The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-06-21
n'myhe Harm.
Improvement Of Worn.out Lands.
rd) Farmers Club.

time my + amer purcuaSeu u NeIy pun
farm and moved on it. My Father
being your County Surveyor, which oc-
cupation kept him much of his time
from home, / boy at the time, had
most of the arrangement of the farm
left to me. was fond of farming and
CHANGING to read the writings of apopu-
lar farmer of that day, followed his
theory which hold to be most valuable
to this time Gin part. 1.-THE theory is
styled the enclosing system, wherein
the write states that all lands may be
maderich under this treatment with the
use of clover and plaster. The system is
to let the grass die on the land, or to
plow it under as desired; by no means
to be eaten off by the cattle. We com
menced the theory in part, on the old
WORKOUT farm (for the cattle would
trespass at times and by the applica-
ton of homemade manures, we in few
years, thribbled the crops of corn wheat,
and oats. For, gentlemen, my father
was then like our Honorable President
who treasures his compost heaps and
their application. For all that | know,
he NAV have learned some lessons from
my father This was prior to the use
of lime or fertilizers in our county for
agricultural purposes.
The second writer that attracted my
attention appeared a few years after,
and denied the assertion of the first,
that OLD LAND COULD BE MADE RICH
UNDER THE ENCLOSING SYSTEM. The
denial consisted in the particular point
LANDS THAT ARE POOR IN A VIRGIN
STATE CAN NOT BE MADE RICH WITHOUT
LIME OR ITS EQUIVALENT. He admitted
that lands formerly rich and that have
been worked down, can be brought
back again to their original fertility
under this treatment.
Nv observation goes to prove the
theory of the second writer, that our
Door woodlands, when cleared cannot
be made rich without lime in some form
or other. With judicious application of
lime, on such lands and to your worn
out SOIL not forgetting to apply all the
manure at your command, thus combin-
ing the two systems, is our best and
cheapest mode of improving, which has
been my opinion for many years.
In regard to the application of lime
over poor land, it should be plowed and
worked shalowly the first year, deepen
ing the blowing as the land improves,
which will be the next time it comes
around for Observation-Disclosures also
if YOU want your land to receive the
full benefit of the lime. What manure
YOU make in the Winter, apply to the
corn land after it has been broken ;
what is made in the Summer apply to
the wheat land after it has been broken
in the Fall.-Some may say it is too
coarse. By piling, it will soon become
fit for use. Be careful that it does not
lie in the pile too long, or it will be in
jured, becoming worthless,
You may ask the question )" What
will become of the cattle?"
"There are some farms with marsh,
branch or hillside that cannot be cul-
tivated Improve these waste places
by clearing, ditching and lining, for a
standing pasture 1t does not require
much stock for the actual use of the
farm, three or four good mich cows,
one or two yoke of oxen, and horses
sufficient for farming purposes.
Some of the fast gentlemen may want
a fast horse or two. Let ME say to
them that it is not paying stock.
Ny second experiment on WORKOUT
lands commenced in lS4l. | moved
on to the farm where l now live. Prior
to buying this farm, as friend of mine,
(and a good farmer too) and l were ex-
amining the place, asked him if he
considered it worth purchasing. l said
to him l thought it might under proper
management be made to produce a
thousand bushels of wheat annually.
Instead of giving his head the approx
ing nod, he seemed inclined to give it
shake. | did not blame him, for there
was a poor prospect l assure you.
Believing in the enclosing system, Ihad
high expectations. l purchased the
farm, and these expectations were real
lied. To give you an idea of the pow
erty of the soil the first crop Of wheat
l sowed on the farm was ninety BUSH
els, producing one hundred and thirty
one, all told.-Other crops were not
much better. s.....
"Quite discouraging," you will say.
commenced on the enclosing system !;
fenced off standing pasture and adj
heared to it except with the horses and
the hogs which were pastured on the
clover, when in bloom With the use
Of lime, clover, and plaster, and the
enclosing system, l soon found it neces-
sary to throw away myt two horse plow,
and get three horse one, to turn under
the clover, the land being stiff | soon
disappointed my friend and many others
by raising my thousand bushels, from
that to two thousand bushels of wheat
Such was my average crops for some
years. Falling into an error by letting
my stock increased beyond the capacity
of my standing pasture, l have pastur-
ed my clover fields. Though l cut my
corn down and made use of the stalks,
straw &c, for manure, and by using
fertilizers my crops have decreased for
the last eight or ten years, far more
than the increase on stock. / think |
am not the only one who has fallen into
this error. I am now decreasing my
stock, with the determination to have
more grass on my land. The general
cry is more lime | think it should be
more of the enclosing system, especially
where land has been well lined. Some
will tell you that oyster shell lime will
not act on their land That lime being
the purest of all lime is an evidence
that it is not lime the land wants. Let
them try the enclosing system 1t is
by far cheapest where lime is not need
ed This system, am sure, will bring
back our much abused and heavily linn
ed land. Following the example Of our
worthy President in the application
and saving of manure, let us add the
system l have stated and we have the
best mode of enriching our WORKOUT
land.