The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-01-25
Making and Keeping Land Rich.

10 mallllAiH th0 iSieiAisJ AfS
land is not difficult with good man.
agemen.. Good farmers keep the
soil improving and crops increasing,
and vet do not appear to take any
special pains to make land rich they
buy no special manures and adopt no
expensive or laborious course of i'm
provement, and yet a gradual but sat
isfactory Improvement is secured
Thousands of farms have been thus
improved farms that have been
more or less run down, and with lit
tie else but simply good management
have been made productive and pro-
Gtable. When thus restored they
only require good, thorough cultiva-
ton and good care, to continue to
grow good crops aud make profitable
returns; while the fact that they can
be restored must be taken as proof
that their fertility can be maintained.
Indeed, it certainly must be easier to
keep a new fertile farm in good con-
ditiOn than to take n that has been
good, but is III down, and restore it
to its original fertility. For, with a
new, rich soil, all desirable forage
and renovating crops can be grown;
hence there is no lack Of means for
making manures and securing all de-
sirable improvements. SO the fact
that a farm that has been run down
can be improved by good manage
msnt, must be taken as positive proof
that rich soil can be kept in good
condition the same way.
To try to restore an exhausted soil
by "buying CO silly commercial fcrtil-
%izors," is tho most expensive curse n
farmer can take. Many of the ele-
| mcnts of crops will cost nearly as
much when purchased az they will
bring when applied to the land and
finally secured in the form Of pro-
l ducts for market, while few will pay
q profit; hence the fertility that must
be purchased and added to an eX-
hausted soil, will be a doubtful econ
; omy at the best. TO my mind, there
! should be a distinction observed be-
tween this kind Of fertility and that
gradually built up by a good farmer,
; something like this: the latter large
. ly avails himself Of the services OF
! nature, which the former, ignoring
( or neglecting, pays a high price for.
| For instance, the one pays largely for
\ ammonia, or nitratos, while the other
, secures all necessary nitrogen from
| natural sources by growth of clover
30, too, tho phosphates are largely
purchased in the one case, while in
: the other they are secured by deeper
T and more thorough cultivation, and
) the beneficial effects OF y heavy
= growth of clover roots. At the same
: time, these services OF nature are Sc.
cured without cost, AS the deep and
. thorough cultivation pays well in
=, other respects, as by increasing the
crops grown at the time; while the
:. clover, as has been often shown, may
, be made to yield a good profit, and
: all these beneficial effects besides.
Another objection to using com.
!, mcrcial manurcs, is the difficulty Of
! adjusting their application to the
:, wants of the soil, which 80 constant
" vary. There are scarcely ever two
@ fields that need precisely the same
g amounts and proportions of the Gle.
d ments of crops that are furnished il
d such manures hence it is very diff
II cult to avoid great wastc-to avoid
d applying too much Of II or more o.
Il the elements of the crops, and moi
@ enough Of some others. The farmers
or advocates Of such manures must
d be very skillful and s~cieutitic TO ar.
o range the application OF such ma
4nures so hat they may be enough,
and yet little waste Of the elements
of the vari us crops grown. For it
. should be kept in mind that crops
are not able to prosper, Lit'"ss sup
piled with all the elements lh4' enter
@ Into their composition from cone
source, while these elements must "
supplied in the proportions needed ,
for plants, as q rule, cannot substle
t tute one thing for another; hence
there may be great waste and loss in
/ making an expensive application of
l any one special manure on one field,
and of q similar application of some.
, thing else on another; for each field
. may need several of the principal
| elements found in crops, some being
in sufficient supply, others in partial
l supply, while still others are mostly
| wanting; yet if one or more are lack
, ing, very little improvement in the
: crops may be realized. So it will be
| seer that r%enovating land by the APP
plication of commercial fertilizers is
quite likely to be an expensive and
uncertain operation.
But making and keeping land rich
! by a good rotation of crops, thorough
and deep cultivation, the frequent
growing aid good management of
: clover, and making and applying
plenty Of good ho"rvNrd maiiIc, il
attended ,,Iih itu -ucn cAp,nse or I'M
certainty. In all fair soils This course
finds, and brings into available con-
dition, all the elements in amount
and variety, needed to grow good
crops. Barnyard manures contain
nearly, often quite all, tho elements
needed by crops; but it is TO be
found, in practice, that il is much
more expensive to depend mainly or
wholly on such manure than to have
the advantage of a good rotation OF
crops, thorough and deep cultivation,
and the frequent growth of heavy
crops of clover. This course, on suit
able land, IS always self-sustaining;
no other is sure to be- Country Gen
Heman.
TENACIOUS CEMENT.--A cement of
great tenscity and possessing the quail
;i;ao ~ ho;n0 cOlnrlaaa and trapspa-