The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-08-27

We have frequently had oxen on our farm
that would pillow furrow for furrow with a
pair of horses all day-would go either be-
fore or behind on the same land and always
keep up to time; and then the care and ex-
pense Of feeding and gearing was so much
less, that we gave the oxen the preference.
- Stock JourndlU
Do FoREsr TREEs IN FIELDS IMPROVE THE
Sou During n late visit to Northern
Wisconsin, We noticed an abundance of
burr-oak trees, scattered at intervals
through most of the fields that we're
to wheat. The sight was q beautiful one,
the green, waving branches of the trees.
forming the finest possible contrast with,
the ripening grain. The landscape was en-
chanting, as compared with the t~reeless
prairies. of Illinois, As q model for q paint
ing, or q subject for a pastoral poem, we
could not but think that one acre of this
red clay land was worth O quarter-section
of our prairie soil, black with vegetable
mould. We stopped our horse on every
hilltop to admire a prospect more beauti-
full than any offered by the grandest city.
We called TO mind oil the testimony that
'false witnesses" are prone TO produce
against allowing forrest trees to stand on
ground which is cultivated for annual
crops, particularly when it is to be gone
over with O reaping machine. We imag-
med every tree which we saw before us, rs
liable at any moment 10 be tried for its
life, and, il condemned, to be speed
lily executed by beheading. We tried to pre-
pare ourselves 10 say something in defence
of the innocence of those monarchs Of the
soil, in case they should be brought to trial
ON the grave charge of impoverishing the
soil on which the stood, aud thus making
il less productive for grains, which are es-
sential for the sustenanoe of man. We
knew that we were preiudiced in favor of
trees as things Of beauty, and rs homes for
song-birds; and so we prepared ourselves
to meet the naked question, edo trees im-
poverish the soil" We answered this
question Of our own asking, with an EN-
phatic no and gave our mental reasons
for such n decision somewhat in this wise
Trees appear to rob the soil for the pro
duction of their trunks, leaves and acorns,
of the very substances that are necessary
for the growth Of the stalks, leaves and ker-
nels Of wheat; but IN reality they do so to
n limited extent only, as the constitution Of
the tree and wheat plant are, in many re-
spects, quite dissimilar; so that they may
safely be grown together, each taking from
the soil only such substances as are wanted
for it's peculiar growth.
Again, the roots of trees and grain hard,
ly come into competition in relation 10 the
occupancy of the same portions Of the soil,
rs the roots of the trees penetrate as many
feet into the ground as the roots OF the
grain do inches. Now let us see how this
beautiful arrangement works TO ~fertilize in
stead Of %impoverish the soil. We all know
that potash, soda, lime, and, in fact, all
the minenl salts Of use in plants, are sohu-
BILE in water, and are constantly prone 70
be carried down into the soil to a distance
fnr below that reached by the roots of
grain. But the roots Of the forest oak PEN
citrate far into this sub.stratum of earth,
collect these mineral substance, conduct
them 10 the trunk of the tree, whence they
find their way to the branches, aud are
finally lodged in the leaves. These leaves,
after being of service during the summer,
fall when winter comos, %depositing on the
surface Of the soil, where they will be of
immediate use to the grain, all the rich
mineral matter that has been brought up
from the depth of the subsoil below. Here
is IN operation performed by the roots Of
trees, that would puzzle the ingenuity of
man.
But not oil the sustenance Of plants
comes from the soil. Most ofthe materials
for plant growth are afforded by the air.
The great mass of all vegetables is carbon.
and this carbon comes from carbonic acid.
Now, rs the roots of the tree penetrate
deeper into the soil than the roots Of the
wheat plant, and consequently take up
substances which the wheat roots would
never be able to abstract from the ground,
so, too, the branches Of the tree penetrate
further iuto the air, and reach supplies of
carbonic acid that are far above the reach
of our common grain. Thus the carbon
Of the tree is formed, like its mineral salts,
from substances which are beyond the
reach of the bending stalks or the diminu-
tive roots of wheat.
The carbon, taken at such n distance
from the surface of the earth, is brought
down at every leaf fall.
II il possible that Immediately under the
branches Of thick growing trees, there may
be a diminution of the growth of grain;
but even il this is the case, it will be more
than compensated for by an additional
yield in other parts of the field over which
the leaves have been scattered. That trees
do, in the manner we have described, in
crease the general fertility of the land, is
obvious from the fact that portions Of land
in Scotland and other old countries in Eu-
rope, which had become unproductive by
frequent cropping, have regnined their fer
tility after being planted q few years with
quick growing deciduous trees.-Prdirie
Farmer.