Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-01-11
FARMERS COLUMN.
Trees Indicative Of Kind Of Soil.

good to determine the qualities of the |,
soil as he the wild growth. The OBJ /
jections tochemical analysis as meth
cd of learning the nature and quail
tiles of the soil is that it is too special
and expensive. A portion of soil may
be taken from one part of field which
will differ materially from that taken
from another part. The blowing down
of timber by storms, the accumulation
of vegetable matter in low places, the |
situation and exposure of the land, all |!
exerta modifying inhuence upon the
character of the soil. Were two
chemists required to make analyses of
the soil of particular field, and one
should, by chance, get his specimens
from the subsoil exposed to the sur
face by blown down tree, and the |
other should get his from the spot
where the body Of the tree decayed,
they would make quite different re-
ports as to the constituent elements of
the soil. And yet both would be |
strictly accurate as regards the ele-
ments of the soil which theyanalyzed.
The difficulty arises from the imprac-
ticability of getting specimen of soil
that represents correctly the average
quality of an extended tract of land.
No chemist can tell by analysis only
whether field is productive or un-
productive, and the science of agricul-
ture has received a check because men
of science have asserted too positively
their ability to determine questions
into which more conditions enter than
were thought of, and which must be
met by other methods. As for exam
pie Nj. Ville's experimental fields.
There are, however, unerring indi-
cations by which an uneducated man
may judge Of the capacity of the soil.
Among these indications there are
none which can be relied on with more
certainty than the Wild growth. Ma
tuTe is always true to herself and never
commits any error. She displays her
symbols of abundance, or signs of dis
tress. We know, for instance. that
greenbriers and sweetgum mean in
productiveness, but greenbriers with
out the sweetgum are sometimes met
with on good soils. Bad soils rather
than poor soils are the teachings of
these two growths taken together. An
acid, blush subsoil, with standing wa
ter through the winter and in the sum-
mer parched to chalky whiteness, is
the habitat of water oaks, swamp ma
pie, greenbriers and sweetgum. Such
lands. if drained and lined, would
probably make meadows, or grow
cranberries. BY some it is supposed
to be good for peach trees, but the
cOmpactness of the subsoil would make
them short-lived.
The first class tobacco land may be
known by the growth of blackjack and
scrub hickory with an underground of
dogwood, hazle and blackgum. We
may state that dogwood and more es-
pecially pawpaw are always indicative
of good lands. 1t should be slightly
undulating with an admixture Of
blackish red pebbles, an argillaceOus
rock with fossil remains siliciGed, but
still retaining a trace of phOsphoric
acid. These pebbles, resting on lime
stone, form an admirable natural
drainage, aud make the land much
warmer, thereby Fastening the growth
of the tobacco and giving it a silky
texture aud fneness which are rarely
found IN tobacco grown on other lands.
This character of soil also produces
the finest cotton and renders the plant
comparatively free from blight
The land of most general utility aud
which always responds most kindly to
the husbandman in all staple crops
excepting perhaps peanuts) is known
by the growth of poplar. sugar tree.
beech and white oak, with an under
growth of dogwood and pawpaw-
This is the very best land also for blue
grass, and in the great blue grass re-
gions of Kentucky and Tennessee is
the characteristic growth.
Wild cherry, black walnut, yellow
poplar, ash and beech. with an under
growth Of dogwood, pawpaw and black
berry, are indications of the very best
alluvial soils, and for corn and hay
cannot be excelled. Upon such land
cotton and tobacco make too much
stalk. Tobacco is coarse, and cotton
natures too late. Wheat does well in
a dry year upon such soils, but is apt
to bed when there is much rain or
wind. In all wheat lands there should
be sand enough to render the soil mel
low, and hence some of the best wheat
lands found in our State have masses
of ebert underlying them.
Among the poorest soils in our State
(but not the worst, because they may
be improved are those known by the
blackjack and post oak growth
These lands are mostly level, inter-
sected by numerous wct-weather-
branches, and produce a coarse, bar
rem grass, resembling broom sedge,
upon which cattle feed during the
summer. This grass is poor in nutri-
tiOus matter, aud grows so thin that 1T
poorly protects the land from the rays
of the sun Much of this land is
found in Humphreys and Dickson
counties, but it is vastly to be prefer
red to the sandy subsoils of West
Tennessee.
The soils of the Cumberland Table
land are, perhaps, as a body, the poor
est in the State. Here we meet with
oaks and chestpVts and an under
growth of trailing nimosa. etc. In
some more favored parts small hick-
cries are also met with, and along some
of the streams, or on slopes richer
than usual, pOplars, NAPLES and wal
nuts are met with. .r.
The common blackberry brier (rubm
cIioSUS) is indicative of good land,
but strange to say, it will flourish
on the poorest soil, gathering fresh
strength each year. 1t is powerful
fertilizer The roots penetrate deep
" into the subsoil, letting in the air
and extricating therefrom fertilizing
elements, which are brought to the
surface and retained by the mulch
which the leaves form around the bush.
The red, CALLED hillsides, that are too
often found in our State, can be quick
ly and cheaply reclaimed, by setting
them out with blackberry bushes
They enrich, shade and protect the
land from Washing, and supply berry
that is growing in demand and com
mcrciai Importance every year We
know of no plant superior to it as a
fertilizer, except red clover; and, on
very thin soil, it is even superior to
cloycr.-Rsrdi San