The weekly standard., 1869-10-20

war it had become common Complalnt tnat
farmers sons were deserting the farms for
clerkships, and places in law offices and doc
tor shops Even then it had grown to be
an evil. But since the war is over this evil
has grown at a fearful rate. Indeed it now
threatens, if not checked, to produce very
serious results. How and why young men,
and old men too, have been driven to leave
the farm and seek employment of any kind
in towns and cities, is not hard to see, The
close of the war found, not only the entire
labor system of the farm destroyed, but the
farm itself gone to wrcck-fences gone.
stock gone, and no money to buy more.
Men might well be excused for turning away
from such gloomy prospects, to seek live
lihood elsewhere, let it be ever so precari-
Gus. It was natural. and yet it was seri.
Gus error. Before the war the clerkships and
the learned professions were crowded to
overiowing; then the country was rich and
spent her money with lavish hand. She
could afford to feed a large number of non-
producers. But now our country is poor,
and economy is necessity as we'll as a vir.
tue She cannot support, she ought not to
support single extra clerk, or lawyer or
DOCTOR or any other non-producer. 1t was
suicidal, therefore, for the men who had
land upon which they could work, to leave
it for Situations" in town or city.
There is but one remedy: that is, to re-
turn to the farm. 1t was fear of work, real,
hard, dull, tiresome work, that drove so
many into "situations"-it is dread of work
that keeps them theres but there is no
help for it, work is inevitable. 1t has been
decreed, and there is no escape A few old
men may manage to scramble along and get
precarious living by other means, but the
young men of this day and generation have
got TO work for their living. either on the
farm or in the workshop. And the sooner
they are brought to understand the matter
the better it will be for them. Hence it is
that we have again and again, urged upon
parents to teach their children how to work
with their hands. Head work is very ne
cessary and very good in its place, but Just
now this country needs work that will make
food and clothes. Until this want is sup
piled, no farmers son has any business quit
ting the farm, unless he goes into a mechan-
les shop to learn the trade The farmers
have great duty before them, and the
whole country depends on them for the fu-
ture as we'll as the present. But the task is
very simple; it only requires them to work
woodwork. To pray to God and keep
the ploughs agoing.
BETTER THLAGE.-Farmers in general
expect yield of crops more in proportion
to the surface of land occupied than to the
depths of the soil whereon they grow. Yet
it is obvious that if one should scatter seed
over an acre of rock it would perish; if
over the rock there was layer of soil two
or three inches in depth the seed might re-
produce itself; add as much more soil and
an ordinary yield might result; and again,
if this depth should be doubled and made
available to the plant, who doubts that pro-
portionately large profits would be derived
Suppose this layer ofsoil contained plant food
plentifully, but was of a consistant, imper-
yious nature, so that the tender roots could
not penetrate it and make use of its fertility,
it would then require loosening, pulverizing,
recreating, and in short thorough cultivation,
and according to the depth and thorough
ness of that cultivation would be the amount
of food made available, and consequently the
yield of the crop.
This is practically the condition of most
of our land it contains plant food enough
to double the average yield of crops if it
were only available to them, but the unwork-
ed subsoil is like rock, confning the roots
of the plants to the comparatively thin ara
bic surface oil. Instead of coveting your
neighbor's lands, and putting forth great
efforts to secure more surface, is it not more
profitable to cultivate deeper that which
you already possess, and double its product
iveness2 With most of our farm crops the
amount of roots determines the quantity of
products, and roots will develop abundantly
wherever there is room and food for them,
but they cannot push their way into stony
Jumps, nor live in hard pan layers where
there is no air.
On many farms Undertaking lies at the
foundation of improved culture. The stag
nant water must pass off or air will not enter
the soil, nor the latter remain loose anv
length of time after being stirred Then
comes fair depth OF surface plowing, fol-
lowed by subsoiling to any practical depth.
This way of preparing stubble ground for
spring grain is excellent Before sowing,
cultivate deep across the furrows with a long
tooth cultivator. A seed bed of finely pull
verized earth, ten or twelve inches deep, can
thus be obtained.
We have seen oat-stubble prepared for
wheat by plowing to the depth of twelve
inches, narrowing, rolling, then stirring the
soil nearly to the bottom of the furrow by
lOng-toothed wheel cultivator, to which four
horses were attached abreast, and all was
finely pulverized. Such chance for wheat
on strong loan or clay land is better than
most summer -fallows.
Farmers, look to your possessions down in
the ground; there are richer mines than
those in the far mountains, and the patient
worker thereof wins health, peace and COM
petence.-IouG Homestead.
SALTPETRE SOLUTION FOR SEED WHEAT.
"A correspondent of the Southern Planter
and Farmer writes:
l am assured by Capt. Joseph W. Phillips,
a highly successful wheat grower near Ped
lar Mills, in Amherst, Va, that he has found
By repeated experiments, that soaking his
seed wheat over night in solution made of
two pounds of saltpetre to eight gallons of
water is a sure preventive of rust. On TAX
ing his seed out of the brine, he rolls it in
freshly Stacked lime, if be has it, if not, in
dry ashes, and sows it that morning, plow-
ing or narrowing it in on that day. He at
tributes the efficacy of the preparation en-
tirely to the saltpetre, which, he says, also
increases the crop, and hastens its maturity
from a week to ten days.
l have no doubt of the entire accuracy of
the special facts stated by Captain Phillips.
To test the remedy decis1vely, let every farm
er try the experiment this fall with few
bushels of wheat, and report the result to the
Planter and Farmer. The cost is mere tri-
Gle. II the remedy succeeds generally and