The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-08
AGRICUITURAI,


masters, but we never base cur reason-
ing on a fiction so palpable as perfection.
Perhaps, in Paradise, Eve found her,
coffee always ready on the breakfast
table, without human agency, and Adam
had his dinner OF six courses provided
by wish, but we all recognize q present
necessity of constant industry and care
for the preservation of our species and
the promotion of our comfort, and re-
gard life as a succession of struggles
against adverse natural causes in which
he is most fortunate who is able to en-
list ON his side other natural causes to
aid him in overcoming his enemies. .
In the cultivation of the ground all
our wise teachers insist on thorough
work as Indispensable to the highest
success. Were there not weed in ex-
istence they wonld tell you that con-
slant stirring Of the soil during the
period of growth is of incalculable ad-
vantage. They affirm, too, that the
turning under of green crop is one of
the most important means of increasing
the fertility of the soil, and they recon-
mend the growth of various plants with
that object. They admit, too, that in
soil cultivated as it should be, weeds can
not make injurious headway, but will
play an utterly insignificant role in the
performance. They also admit that a
continued growth of vegetation on any
soil, decaying each year, and each year
renewed, continually increases its power
of production, until in time an originally
sterile soil reaches the high excellence
of Western prairie.
Now, in a system of thorough culti-
vation, where the soil is frequently
stirred during the season of growth, no
weeds can attain iniurous size, and the
farmer in thus inexorably Prosecuting
their destruction, does precisely what he
! ought to do for the benefit of his crop,
if not q weed were in. existence. In
fact, the more weedy his land, the
greater must be his incentive to active
cultivation, and the productiveness of
his crop. LII this view the weeds are
actually and potently his friends, stimu-
lating him to efforts resulting in profits
which he might not put forth but for
the threat thus silently made by the
friendly forces of Nature. Suppose, on
the other hand, he does not cultivate his
field at all, he has too much land, or is
disappointed in his help, or from some
other cause is compelled to allow por-
ton of his ground to lie idle. Which
would the thinking farmer prefer in a
case like this, that his land should pre-
sent naked surface, destitute of vege-
tation, or become clothed, without effort
of his own, with "a rich crop of verdure,
drawing for its support largely from the
air, and eventually returning to the soil
all it has taken from it, together with
this additional matter as huge interest
for the7suse of the elements otherwise
lying idle in the ground /? Or, if he is
simply belated in his work, would he
not prefer a rich crop of weeds and
grass to turn under in midsummer
thus giving him the equivalent of coat
of manure absolutely without expense
. to a naked surface, baked by the sun
and sodden by the rain, and in point OF
! fertility neither better nor worse than il
was three months before ! -
Again, many weeds are highly nutri
tious. Very little of our hay is free
from their admixture, and l know from
t experience that some of this denounced
3 class of plants possess a high nutritiv,
value, and are greatly relished by al
$ kinds of CATTLE Observe your horses
3 and oxen when turned into fresh pas
: ture where the admixture of well-growr
grass and weeds is plainly visible, ant
you will see an indiscriminate consump
/. ton of the mass, without reference tx
$ names Or, if you will pull handful
r of grass and weeds combined, you will
g find your pet COW just as eager for it a
- though it was the most aristocratic o
$ clover.
The fact is, that we indulge habit o
t grumbling at Nature until it become
e chronic, and blinds us to the truth. II
. our reluctance to admit our own delin
0 quencies, we shove the whole load o
: responsibility upon the inexhaustibl.
: generous friend whom we SANDER, ant
!, the evil spirit whom we imagine to b
S her servant. We greedily grasp at re
suits incommensurate with our efforts
e and refuse the kindly helping hand
r which the Earth herself and the natura
= agencies freely extend. -
= look on the spontaneous growths Q
: the ground as my friends. Like tn
II elements, like the fire, like water, the
e become my enemies only when fail t
a treat them according to natural law
e If / properly prepare my ground an
d faithfully attend my growing crop, n
d weed molests me if let my land Ii
d fallow, growth of green vegetatio
IS adds to its fertility without an effol
y from me, or gives me burden of forag
'f of more or less value, to sustain IN
rs stock and increase my stores Of manur
st let us stop grumbling at Nature, who'
Interchangeable processes we can not var
and reform our own practices until the
are in harmony therewith.-Itearth an
N Home. ,-- .....t.. ...... .r
,f "s.r. .." b. .