The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-06-16
Che MarIetta gonrual.
Marietta, Georgia, June 10, 1871.
From the american Stock Journal"
THE HAY CROP.
BY A. NJ.
BY A. NJ.

!
out of doors and shift for themselves
= all winter, this crop is not apprecia.
ted. Ny object however, is to say
something to the people residing
where it is appreciated
The cost of cutting grass and ma
king it into hay, thirty years ago.
was much greater in proportion to
the amount of hay made, than at the
present time. The great improve
ment in harvesting machinery at the
present time makes the hay crop
very profitable. The farmer cuts
his grass by horse power and puts it
into his barn by horse power.
Grass, either green or in dried
state, is the great stock food of the
country, and those who wish to grow
more stock must first contrive to grow
more grass. To do this they must
make their land better-must till it
better. Where they now grow one
ton to the acre, they must fertilize so
as to grow three tons of cured hay to
the acre. Now, when we bring up
our land to produce three tons of
hay to the acre we can double the
quantity of our Stock and more than
double our profits, for it will cost no
more to till an acre then than now.
The question comes up here--how
are we to enrich our land to produce
such great results We cannot dis.
pute that our land is capable of being
thus improved. 1t has been done
and can be done. | think there is
no better way of measuring the ca
pacity of land than by its productive
ness of hay to the acre. Well, how
is this to be done In the first
place, put in under-drains of tile 2
feet deep and ? rods apart, leading
towards the lowest point. This will
lead off the surplus water which
keeps the ground cold so late in the
spring of the year, then plow deep
so as to have an outlet for the roots
Of grass and other crops. This is
doubling your capital by putting one
acre on the top OF another, while
there is but the one acre to cultivate
Now feed this deep soil with all the
fertilizers that can be scraped up
Sow clover seed and pillow the crop
under about the time seeds are be-
ginning to form. In this way the
land will soon be able to grow three
tons of hay to the acre, and corn
and wheat in proportion.
In Europe, there is a great saving
Of hay by the use ofroot crops. This
has been tried to some extent in this
country, but as general rule has
not been successful. One cause of
this failure is, that our soil is not
worked deep enough, and another
probably is, that our climate is too
dry for parsnips and other roots that
are chiefly composed of water.
In the eastern and some Of the
middle states the great question with
the farmer is how to increase the
capacity of his soil. He cannot com
pete with western and southwestern
farmers in growing wheat which was
formerly the crop that he depended
on to put money in his purse. He
must now turn his attention to milk,
butter, cheese, vegetables, fruits and
other gardening productions to feed
the population of our great eastern
cities, and to do this he must improve
the capacity of his land as above
suggested. Make it produce three
tons of hay to the acre, this will give
him more milk, butter and cheese,
more money with less labor. Let
me urge again in conclusion, that
he begin at the foundation by under
draining with tile. This he will have
to do but once, for if well done, it
will last for generations.