Of soil, and Of atfording addition
al drainage in wet weather, and
larger supply Of moisture to the grow
ing plants in the season Of drouth-we
believe that cur heavy clad soils have
been too much neglected From
want Of adequate knowledge of their
real value under sEillfuI cultivation,
| they are often left to bear in their ma
tural state such grasses as spring up
spontaneously, without any serious eff
! fort to improve their quality, under
the impression that such soils will not
repay the labor bestowed upon their
improvement. As rule, there never
was a more erroneous opinion. The
absorbent power Of clay soils, under
proper tillagc, are greater than that
Of any kind Of soils, and the relative
power Of absorption IN different soils
is the best test Of their agricultural
value. Now the absorbing power Of
d soil depends in a great degree upon
/ the lineness Of the particles composing
| luGI SOil. y SOll HlbJ COutdIH all inc
mineral constituents that are essen
tial to the growth Of plants and yet
be unproductiye, because Of its par
ticles being heavy and coarse and
therefore insoluble.
Mr. Wells, Of Boston, proved this
act some years ago most conclusively.
lie found that a specimen of q New
England SOIL which was barren and
neglected, contained all the inorganic
substances that were comprised in the
soil of the SciotO Valley, "one Of the
richest localities in the world" The
difference between the two soils was
wholly in their texture. "The former"
he tells US was heavy and coarse,
whilst the latter was an impalphable
powder, flying away at the lightcst
breath" Now in clay soils that are
adapted to wheat and grass, however
compact they may be, the silica is us
ually very fine-is intimatly mixed
with alumina, and almost invariably
contains a due portion Of carbonate
of lime Such soils broken up by
frost from winter following, and rem
dered friabe by subsequent tillage,
are really among the best, instead
Of the worst, that can be cultivat-