The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-04-26
Ghe4ntelliiggnfer,
What 1 Know Of Farming.
pY HORACE GREELEY.


My lille, Mlly, rocky lnTln ledcues leS'
sons of tllOrOughncsS which would glad.
" impart to tic boys Of to-day who arC
destined to be tic farmers Of the lust
quarter oil this century. Lam sure they
will find profit in hrning better than
their grandlathcrs did, and especially IN
putting their lind into the best possible
condition for effective tillage. There were
stones in my fields varying in size from
that Ofa brass kettle up TO that OF u hay.
cock-some Of them raising their heads
above the surface, others burrOwing just
below (which had been plowed around
and over perhaps hundred times, till /
went ut them with team and bar, or
(whcre necessary with drill and blast,
turned or blew them out, and hauled
them away, so that they will Interfere
with cultivation nevCrmOaC. insist TINT
this Is profitable OpcratiOn-that IL field
which will not pay for such clearing
should be planted with trees and thrown
ont OF cultivation COnCluSivcly, DOdging
and skulking from rock 10 rock Is hard
ulOn team, piow, and plowmNn, and 1t can
rarely nay. Land ribbed and spotted
with flst rocks will pay If judIcIously
planted with Timber possibly II well get
In Fruit-but tilling ii from year to year
is Il thanklCss task, and It's owner may
better work by the day for his nGighbors
than try TO make his bread by such tilIagc
So with fields soaked by springs or SOL
den with slAgnant water, lfyOu say you
cannot afford 10 drain your wet land, l
respond that you can still less afford TO till
1t without draining. If you really cannot
afford 10 fit it for cultivation, your next
best course Is to let II severely alone.
A poor man who Inns n rough, rugged,
sterile farm, which ho is unable TO bring
to its best possible condition at once. yet
which he clings to and must live from,
should resolve that, if life and health be
spared him, he will reclaim one field each
year until all that Is not devoted to timber
Shall have been brought into high cOndi-
ton. When his Summer harvest is over,
and his Fall crops have received their last
cultivation, there will generally be from
one TO two Autumn months which he can
devote mainly ID this work. Let him take
hold OF it with resolutc purpose to improve
every available hour, not by running over
the largest possible urea, but by dealing
with one field SO thoroughly that twill
need no more during long lifetime. II
il has stone that the plOw will reach. dig
them out; lift needs tirAining, drain It SO
thoroughly that 1t may hereafter be plow'
cd in Spring 20 soon rs the frost leaves Il;
and now let soil and sltsOll lie
so lOosened and pulvcrizcd that
roots may freely penetrate thel1l 10 9 depth
oftilteen to twenty inches, stfnling notlr'
ishmcnt all tho way, with Indictment TO
20 further ifcver falling moisture shall
render this necessary DroutlI habttually
shOrtens our Fall crops from ten to my
per cent; 1t is sure tOinjurc us more grave:
" rs our forests hroswcpt away by ak and
| fire: and, willie much may be done to nit
igate Its ravageS by enricling the soil so
US TO give your crops an early start: anu y
rank, luxuriant growth, the farmers CHIEF
reliance must still be depth OF soil Ide'
quite to withstand weeks Of the ftercest
sunshine. H-. JlnJy .r..l,I.Yl..
1 have considered what is urged as 10
the choice 0frOots to run just beneath the
surface, and it docs not signify. Roots
seek ut once heat and moisture; II the
moisture awaits them close 70 the surface,
of course they mainly run there, because
the heat Is there greatest. II moisture
4 fails there, they must descend tn seek II,
even Of thc.cost of finding the head made
quate-though heat increases and deSccnds
under the icrvitl suns which rob the sur.
face ofmoisturc. Make the soil rich and
nisllOwaever 80 Oar down, and you geed
mot fear that the rOoiswill descend an4nel!
lower than they should. They understand
their business: it is your sNgacity that may
possibly prove deficient. .
". IsliSpeCt that the, average" farmer does
'IlhrtooiIittlc blowing byiWhiGlisIs mean,
not that he plows too few 0crcs, for hc
J often plows too many, hut that lie should
plOw O(tencr us well uS deeper and more
Thoroughly. spent three or i0Ilr OF my
boyish summers planting and tilling corn
anil potatoes on fields broken up Just be.
fore they were planted, never crossplow-
cd, and Of course tough and tntraCtable
throughout the season. The yield o. corn
j was mlddling considering the season; that
Of potatoes more than middling. yet, If
those fields had been well plOwcd In the
previous autumn, CrOSs.plOwed carly In
} Inc spring, and thoroughly narrowed just
before planting time, I am confident that
the weld would have been FIR greater, and
the labor Save in hGrvesting) rather less
tho cost OF the full blowing being over
balanced by the. saving Of half the time
necessarily given to the planting anu hoe
Ing.
| Fail blowing has this recommendation
lit liglitGns labor al the buster season, by
transferring It TO one OF comparative dull
ness. may lave said that consider him
good farmer who knows how to make a
: rainy day equally effective with one
that is dry md fair; ind, in the same spi'
rit, l count him my master in this art who
chi, make days work in autumn OF
winter save days work in Spring OF
Summer. Show inc II farmer who has nc
land plowed when May opens. and Is just
waking up to q consciousness that his
= fences need mcnding and his trees want
! trimming, ind l will guess tlat the SlIcr'
, 1T will be alter him before May comes
, round again.
There Ia no superstition In this belief
: that land is Tor mny beg enriched by Fall
!. Flowing, The. Autumn gales arc freight
. ell with the more volatile clements OF de-
! caying vegetation. These, taken NJ
wherever they arc given or in excess, ard
: waited to and deposited in the soils best
fitted for heir reccpuons Regarded
0 Esirnbly IS q method OF Icrtil8ing, Liz
> NOT siy that Fall Flowing is the cheapest
:. | do say that any poor field, iC well plowCd
! in tho Fall, will be in better heart tho mex
. Spring, for what wind ind rain will mean
!. time have deposited thereon. Frost, too
, in my region where the ground freezes
nud especially where 1t freezes and tllAH'
repeatedly, plays I'm Important md bcnGl
cent part IN aGrAting and pUlYCri2tng q
freshly plOwGd soil, especially one Thrown
my inio ridges. SO rs To be most thorough