Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1868-11-06
8ieIS amb Sarbem.
The Soil and the Atmosphere :
Judici0Ds Farming.


The farmer differs essentially from all
other classes of workmeu in that the
latter deal With iuert, rigid ssd anchau.
giug materials, whilst he deals with
the probleas Of life and growth under
manifold changes aud conditions he
therefore needs knowledge Of his una
terials far beyond What is necessary to
the worker 10 wood or ia stone. 1.-THE
wood is strong, close 6brcd and dry, or
the stone suits the purposes to which it
is applied, the artisan peed not trouble
himself as to how or why the tree IA
creased in bulk as years went on, or
what retarded its growth, or what was
the nature of rock he is chipping with
his maIlet and cLisel lie has nothing
to do with the laws that govern the
growth of these substances or with their
constituent properties. His duty is
simply to mould them by skilled labor
into the many uses to which advancing
civilization has adapted them On tue
other hand, it is of essential service TO
the farmer that in respect to trees lac
should know something at least of both
these substances beyond the fact that
one is wood and one is stone. With
him tree stands as the representative
of all kinds of g"table, as the repre-
sents the soil which has fox it's basis of
fertility the disintegration Of rocks
through countless ages, aud liberation
of the lime, the potash and the various
inorganic substances which they con
tain, aud which are essential alike to
the groSth of forest trees aud that of
the grasses of the field ...
We see, then, that the man who wish
es to raise a tree in the speediest and best
manner should know something Of the
nature of the coil on which he proposes
the tree shall be grown; aud to know
properly the nature of the soil he must
trace it back to the rock, of whose sub
stance by the action of the sun, the
wind, the frost and the rain, operating
upon it through long centuries, the fer
tilizing properties of all soils is largely
composed, Thus knowledge Of the
nature of both rock aud tree is prima-
rily valuable in its relation to the first
principles Of good husbandry 1t is
valuable, we repeat, but is not absolute
ly essential for We can continue to
farm as our g;andfathers did, aye, aud
to raise good crops in a blind sort of a
way, without Knowing anything Of the
composition of soils or of that general
law which governs alike both animal
and vegetable life. We have no doubt
that the old race of farmers we're very
comfortable after their fashion, and
those who desire to follow 10 their foot,
steps need not trouble themselves about
what they are pleased TO call "new fan.
gled notions" To take thought as to
any improvement in agricultural pro-
cesses may be to many men worry
and the knowledge necessary to perfect
these processes n "vexaaau of spirit"
and yet we respectfully submit that
through this worry aud vexatlon of
spirit all men must pass if they desire
to arrive at excellence in any depart
luent of life.
1t was known rs far back as the days
Of Chuptal aud Sir Humphrey Dayy
hat the fertility of soil depended not
merely on the presence in the soil of
one or two leading constituents, but in
the fact that the soil contained all the
various constituents that are necessary
TO the growth of plants. 1t was also
known that the chief Of these, and
more essential than any other, were
lime, the phosphaies aud potash, and
also that in a course Of cropping, pot.
ash aud the phosphates, from the larger
drain made upon them, were Of all 9th,
,rs the soonest exhausted. 1t was OF
these elements of fertility our earlier
farmers made havoc. They cultivated
the land largely in hoed crops. such as
corn and tobacco they drew of every
thing from the soil and Tut ON compare
lively little in return, aud 10 year by
year the ne!ds grew less and less capable
Of bearing profitable crops until they
were feafully turned out as waste
lands. Look at the condition of those
ma ynifcent wheat lands Of Genn,s zee,
New York. Once they were the rich'
est wheat lands in the world. This wa,
10 longer than forty years ago The
annual yield to the acre RAGGED then
from forty to fifty bushels, These same
lands will not now average more than
twelve. Gan anything more conclu,
sively illustrate the story Of want aud
improvidcucc? The moral to which it
poiLts is quite as obvious, ii we work
Que horse without feeding him he will
speedily die. t we use our wagon
without repairing it, some day it will
fall to pieces. II we steadily drain from
our lands their elements of fertility,
they viii grow poorer by degrees, until
eventually they become barren. The
rule then that should govern, that does
indeed govern our best farmers, is to
return more plant food annually to the
soil than the crops take from it. BY
this system such lauds are yearly be.
coming richer instead of poorer, and
yield larger crops than they did when
they were at their highest point of nat.
ural fertility. But to know how 10
snake lands rich economically --that is
TO say, without waste of material
the farmer ought to have some knowl-
edge of the nature of his soil and of It's
wants. If it contains an abundance OF
lime, any addition of lime would be a
superduity. If, on the contrary, it is
defcen' in lime, and is rotten rock or