New-York tribune., 1870-04-23
WHATI KNOW OF FARMING.
~ HORACE GREELEY.
THOROUGH TnLAGE.

Nv little hily, rocky farm teaches lessons Of
fhoroughnoss which would gladly impart 10 the
BOYS of to-day who destined to be the farmers of
she Last quarter of this century am sure they will
find profit in farming better than their grand
fathers did and especially in putting their land into
the best possible condition for effective tillage,
There were stones in my fields varying in size from
that Of brass kettle up to that of hay-cock-some
of them raising their heads above the surface Others
burrowng just below it-which had been plowed
around and over perhaps hundred times till went
at them with team and bar, or where necessary with
drill and blast. turned blew them out, and hauled
them away so that they viii interfere with cutiya
tion nevermore. j insist that this is profitable
operatiOn-that field which will not pay for such
clearing should be planted with trees and thrown out
Of cultivation conclusively. DOdging and skulking
from rock to rock is hard upon team pow and plow-
man, and it can rarely pay Land ribbed and spot
ted with fast rocks viii pay if judiciously planted
with 1imber-pOssbly if well set in Fruit-but till
ing it from year to year is thankess task, and Its
owner may better work by the day for his neighbors
than try to make his bread by such tllage
So with fields soaked by springs or sodden with
stagnant water. If you say you cannot afford to
drain your wet land respond that you sti less
afford to till it without draining If you really can
not afford to fit it for cultivation your next best
course is TO let it severely alone.
A poor man who has a rough rugged, sterile farm,
which he is unable 70 bring TO its best possible con-
diton at once vet which he clngs to and must live
FROM should resolve that, If life and health be spared
him. he viii reclaim field each year mil all that
Ia not devoted TO timber shall have been brought into
high condition. When his Summer harvest Is over,
and his Fall crops have received their last cultiva-
ton there Will generally be from one to two Autumn
months which he can devote mainly 10 this work.
Ia !, to i'm
prove every available hour, not by running over the
largest possible area bat by dealing with one field
so thoroughly that it will need during long
lifetime. II it has stone that the plow viii reach,
dig them out; if il needs draining drain II so
thoroughly that it may hereafter be plowed in
Spring soon the frost leaves it; and now let
soil and subso be so loosened and pulverized that
roots may freely penetrate them to depth of fifteen
TO twenty inches finding nourishnent all the way,
with Indictment to 60 further if ever failing mos-
ture shall render this necessary Drouth habtually
shOrtcns Fall crops from ten to fifty per cent 1t
is sure to inure US more gravely forests are
swept away by AK and fire; and, while much may be
done mitigate its by enriching the soil so
as to give your crops early start, and rank, lux
uriant growth the farmers chief reliance must stu
be depth of soil adequate to Withstand weeks Of
the fcrcest sunshine
Ihaye considered what is urged to the choice Of
roots 10 run Just beneath the surface and ii does not
signify Roots seek M once heat and moisture; if
The moisture awaits them close TO the surface, Of
cours they mainly run there, because the heat Is
there greatest. If moisture fails there, they must
descend TO seek it, even at the cost of finding the
heat uadequa,e-thoushh heat increases and descends
under the feryd suns which rob the surface of mos-
ture Make the soil rich and mellow ever so far
down and you need not fear that the roots will de-
scend an inch lower than they should They under
stand their business: it is your sagacity that may
possibly prove deficient
suspect that the average farmer does far too little
plowing-by which l mean not that he pows too
few acres for be often plows too many but that lie
should plow oftener well as deeper and more
thoroughly. l spent three or four Of my boyish
Summers planting and tiling Corn and Potatoes on
fields broken up just before they planted never
cross-riowed, and Of course tough and intractable
throughout the season. The yield Of Corn was mid
ding considering the season. that of Potatoes more
than middling; yet, if those fields had been well
plowed in the previous Autumn, crOss-plowed early
IN the Spring and thoroughly narrowed just before
pantiug-time, am confident that the yield would
have been far greater and the labor Save Ill har
vestincl rather less-the cost of the Fall plowine
Oeing over-baanced by the saving OF half the time
necee arily given 10 the planting and hoeing.
Fal Flowing has this recommendatiOn-ith Tighten:
comparative dullness. may have said that con
sider him good farmer who knows how to make &
rainy day equally effective with that is dry anC
fair: and. in the spirit count him my master
in th.J art who can MAKE a days work IN Autumn o.
Winter save days work in Spring or Summer
Show me farmer who has no land plowed wheI
May opens, and is just waking up TO consciousness
that LIS fences need mending and his trees want
trimming. and viii guess that the sheriff viii bt
after him before May comes round AGAIN.
There is no superstition in the belief that land i
tor may bel enriched 10y Fail Flowing. The Autumn
gales 4le frechted with the more volatile elements
OF dccaying vegetation. These taken up whereyei
thcy are given of in excess are waited to and de
posted in the soils best fitted for their reception
Regar .ad simply az q method Of fertiIzng, do not
say tl., all Flowing is the cheapest do say that
any poor field if wei ployed in the Fall viii be in
bette heart the next Spring for what wind and rain
will meantime have deposited thereon. Frost, too
in an region where the ground freezes, and es-
peciay where II freezes and thaws repeatedly plays
important and benehcent part in aerating and
puive.i1ing a freshly plowed soil, especially one
thrown up into ridges so as to be most thoroughly
expos d TO the action of the more volatile elements
The farmer who has good team may proftaby keeI
the piow running in Autumn until every rood that
he Incans TO till next season has been thoroughly
pulvefzed.
In this section, minute chequer-work Of fences
OpeIatcs to instruc, and impede Flowing. Our pre-
decessors wished clear their fields al least super
fciay Of the loose troublesome powders Of granite
wherewith they were so thickly sown; they mistak.
eniy fauced that they could tighten their own toll
by sending their cattle to Craze browse and gnaw
wherever crop was not actually on the ground; SC
they fenced their farms into patches Of two or ten
cres and thought they had thereby increased their