Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-11-13
FARM AND GARDEN.
REcLAEmING wORN LAND.

II ObA~s2 OOONIEs 1ENN.s NOFs us 1914
Dr. Lee, Agricultural Editor Union AND
AMERICAN: write for the purpose of OBJ
tanning your views and advice upon mat
ter herein mentioned, namely: Lhave sown
q twenty-fve-acre field in wheat, where the
land has been run down, in fact almost
WON out by constant blowing in corn, for
a number Of years. My sole object now is
to reclaim this land, intending to SOW in
clover in the spring, and clover it for two
or three years more. Now, the question is,
what kind of fertilizer would you advise
me to usee at what time, and how to apply
it . Also, how much per acre, and the cost
of the same in Nashville I will remark
that the field lies well, was formerly rich,
productive land, and, 1 am satisfied, can be
fully and thoroughly reclaimed by proper
course of cultivation. The higher points,
of course, are more worn than the low or
level places and, suppose, will require
more fertilizing. Your early and full reply,
not only as to this case, butwIth regard to
the use Of fertilizers generally, will very
much oblige, not only the Writer, bat
great many of your readers.
AMATEUR FARMER.
There are in the planting States more
than one hundred million acres of
naturally fertile soil in good agricnl-
.tural climate that have been impover-
ished by being run In corn, cotton,
tobacco, and few other crops; and the
best ways and means of making full
and perfect restitution to all this de-
pleted land have been the wTiters's
earnest study during the last thirty
years. The mineral elements removed
IN corn, wheat, tobacco and cotton, and
by washing and teaching rains falling
on titled ground, are the things to be
returned to the depleted surface soil.
But one may buy both gold and ferti-
izers at too dear a rate.
In Western New York, farmers pur-
chase ground land plaster anywhere
from Syracuse to Buffalo at 81 a ton or
less, while in Nashville the same arti-
Gle sells at $3.50 ton, or more than
four times as much in the South as in
the North. Thirty years ago We bought
plaster in New York at 81 a ton, and
1t was easily sown by horse power.
The free use of clover and the grasses
with plaster, stable manure, wheat
straw and other enriching substances
has kept up fertility, and often in
creased it on many farms. Sow plaster
In the spring, soon after seeding with
clover, at the rate of one hundred
pounds to the acre, and your wheat and
clover will receive whatever benefit it
can do them. If you can buy hard
wood ashes that have not been wet for
twenty-five cents heaping bushel, it
will pay to use them on your wheat
field, five bushels to the acre.
With regard to sulpher-phosphates,
we intend to try them on our land near
this city; but fear that with crops at
moderate price, and bugs, worms and
drouth very troublesome, bone material,
guano and German salts will cost too
much to be profitable. Experiments
with their use ought 10 be mad by
reliable men, but the State, 5r some
organic body ike Oranges, should meet
the expense. We consider vegetable
and animal vitality as the most efficient
and cheapest known fertilizers; but a
soil may be too poor for life to be avail
able to the farmer. For twenty-five
centuries lime and mari have been used
to develop plant food in titled ground
long cultivated and impoverished.
In recent article headed Lime as a
fertilizer" we wrote twenty five centu-
ries as the time it had been used, which,
by some means, was printed 2l5 centu-
ries, which is the trife OF twenty thOus-
and years too much. Land plaster has
stood the test of experience In twenty
nations or more for about 100 years.
Probably over a half million tons are
annually sown In the United States.
In the time of the apostles kindof salt
was known, which was mot fit for the
dung heap" The first gypsum used
in France came from boiling nat
ural brine to obtain common salt. The
ocean abounds in agricultural salts of
great value, but the agricural mind is
not developed to comprehend the fact.