The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-05-08
shall we Plow Land WEI rather than

~.,,lI Wa Plow Land WEI rather thar
not PlOw itt
This is a question that often presents
itsaIf and il is almost always decided IL
the Affirmative. sour land must bt
mt in:v that is the thought, and wheth
er wet or dry, tho form must be carried
This is done yearly on probably ma
iority of the farms-that is, to a greater
Or less extent. We're the extent
stated. it would doubtless surprise
many, and still more could the injury
Land thus treated sufers--sufers ma
terially-suffers not only for one year
Int for several-suffers in the crop and
suffers in the soil .rg.t ...
In this way our land is hurt-all our
land. we may say, is hurt more or less
in this way. Our clay land is mangled
and almost ruined in some cases. 1t is
chubby" Qumpy,) pale, harsh-rattles
when the harrow passes over it Ii
passes virtually over so many brick
bats. The clod-crusher benefits it moth
ing, only reducing the brickbats to
smaller brickbats.
The elements must DO their work
again-nature must restore the soil; and
it takes years, as We have said, to DO 1T.
We have known it to take many years;
and even a sod for several years, in ad-
dition, had failed to restore it. 1t was
a curse that had fallen on the ground,
aud on the grain and the grass as we'll.
. A summer fallow, working in largely
of long, rank manure, finished what the
clements had left undone. And even
then there was not the original texture
and fertility.
Lime, in some cases, seemed to have a
good effect.
But why have thisi Why curse the
soili Each farmer must have had ex-
perence of this kind-at least each farm
er that has clay soil.
We are not to plow our clay soil when
it is wet-not even when it wants to
be put in-when the case is an urgent
one. Dispense with your seeding for
another year-break up the rotation.
Better do this little harm to your pock-
ct than the much greater of killing your
land.
The next year will give you chance
to put it in properly. This year it
might have been done, many chances to
one. Plowed in the fall, as it should
have been, it would have been ready
early in the spring, at least if there had
been anything like decent drainage.
And then with the first mellow ground
(and such soil is often early mellow the
seed should have been sown. Oats, peas,
barley, each may be put in early.
This wsuld not only have secured a
good crop, but benefited the soil, in
stead of hurting it almost irretrievably.
If our land has been neglected in the
fall, and the plowing must be done in
the spring, it becomes us to be on the
alert and plow with the first chance-the
very first, it matters not how early or
what may interfere. Ifthe soil is clay
soil, especially q stiff clay, this becomes
all the more imperative. We cannot
sufficiently urge in this matter.
More: After the land is plowed,
whether in the fall or spring, it is
equally, or nearly equally, important to
put in the seed in good condition. In
no case harrow when wet-not even q
black mellow SOIL New land we have
known to be crusted ever in this way,
supposing it was sufficiently light and
pulverized not to hurt 1.-THE matter
being vegetable matter. Whole fields
have been spoiled in this way, as we
have known; though in q vegetable
mould it is less hurtful than in stiff clay,
or ordinary clay soil, or any other but q
light soil highly charged with humus.
Keep shy of the wet under all circum-
stances, SO far as the stirring of the soil
is concerned. Even in the fall do not
plow wet. The frost will help it, but
will not cure it; the packed condition is
still there in the spring. The surface
may be somewhat ameliOrated, but ex-
anime it closely and it will have a harsh,
dead feel; it has not that liveliness
which a properly treated soil has, at
tractive, homogeneous, full of vitality,
receiving the grain to its full vigor of
life.
The soil wants to be kept as it is; it
can readily be spoiled-killed. This is
done in innumerable cases every year.
After the sod has benefited it-after
the frost and the heat and the fertile
warm rains have done their work in
the land, in goes the plow,
and up comes the heavy, now packed
and shining wet soil, and soon baked
and hardened-the harrow looping this
way and that, almost turning upside
down, and yet scarcely scratching the
surface. Aud on such land corn must
be planted and grain sownI And this
was the soil thatswam the harrow once,
and raised the tall heavy grain-wheat
that held cradle!
Are we drawing a fancy sketchi We
are speaking from actual experience;
all this happened when l was a boy,
and it happens yet with some of our
and some who pretend to be
good farmers. Let US save the land.
1t is bad enough that we impoverish it;
let us not kill it outright. Who will
see to iti Who will compare and test
it'll FIG.