Litchfield enquirer., 1866-08-23
SOURCES OF FERTILITY, ',

that we may be able to give complete list
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 i SOURCES OF FERTILITY. In very many portions of our country the question, from what sources are we 10 obtain the elements of fertility necessary 10 meet tLe constant demand upon our soils, present itself to the farmer. When the land was new, crops could be grown with little labor. and at that period the collection and preservation oi any. thing that could benefit, or aid in retaining the original richness of the farmers possessions was matter of slight importance. Doubtless spontaneity of growth had much to do with negligence and carelessness, for it is plainly ob servable tbat in all countries where nature has been thus provident, man becomes dull and listless physically, while mental enervation as certainly follows. That time, however in this section has passed, and necessity places diff farent phase upon the operations of the farm. It requires those possessing land should collect and prepare every material calculated to renew and preserve the constituents of the original soil, or sterility and dssolation must inevitably result. s.@h ..1 l-h ' " .,;'a -~ A radical change is the system of American agriculture has become matter of prime nec- essity. From the land has been the rule of action to the land is the course which will have to be adopted. Ia other words, the me- thod that takes from the farm all and restores notbug, must be discarded and one that will remunerate the soil in greater or lesser de- gree, become the governing principle in agri- cultural science. 1 .... How is this to be accomplished By clos i ing all the streams which have heretofore drained the life'blood of the soil. We need to cultivate less for present reward. In the cnl- ture of crop, in addition to ascertaining how much we can get off certain field, an endeav or to leave the soil in the best condition only by pursuing an intelligent system of cul- tivation. and a thorough knowledge of the wants of the farm is imperative to the suc- cessful performance of such course. Expe- riments with the various manures and process es for elevating the standard of soils should be made by those interested, the results carefully ly poted and compared as to power, cost, man. 1 ner of application, enduring faculty, &c.
 As far as may be possible, fertilizers should be the product of the farm. The extreme | prices at which special manures are selling, and the increased demand for them, together with the tendency upward in the scale of cost which will result from extensive use will ren- der their application very expensive if not un- profitable. Many of these compounds, it is thought, produce no permanent effects-thel1 action is either an immediate one, or their in gradients so soluble that rains and moisture soon convey their elements out of reach of the growing crop Should this, upon investiga tion, prove to be the fact, they are not, as a body, to be depended upon. The barn-yard is the grand source to which farmers must look, and everything which can in any manner be made to cuntribste to the increase ofthis de partment of farm economy, should not only be gathered, but it's powers preserved and kept in the best state for the application to the soil.- If the proposition be true, it brings us to the adoption of the maxim-"No stock, no ma. nure; no manure, no crops"-and here, un doubtedly, we find the basis of true agricultu ral progress.
 VI Every means that will event the deteriora ton of the solid excrements of cattle should be brought into general use, ana all devices for preserving liquid droppings should be as extensively adopted, The premises where manure is stored should be comparatively dry and it should not be exposed, as is too fire quently the case, to rain or the How of rair from the roof, Care needs to be exercised in their accumulation that too rapid decompo. sition does not effect their value. Tanks fo, the reception of liquid mannres ought to be constructed upon every farm where horses ol cattle are kept. An incalculable amount o the very elements of fertility are annually vast ed throughout our country on account of def
 ciencies in this respect. Toe value of urine voided by our domestic animals has not had { ljust estimate. Dana says that the urine of { COW will manure one and one-fourth acres fo
 a year; that it is more valuable than he
 dung in the rato of bulk as seven to six, and il real as two to one. It will furnish nine hun
 dred pounds of solid matter per annum, ant resting guano at fifty dollars per ton-Nev
 York wholesale prices, the voidings of sin gle COW would be worth twenty dollars. 5 We cannot realize the necessity that com pels farmers to purchase fertility for thei
 lands and at the same time permits the yer,
 essentials of good farming to run waste. It i
 a mistaken policy, Ito speak lightly of such
 mode of procedure) and should receive tn
 condemnation of progressive farmers. Th'
 only way in which agriculturists may expee
 to succeed, and keep up the standard of thei
 soils, is to give to the soil, iu some apprec'
 able form, fertiiziEg properties in amour equal to what is annually abstracted in tn shape of crops, and the manner and means C
 doing this, like charity, "begins at home
 Rurdl Netc Yorker. ..-.r..z. ,.s.-
 ToaAroEs.-Mr. Editor :-I notice an art