The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-05-29
Our Old F3rmas-What Shall
We do with Them.
From the Southern Cultivator.l

|
RENOvATING CROPS.
In the last three numbers we have
discussed the subject of grass culture
a topic of rapidly increasing interest
Agricultural writer's have been pressing
1t upon public attention for a long time
but whilst the old extensive system OF
cultivation prevailed, there was little
room for the grasses. With the de-
crease OF labor and adoption of the
intensive system, however, there is now
an abundance of land which may be
| devoted to them. The hesitation ne
cessarily incident to lack of experience
| in their culture, is the chief difficulty in
the way. This will soon disappear,
and we expect in few years to see our
beautiful Southland covered with ver-
dant meadows as well as blooming fields.
We return to grass culture again,
however, not to unseal the volume of
the future, nor sketch the pictures of
fancy, but to add that wherever circum-
stances favor, it is well to seed down
clover with grasses at first. The for
mer will pretty we'll take possession of
the land for the first year or two, but
viii! then yield to the grasses, and leave
to them rich legacy, in soil deeply
lOOsened by it's numerous decaying
roots, and filed with organic matter,
rich In those heterogeneous elements that
the grasses delight in. A very heavy
dressing of manure would not do more
for the grasses than the preceding
growth of clover.
CLOVER AND PEAS.
These we designate particularly as
feR0CGttRg crops. Farmers have always
recognised the Importance of such
crops. In former years when q field
was run down" as they term it, by
successive and continued crops of cot
small grain. Such practice had the
good effect of checking the washing
away of the soil and of giving it vege-
table matter or humus. But q true
renovating crop will do more; it will
add GUG1td6te nitrogen to the soil. As
every one has learned the great value
and .eOsttlnesS of nitrogen as fertili-
ger, 1T is unnecessary to dwell on the
utility of the crops in question. We
proceed rather to discuss the grounds
upon which choice of plants should
be made-and how to obtain the best
results from them.
In the abstract, clover is preferable to
the pea--it requires no cultivation-it is
more easily turned under with the
pi0ugh-Its roots penetrate the earth
more thoroughly and subsoil it more
efectually-its chief growth takes place
when rains are usually abundant,-and
IN the plan we have proposed, one SOW
ing OF clover will do as much perhaps
as three of peas, for it will occupy the
land after the small grain is removed,
both during the remainder.of that year
and through the next, and properly
managed will re-seed itself. But it has
the disadv vantage of being more choice
IN regard to soil-it will not thrive on a
very sandy soil, one upon which the
pea will grOw-nOr upon as poor a soil
as the pea. If about to begin the i'm
provement OF a very poor piece of land
actthOut manure, we should select the
pea to start with, or if the soil was
very sandy, should make the same
choice. On the other hand, the necessi-
ty OF planting and cultivating the pea
at a time of the year when the h0ed
crops require attention is great draw
back upon it's usefulness. The ground
is often so hard at the proper time for
planting, that furroW cannot be made
to receive the seed-the same difficulty
arises, if it is desired to turn under two
crops OF them in season. On light
sandy soils however these objections
have not the same force, and with all
that can be urged against the pea crop
it is still a most valuable one.
We suggested in q former article that
0ne-third of the cultivated land on the
farm should be in one or both of these
crops, eve,y year. To state it in another
form, that once in three years every
acre of cultivated land on the farm
should receive the benefits of a reno |
DGting crop. Once in three years re- |
ceive the benefits of small grain crops,
with their land preserving, humus fur |
nisEling peculiarities crops, too, which |
are to be consumed at home and there |
fore make restitution to the land of |
hose substances they have taken from
The soil, in form of barn-yard manure.
Once only in three years is an egbGu8- |
tiUe or market crop to rob the land--and |
with regard to this, the South has an |
advantage over most countries, for the |
cotton seed being retained on the farm,
;he lint carries off with it a minimum |
amount of soil ingredients. But for |
jhe humus destroying character of a /
cotton crop and the exposure of the |
'oil to washing, incident to it's culture, |
t would take longer to exhaust land |
han any crop we know of. The above |
Itated objections to it however almost |
wholly disappear in the plan proposed,
where, the large amount of vegetable |
natter furnished by the small grain
md renovating crops, binds the soil |
md arrests washes, at the same time
hat its gradual decomposition furnishes
n abundant supply of humus.
If clover is chosen as the genoU0tiug
,rop, it will follow small grain, the |
lover seed to be sown at the usual time
February or March) on the small grain.
t is best TO scarify the land with a har-
ow before sowing the seed-the rains
will cover them sufficiently. After the |
rain is cut, clover and weeds will oc-
upy the land, the weeds having the
idvantage, but the next spring the
lover viii take the lead-and In May
uTnish good cut of hay. When the
spring growth commences give it a
OPP dressing of buahel of plaster to
he acre-apply it when the clover is
amp. The account viii stand thus:
DIR.
% IL lbs. Clover Seed, $3.50
!" / Bushel Plaster, a--........ 1.5O
/" Sowing Seed and Plaster ........ so
90 Moving curing and hauiinQ in hay. son