The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1869-09-24

MAKING A POOR FARM RICH,

| Some twenty-five or thirty years ago,
[ bought a farm containing about one
hundred and twenty acres OF land. it
had been managed badly for many years
preceding the sale of it, Fence rows,
where hundreds of loads of stone had
been hauled Oft the adjacent fields were
| fl ON ten to twenty feet wide, and were
| filed with cedars, cherry trees, alders,
| sassafras, briers, rotten railsy&c. Gut-
ters were washed in various places, eX-
posing stony barren soil that looked
like anything else than desirable farm
land. An old farmer, on the day of
sale, remarked in reference to the gull
leys in the fields, that 1t mattered but
little if all such land was washed away.
The buildings were old and dihPidatci
and needed Immediate repairs, to rem
der them at all comfortable for man or
beast. The property, however had two
redeeming traits-it was well wooded
and well watered.
AS was the farm, so was the farmer
poor. TO better this state of things was
he aim of the writer, which could not
be accomplished without much hard
work. This had to be done, and he had
to do it. Wood had to be cut and haul,
ed to the kiln; lime to be burned hauled
and spread; fence rows cleaned fences
made, sc. put one thousand bushels
of lime on two ten-acre fields, IN the
fall, before possession was given. These
fields were ploughed in the spring and
put in with corn, which yielded when
husked, not over fifty bushels of sound
corn altogether. From one of them,
however, got one hundred bushels OF
buckwheat, having sown some seed
among the spars and puny looking
stalks of corn about the middle ofJuly.
The next season both fields we're put
in with oats, averaging 500 bushels.
sowed clover and timothy Oh the oats,
and rolled them all in together. The
season was favorable and seed took
we'll. Imowed tfese fields two sum-
mers in succession, and had very good
crop of hay. / then put five hundred
bushels IL one of the fields; and in tho
spring planted it with corn, (which yield
ed ME four hundred bushels without the
offal. No mgnure whatever was used
for the crop III addition to the lime, exz
cepting the corn was plastered in the
hill. Oats, wheat (manured from the
barn-yard.) and two crops of grass fol-
lowed The ground was then lined as
before, and gathered the ensuing sea-
son sixty bushels Of corn per acre. Tho
other fields on the farm have been
worked as this, with about the same re-
suit, excepting the corn which has not
been equalled since.
There were but two acres of wheat on
the place when bought it, as ali the
manure made would not cover a great
er extent than this, after sufficiency
had been taken out for potato patch
and garden. Two horses and three
oh oil tIln stuck
Now there are five horses and upwards
head of cattle. The manure
they make is sufficient. for twenty acres
of ground annually. BY increasedproS
luctions of my farm, have been ena-
bled to pay debts, erect new buildings
and give my children Il good, sound ed
acation.
SO much for lime; without this fertil-
zer | could not have lived. have
never sold more than three or four loads
lf manure. Several times the wheat
crop has yielded thirty btishels pei,
icre. | paid $3l per acre tor my farm
and have refused $ll0.
| have written thus to show that poor
land may be made rich with lime, and
.he increased amount of manure OBJ
Eaiued as the consequence OF the ll5efal
Two good horses and y
yoke of oxen were all the working stock
lsed on the farm for several years.
Young farmers will do we'll to remcm-
ber that oxen will dG as much work as
horses. eat less grain, require less ex-
harness, can be geared in half
he time, can be managed more safely
by boys. and in fine, are more pretera-
BILE in very many ways Gel7aahtoach