The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-04-17
AgTicultUre
Messrs. Editors


in many parts Of Europe and the u.
/ S, land not too far gone to produce rye.
has been brought back to state of fer
tility by clover, and a proper rotation.
Some of the results have been astonisb>
ing. An improvement as great could be
even more readily attained in the South
with lands of this character because the
field pea could be substituted in place
of rye The rea strikes its roots deep
into the subsoil, brings up and deposits
| plant food upon the surface, and also
more effectually shades the ground from
/ the scorehing heats Of summer than rye
and deposits more vegetables matter to be
mixed in with the thin soil. But nv
wish IS to write. something to call atten>
ton to the almost universal neglect OF
clover as renovating, and as a hay crop.
All crops feed upon the atmosphere, but
clover and the pea largely devour and
store nitrogens. 100 pounds of stable
manure contains 40 per cent of nitrogen
This is what makes it so valuable as a
manure. Nitrogen and ammonia arc
almost correlati7e terms, as there
are a pounds of nitrogen in II
| pounds Of ammonia. Think of a farmers
manure heap being up in the air, and
clover and similar crops pulling it down
for every day use; and when it has an
swered their ends, they leave it in large
/ ~ Z
the next crop, just as the farmer spreads
ammonia over the ground in stable ma
nure. The reason why guano is so much
valued as amanure, is the large, percent
age of ammonia it contains. We send
ships $500 miles to bring us this precious
fertilizer, and pay from go to 100 dollars
! per ton for it; but as l stated in nv last
communication, we get more ammonia
from the atmosphere 10 the roots alone
of clover crop, than from the usual
quantity applied in this costly manure
Clover is not apt to make good catch
upon very poor land, and hence the pro-
priety of first sowing such ground in peas
or rye as preparatory crop, to be turn
| ed under Glover then sown is apt to
give good stand The manure from
animals fed upon clover is full of the
seeds, and this spread upon poor galded
spots will give you a certain catch with
out previous preparatory crop. Clover
upon our light lands should al,oays be
plastered, and on equal soils will give as
good yield as Middle Tennessee. 1t is
generally sownupon wheat in the spring;
or is a good mixture with timothy,
orchard grass or herds grass, and is often
sown alone.
Plaster, gypsum of commerce, is COM
posed of water 81 per cent, lime SO per
cent, and sulphuric acid 46 per cent
When calcined by fire to reduce 1t to
fine POWDER the water is driven of, and
it then consists of All per cent of lime,
and $50 per cent of suIphuric acid.
Science is at fault to explain exactly
how plaster produces such wonderful
results upon certain crops. There are
several theories, but suffice it to say.
that in practical accomplishment ALA
din's wonderful lamp never produced
more astonishing results. Under its
application clover, and other crops to
which it is suited, put on deep green
color, grow vigorously, and yield doubly
as much crop as an adjoining unmanured
! plot of ground And what is remarks
Bile, one bushel of plaster, per acre is
sufficient to produce the largest crops.
| Hence it is the cheapest of manure. 1t
can be had in Bolivar from our enters
prising fellow citizen Pitser Miller who
has brought it on, not for profit, but for
the benefit he may thereby confer upon
his neighbors. Itcosts ] 5 cents per h.,
or a sack of 200 lbs. for So In the
older States 1t is applied to clover, the
legumens, grasses, Irish potatoes and
ing the usual quantity applied. Gypsum
or plaster acts chiefly through its sui
phuric acid, which on the one hand OBJ
tains soluable ammonia from the humus
constituents of the soil, and furnishes
this to the plants at. the period when
they are especially inclined to the pros
duction of leaves and stems; and on the
other hand strengthens and increases
the power of plants to absorb ammonia
} from the atmosphere But why speak
of the theory Of the action of plaster
upon plantlife2 One trial of its merits
in @ practical experiment will settle the
matter Spread it as .thinly as if you
were sowing golddust, and when its eff
fects are witnessed, you will say there
is no further need to discuss its merits.
We all know how that great man, doctor
Franklin, when he wished to convince
his countrymen Of the efficacy of plaster
{ sprinkled it in large letters upon a clover
; field in the following phrase; "This
: has been plastered" The result was
sufficient 1t is getting late to SOW clo-
, yer now; but l expect to SOW more yet,
d as am not afraid Of the effects of hot
: sun upon clover when plaster is applied
Clover sown now, and plastored, will be
green and vigorous, when that sowr
? earlier and OF plastered will look red
: and rusty, and will give but little growth
Why do l counsel my farming friends
: to begin, in addition to all the manure
t they are now putting upon their lands
3 still more largely to manure by turning
! under green crops? For many reasons
IL the first place, it looks to chang
d in our present ruinous mode Of tillage
? Once commerce the culture Of crop