The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-06-09
zAantnItnraI.
Understanding Land.
: ~ BY A. N.


70 whatever purpose we devote oui
landoohetheF stock raising, grain
growing, or fruit and vegetable cul-
ture3z dodrsfirst aim should be make il
productive. Here lies the great secret
of Success. Who ever got rich by
farming poor land? Thousands have
remained poor by the experiment +:
Thousands have drawn out a weary
miserable a~existance, rearing families
in Ignorance and poverty, by staying
on peordand without a proper effort to
impfetei and make it productive; and
th0asahds'ar doing the same thing to
fhii tkiso Recommendation lido not in
tendeto say one word about the va1i-
GUS hknds of fertilizers, nor the best
maHiiePsof applying them-they are
all nf6reror less valuable and can hard
ly be mis-applied if brought in con-
tact=with9t the soil;; but this communi-
cation shall be 'sof earth, earthly"
Azeofhpafatively email number OF
farmers are aware Of the value of
understanding asa means, of enlarg-
ingbfhe Productiveness Of their land /;
theyare7 apt to think that only swamps
andsl6W lands are benefited by this
process-that is a greatmistake, fallen
into by faking a merely superficial
view of the matter.
Asfarmer in one of the northern or
middle states would be glad to have
his 4asd enjoy the benefit of FLEEING one
or twoIdegress farther south, so as to
work it earlier in the spring, have a
longer season for his crops to grow
and mature, and atythe same-time re-
main5and enjoy himself with the pleas
amt companionship Of his present
neighbors. All this can be accom-
plished by the simple process OF I'M
derdraining Yes, more than this
your crops may be doubted IN quaint
ity and of superior quality.
The, unestion will be asked|how
understanding viii accomplish allthls?
Lows lafiHgland is known to be cold,
compared with that which is more ele-
waited. The cause of this GOODNESS Is
the presence of too much water near
the surface. IF this water is with
drawn by means of Undertaking, the
soil bscomes more porus-the atmos-
phefic5air~ penetrates to a greater depth
the of the sun meet with less
resistance and consequently penetrate
deeper throwing into the soil a great
er amount of heat. Admitting the
force of all these facts in regard to low
land, they viii apply with equal force
to that which is more elevated.
Ali land except that sandy or very
porus subsol viii be benefited by I'M
derdraining. Grass will take an ear
lier and the ground will be IN a
condition to turn stock to pasture two
weeks earlier. Oats, corn and pota-
toescan be planted two weeks earlier,
and the full crops will receive the be-
nefit gift two weeks later
The. best article for the purpose is
earthen lyle, and should be used wher-
eveFli it Is convenient to procure them,
but, where they cannot be had, wood
may be used to advantage as a substi-
tute. Take saplings of from three to
six.sinches in diamater, and let them
Iapsaaitt1e at each end. The surplus
water will be- attracted to them and
their course to the outlet to
they lead.
lyle should be laid from two to
three. feet75deep and the drains from
tweaty-fyedb thirty=fve feet apart.
The deeper the drains, the farther
apart they may be laid. The work
maybe done in the fall and early win
before freezing sets in. Every In
dustfious farmer may find time to do
this without much outlay of money
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