The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1873-01-17

seeding down; / raised n good crop on
that-about sixty bushels to the acre.
II was II tolerable wet season, and
there were several hard rains, which
washed off some of the soil and con-
siderable Of the anurc The next
two seasons I sowed it in wheat and
didn't raise very good crops. Last
year | sowcd both pieces in oats: the
field that | had in clover produced
nearly fifty bushels to the acre. and
the other did not produce twenty.
Glover has the peculiar faculty of ex-
tracing plant food from most any
soil that is not too wet, and storingit
away in its fleshy roots and stems,
for the future use Of other vegetation
Just rs needed; while corr is a vora-
ciOus feeder. extending its long slim
rOOtlcts in all directions through the
soil. extracting the richest plant food
fiOm every portion, and when 1t
ripcns and the stock dies there is no
substance left in the root, the soil is
rs compact as if there had been no
roots penetrating its every part, and
sucking the very life out Of it.
II is much easier to keep land in
good condition than it is to bring it
back to a productive state. after it is
once exhausted. in fact, it is my
opinion that the imagination can
hardly picture a person in a more
hopeless and deplOrable condition, or
one with a future more dark, than
that of a man-if lie has one spark OF
ambition. -wllO is owner of n poor,
run down farm, without other cap
ital, aud with a large family of chill
dren to feed, clothe and educate;
while. OH the other hand, the man who
is owner Of a farm that is kept to n
high state OF productiveness. is in
iiOre Independent circumstances than
q man can possibly be III most any
other business; he is almost proof
against hard times. lie can raise al
most everything really necessary for
the support of himself and family,
anil if he has a surplus Of anything,
those in almost II other business arc
compelled to buy It.
II has been established beyond all
controversy, by experience in NIL old
settled countries. that continual crop
ping from year to year, without re-
turning anything to the land again.
will, sooner or later, make the best OF
soil q barren waste. And it is time
that we-cvenh here in the rich county
of Andrcw-shOuld take warning; for
we have C examples right
here in our midst Of farms that were
the riches, in the county, that in the
short space of thirty years have u
down so that they will not produce
more than one-half what they origin
ally did. They have been planted in
rorn almost continually; the mead
nws, il any, have been permanent: the
hay has mostly been sold. bearing too
high IL price to feed p%rOfitably or the
farm; the straw burned, or left to rot
in some out OF the way place; the corn
fed out to stock that had no straw or
other litter for bedding or absorbcnts
for the manure. and consequently the
anu would be left i'm such u con-
ccutrated form that II the farmer was
so inclined. he would have great Diff
Guilty in saving it before il would he
wasted. either by evaporation or
washing rains.
was bori. and raiaed. until I was
about nine Years # age. in a great
corn rouDiry-in the southeast part
of Indiana. In the adjoining county
there was n considerable section Of
country that was tOlcrablc broken;
the soil was tolerable good. but being
rather thin. they soon hoggcd il to
death; and rs long ago ms the year
1870 it was said TO be- too poor to
sprout peas. II got so poor that the
Ill ....lzt. t N,,k asa aud
sold for what they could get aud
moved west. The land fell into tho |
hands Of n few men, part Of it turned
out 10 commons. and part Of il was
sown TO bluegrass and pastured with
sheep; after awhile they began TO SOW
some clover and timothy to feed their |
sheep on in winter, and before many |
years they broke up soiEc Of the most
level parts. and cultivated other
crops; il had improved by this system
until the land began to pay something
10 cultivate; there was a railroad
built through the place. and the pro-
prietors sold the land out again in
small farms. | wen through there
the w~ar-abOut twenty-five
wears after l LELAND the country
was s changed that I hardly knew it.
In the place of n barren waste. l saw
fields in every direction. On
every farm there was a small,
comfortable dwelling, aud a large,
commOdious bank barn. / was SO
with the change tina. had come
over the scene that tcouldn't help but
the cause Of il; and | was told
that after the soil was worn out and
abandoned, nature had plainly point.
ed out the course they should pursue
to again restore it. aud they had only
followed her instructions.
Ii we would all give more heed to
The demands Of nature, and follow her
a little closer, we would
doubt make better farmers. No
other calling really requires such ex-
tcnsivc and varied knowledge Of tho
and secrets Of nature
| hear some complaint among farm
FRS, especially on the prairie, that they
ran not get u good stand OF clover on
account of its freezing out the frat
VIII ter after sowing. / think this is
by pasturing too close. A few
years ago l had u piece Of clover. and
the grnsshoppers ate it off, so that the
ground was quite bare. After the
frost killed the grasshoppers, it start
ri and grew some, SD that I could see
II was alive. That winter was
quite changcable. ami the next spring
The clover roots were sticking sonic
four inches up above the ground all
Dver the field; on examining | found
he Tap roo was broken off about six
beneath the ground, aud the
repeated freezing and thawing had
hcaved them up, and they were all
dead. This is the only difficulty l
ever had with freezing out.