Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-02-16

| plant in these CALLED spots Will grow
slowly; it will be pale, sickly, yellowish
green, and will yield but little, not pay
ing the expense of culture.
After this plain illustration, shall stop
here, and pause, and wait for every read
ing farmer to fix in bis mind what he
will do to reclaim these CALLED spots.
This is question of the greatest impor-
lance to all farmers
After season of close think g, win
the intelligent farmer haul and spread on
these spots, lime, straw and stable
manurei This is precisely what many
good farmers have DONE For half an
age we all have spread straw and stable
manure on our poor spots. Some have
applied lime and land plaster, and some
have relied on horiz ontal blowing.
Now, since we have done all this, |
put this question: have we stopped the
washing and restored these quilted spots
to permanent fertility Do not our manure
and lime all wash away in a year or two,
leaving the quilted spots as poor as ever 2
l think that all observing farmers will
say it is as here stated. Then all our
labor and expense have failed to reclaim
the poor spots, and make them perms-
Dently rich. And why have we failed 2
1t is simply because ne have not
drained these poor spots.
All fields ought to be drained; they
ought to be SUBSIDIZED to the depth of fif-
teen or more inches; and all poor spots
ought to be plooOed much deeper.
When blowing a field with subsoil
pillow, just after passing through poor
spot, the subsoil pillow ought always to
turn back and run twice more in the
same furrow, as far as the stiff clay ex-
tends. Thus we can subsoIl two feet in
the poor spots, and then they
will drain thoroughly and cease TO wash.
The rain water will sink as it falls, and
pass off under ground, carrying the air,
lime and manure down to enrich the loose
clay. And if the deep subsoil burrows
shall extend far up the hill above any
poor spot, they will bring down lime and
potash and other constituents from the
crumbliDg rocks above, and mix them
with the loose clay. Thus it may be seen,
that subsoiling permits nature to go to
work in her own way to enrich the poor
spots; and nature will enrich them in a
few years even if we spread no lime and
manure on them. But, of course, after
subsoiliRg we could bring them to high
state of cultivation sooner by lining and
manuring. In fact, so to IS bushels of
lime without manure, spread on an acre,
would make it quite rich in twelve
months and it would remain fertile for
30 Nd oh
than any fertilizer, because it mixes with
the clay and makes it loose and porous
for many years, and acts as fux to melt
down and manufacture other earthly con-
stituents into the food of crops. But it
is great waste to apply lime where the
land has not been drained. 1t will soon
wash away.
In extending our observations upon
CALLED spots we find many field which
has been plowed for years across the hill
side; all vents for wafer have been plugged
up; the subsoil has become air tight, and
water tight, and will not let rain water go
down through it. The whole field is in
this condition, that is the whole field is
CALLED spot, and will become annually
poorer. The owner, regarding it worn
out, so thathe cannot make living on il,
may sell it and go to Texas to get fresh
land. The purchaser will subsoil and
lime it, and thus make the field rich again.
Some years afterwards, the original owner
comes back to visit his old home, and
finds the worn out field, has become rich
er and better than his new land in Texas.
This is what has been witnessed here, and
will be witnessed hereafter. Every farm,
which is plowed shallow across the hill
sides, and never subsoil3d up and down
hill, may be regarded as preparing to he
sold, at the lOwprice of worn out fields.
suppose that our agriculture has ad-
vsnCed to that state, in which all good
farmers see the necessity of a rotation of
crops, snC that most farmers will not till
any field more than once in four or five
years The fields being in wheat or clio.
yer or timothy, when not in corn. This
system will permit each field to be sub
soiled whenever breaking up to plant in
corn, say once in four or five years, this
is often enough TO subsuil a field to make
it rich. The deep subsoil burrows will
keep vents open at the bottom, and drain
the land well for that length of time. In
the meantime, red clover is most valua-
BILE subsoiler. It's roots go down three or
four feet, and when they decay; they
leave holes open to let down water and
air, and thus enrich and drain the land.
F. H. GORDON.