Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1870-08-16
Improvement of Meadows.

Improvement of Meadows.
From an article by Alexander Hyde on tn
Hay Crop, in the Peoples Journal. publishe,
in Philadelphia, we make the following ex
ttract:
|. As final suggestion for the Improvement
eur hay crop, would mention little more at
| tention to the moving lots We draw on thes,
| lots year after year, and often make no depos
ITS by which hI to enable them to honor oul
drafts. This is too much after the manner o1
the horse -leech, which cries, "Give, give !''-
There is a homely proverb which says, "We
cant get something for nothing" but many
farmers act as though they could get grass fo1
nothing. 1t is wonderfully cheap, and grows
in spite Of neglect, but there is limit to the
capacity of our meadows and pastures to pro-
duce even grass. Already the average produc-
tion is less than one ton per acre, and some
three or four acres Of pasture are required tc
support a cow, whereas the average of hay
should be two tons per acre, and COW should
not be compelled to traverse more than 16O
square rods of grazing for her support How
shall we bring our grass lands up to this stan
dard? l answer, by the two simple means OF
tile and manure l formerly thought the ma
nure was the foundation of good farming, but
my late experience is that draining is the first
thing. They certainly work we'll together, and
neither is fully efficient without the other, but
draining comes first in order of time More of
our land needs draining than is commonly sup
posed. Wherever water stands after shower,
orthe coarse herbage shows that the roots have
watery.be there the tiles are necessary, be-
fore remunerative crops can be obtained. An
energetic manufacturer, who has lately turned
his energies to farming, recently said to me,
lille works like magic on my land. Where
oor11 bo 0Ix,
[ now can plow Immediately after RAIN
Such is the experience of all who have tried
thorough drainage. Not only can the land be
worked Immediately after rain, but fort
night or month earlier in the spring, and the
lengthenlng OF the season in the autumn is
nearly as great as in the spring. Paradoxical
as it may seem, the drained lands suffer much
less in drouth than the undrained, the roots of
the grasses have more depth of earth, and the
moisture is more readily drawn up to the roots
OF the plants. There are millions of acres of
moving lands where the herbage is scanty and
of poor quality, not because the soil is poor,
but because the roots are water soaked. Drain
age alone will so change the character of these
lands that more nutritious grasses will spon-
taneousy spring up where the course aquatic
plants once grew. When the land is thor
oughly drained, there will also be less danger
from the late frosts in spring and the early
frosts of autumn. [ have noticed a part of
field Of buckwheat that had been drained, in
full bloom after September frost, while a.
mother part, undrained, was damaged. Grass
stands the cold and wet better than any other
crop, but if we wish green fields early in the
spring aud late in the fall, they must be
drained, and thus be rendered dry and warm.
BY draining our meadows we also double and
sometimes quadruple the depth of the SOIL =
The theory is that the land owner owns from
the surface to the centre of the earth, but
practically it often happens that he only owns
few inches of the surface, for water has pos
session of the balance. In much of our un-
drained land the roots of the grasses extend
down but short distance. Meeting the cold
water, they are chilled and repelled. The pro-
penslty OF landowners is to add land to land,
to extend the superficial area of the farm, to
covet," as Scout said, 'all that lies contiguous
to u.s." Will it not be just as laudable an am
bltlon to extend our possessions perpendicular
ly as laterally? sthere not as much satisfac-
tion in harvesting two tons of hay from one
acre as the same amount from two acres? 'e
When land is drained the air penetrates the
soil, decomposing dead vegela able and animal
matter, and recomposing it into new life. This
two-fold action of air is wonderful. No soon
er does an animal or vegetable die than the
oAySCu VI tHc du SeiLeS UPON IL 10 ToSOlV0 IL
into Its elements and reconstruct these ele-
ments into new forms of life and beauty. But
this process cannot go on when air is excluded
by water. Witness our muck swamps, which
are vast accumulations of vegetable matter,
kept from decay because covered with water
When drained the muck begins to decompose,
the swamp Settles and the nutritious grasses
make their appearance upon its surface. Not
only does the air penetrate the drained land,
but the rains, bringing with them the nutri-
tious grasses of the atmosphere, descend and
percolate through the soil, leaving these gasses
for the nourishment Of plants This is the
normal mode in which nature should act upon
our meadows They like to drink water as
man drinks it, but are just as much opposed
to being drowned as man is.