Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-10-24
Manaring and Flowing.

Prof. Brown furnishes the NoIbttSStCft
Farmer with the following suggestions:
Ir the application Of organic manures'
much depends on the time and manner of
that application. If the manure is well
composted, it may be spread at any time in
the winter or spring months and safely
await the usual season Of spring blowing.
II should not, however, be exposed for any
considerable length oftime to the influence
Of q summer sun, before it is turned under F;
as its ammonia and carbonlc acid are held
only by absorption, and will certainly be
disengaged by a high temperature.
But il the composing OF the wastes OF
the barn-yard has been neglected, then the
next best thing that can be done, as 10
spread il on the fields in the months OF
October or November and turn it under
Immediately, as deep as possible. Where
ground has been thus dressed with long
manure in the fall the spring blowing
should not be so deep az TO disturb it, This
rule applies also 10 clover, or other green
crops that are turned under in the summer
or fall months.
The advantage of turning under deeply
fresh manure. rather than suffering il to
rot in the heap, is this: The gases set free
from accommodation in the first instance
are mainly absorbed by the soil covering
the manure, while in the second case they
escape into the air and are wasted. One Of
the principal advantages of fall blowing for
spring crops, is the saving Of the products
of winte4 decay, in the last years crop Of
vegetation; foralthough the decay of or
ganic substances is much less rapid in the
winter than in the summer, vet the stubble
on a wheat field will weigh twice as much
in September az in April.
In maintaining the fertility of a soil,
very much depends on the mode Of cuiti-
waiting 1t. The pillow, in some form, is
among the oldest Of our agricultural inn
plements; and though we have so greatly
improved the tool that we would hardly
recognize ia a modern steel pillow the clum-
sv thing that Cincinnatus followed, or even
the "barshier' that kicked ms when we first
walked in a furrow, yet there is a radical
defect in the pillow that has not been RENE
died-perhaps is not remediable. The
pillow, in all its forms, operates as a wedge,
or moving inclined plane. Now, since
action and reaction are always equal and
in opposite directions, it ~ evident that as
many pounds Of earth as is raised upward,
so many pounds of pressure IA eXerted
downward on the subsoil. Whatever force,
therefore, the pillow exerts 10 loosen and
pulverize the soil, the same force Is expend-
ga in the direction of COMPRISING the sub
soil. This defect in the action of the pillow
Is TO some extent remedied in this climate
by our heavy winter freezing; the tendency
of which is to expand, and consequently
loosen the subsoil. Various efforts have
been made hy ingenious mechanics 10 con-
struct an implement for pulverizing the soil
ON some principle that will avoid this OBJ
lection. but up 10 the present time nothing
better than a well-constructed pillow has
been offered TO the farmer, and 1t is proba-
he that the pillow, with all its defects, will
continue 10 be our most reliable agricultural
implement. and the type and symbol OF the
farmers profession.
The condition of the soil at The time II
is plowed, has much 10 do with the eneci
Of plowinq. on its fertility. IL clay son
be plowed when il is so wet that the earth
falls from the mold board in mass, pre-
sentine smooth, glazed surface, be sure
that Won are doing but little to Pulverize
that soil. A soil Of this kind turned upto
the air and sunshine in this condition VIII
soon bake into ctOuS hS hatA &c -NN->Ae'''
adobes, with no more powers Of absorption
than so many boulders. The injury which
a soil will receive BY such a plowing can
he remedied only by a winters freezing.
Sandy soils, however, may be cultivated
when quite wet, without much inconve-
nience or danger of injury. Even clay
soils with large supply Of vegetable mat
Ter, may be plowed much wetter than a soil
less loamy.
How deep shall we pillow is one of the
most important questions in the science of
cultivation. Deep blowing has many adj
vantages. Ii the season shall prove dry,
a deep pulverized soil will absorb and re-
tain moisture much better than shallow
one. On the ether hand, if the season is
vet, a soil cultivated six or eight inches
deep will bold more water, without being
saturated, than one but three inches deep.
Hill sides and other grounds disposed to
wash, will be less liable 10 injury under a
system Of deep cultivation, than il plowed
shallow. Writers recommend, and farmers