New-York tribune., 1870-04-30
OF FARMING
XVIn.
,s SAIT-AsHESLLINiE.
DY HORACE GREELG''

w ..,,id not NE improyed by the application Oh
s.:,,oua. 70 tbcre he spch. heartily congTa'ula'e
The owners and advise them not to sen noi Az ~
relieve that there are many acres so fertile 'haI '9
x,ould not produce more Indian Corn nioio 80.
moro Cotton and moro of whatever may po ,a,to .
propriate staple if judciousy teItinhco- - .,.o,,d
farms or fields originally so good that manure "Vi
80. ;,oooso ,Lo;r Weld | am confident that the HIS.
blf do4on crons will have taken that conoei' ou'
.Lo,, proiries and rver-bottoms may yieiu e'oi ~
so,ntoorslv. but that very luxurance OF grow'n M
s,ros their gradual exhaustion OF certain oi'i
crops which must needs be replaceu vi 'ii0
.v;lI dwindle Whoever has sold 'hous.i'u o
of grain or its equivalent in meat rom MS Id HI lao
sberebv IMPOVERISHED that farm, unless no HAS az
plied something that balances It's loss 4 poicoi,0
-. ,o has cone out of me-" observed the saviour
soconso the hem of his garment had been toucheu;
cd every field that had been cropped might make
i-iar rcnort whenever its annual loss by abstIac-
60 has NOT been balanced by some kind OF fertilizer
The farmer who grows the largest crops is the most
ynerciess exhauster of the SOIL unless he balances LIS
annual drafts las good farmers rarely 1al W u"
NV at least equal reGnforcements of the productive
capacity of his fields.
The good farmer begins by inquiring, Wherein
was my soil originally deiicientf and OF wha' mas IL
been exhausted by subsequent crops y Judee .n''
nv cravelly hill sides would reward the application
as think the clay flats which border Lake Cham
plain would pay for like application of sand OF hho
gravel where that material is found IN convenient
proxmity; and yet know very well that' Oh ~
least threefourths of court1ys area snch appu-
cation would cost far more than IL WouIu 10 "oi'
Every farmer must act on his KNOWLEDGE Oh ms SUI
and it's pecular needs and not blindly follow the dc
Tum of another. Yet know few farms WINCH "eIo
they mine would not consider enhanced III ''iuo
by n vigorous application of some aIhaiihe SUI
,eance-Lime, Salt Ashes, or some one OF the chesP0'
,Ntrates should be very glad to apply one thou-
,eand bushels of good hOusemade, hardwood ASHES
TO my twenty acres of arabic upland, II conld Duy
rfheln delivered, at twenty-five cents per DuSheii
but they are not to be had. doubt that thele are
hundred acres of warm dry, gravclly or SANDY SOIL
east of the Anegbanies that would not Amply io-
ward similar application. But Ashes IN quahuy
are not to be had, since good farmer sells lhe'
rnd Coal is the chief fae Of cities and villages Inc
Marls of New-Jersey Judge fully equal in average
value to Ashes which have been nearly deprived OF
their potash by teaching, but not quite half equal
sfushol for bushel to u1eached Ashes. l judge
that average Marl is worth 10 cents per Dushel
where Ashes may be had for %. But Mall
IS found only in a few localities, and q matellai
worth but 10 cents per bushel will not bear
Transportation beyond 80 miles by land or 2VO by
water. Salt is only found or made at few points,
Il
the refuse product of Salt-WOTks be cheaply
bought good farmers viii eagerly compete for It, II
their lands at all resemble mine. ljudge the tun OF
Potash ordered fifteen years ago from Syracuse,
paving $50 and transportation, the cheapest fer
Iilizer ever bought 1t was so impregnated with
Salt from the boiling of the saltkettles into the
hshes as to be worthless for other than agricultural
purposes; but mixed it with large pile of Muck
that had recently dug, and six or eight months
thereafter applied the product to very poor,
.fyravelly hillside which had just broken up; and
the immediate result noble crop of Corn.
That hillside has not yet forgotten the application.
If should try to explain just how and why Lime
Is fertilizer, l should probably fail; and am well
assured that lining has in been overdOne
yet think most observers will concur in my state
ment that any region uhich has been lined year after
gear produces crops Of noticeable eroeenoe. cite
examples Chester and Lancaster Counties, Pennsyl-
vania with Stark and adjacent counties of Ohio.
Possibly results equally gratifying might be secured
by applying some other substance; only kRou that
frequently lined lands are generally good lands, as
sheir crops do testify. heartily wish that the fiat
clay interyales of Western Vermont could have a
fair trial Of the virtues of lining 1 should expect
TO them thereby rendered friable and arabic;
longer changing speedily from the semblance Of tar
70 tnat Of brick, but readily plowed and titled, and
WELDING literally of Grain well Grass. am
,rop1Nlent that most farms in our country will pay
Sor lrAing to the extent Of fifty bushels per acre
where ihe cost Of quick lime does not exceed ten
cents p1r bushel and most farmers, by taking hot
from thA kiln the refuse lime that is deemed unfit
FOR building purposes obtain it cheaper than
that.
wish SOME farmer who gives constant personal
attention t6 his wOrk-as / cannOt-wOuld make
sone careful tests of the practical value of akalis
Tor instance: the abundance and tenacity of our
common sorrel is supposed to indicate acid condi-
zion of the soil and all who have tried know that
orrel is hard to kill by cultivation. suggest that
syhoever troubled with it should cover two square
rods with bushel of quick-lime just after plow-
ing and narrowing this Spring; then apply another
Jushe to fur square rods adjacent then make smi-
Jar applications of ashes to two and four square rods
respectively, taking careful note of the boundaries
of each patch and leaving the rest of the field des-
tiute Of either application. will not anticipate the
result: more than one year may be required to
evolve it; but am confident that few such ex-
periments would supply data whereof am in need
and there are doubtless others whose ignorance is
nearly equal to mine
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