The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-08-07
FARM AND FlREslDE.


AIisiis.
The Manhattan lndnslflnllst says,
aud We commend what II says tO ilit
careful attention NJ ullr farmers fOl
siUlldiiy, persistence and strict attou'
tlOn ~ buslnpsH commend ils Ia the
plant called alfalfa Neither drOnih,
clllncll bugs or grn.slOppers seem IA
disturb III serenity. We have one aud
half acres upon the college firm that
was seeded April Sth, 1879, 10 alfalfa.
To-day, June It'll, the ground II com.
pletely occupied with dense, oven
growth OF this valuable forage. From
this mass we have selected plants that
measured sixteen inches above ground.
The roots broke OF at ten Inches, aud
doubtless extended several inches he
low this point. II alfalfa keeps Its
good name during the coming season,
many acres will he seeded In this vi.
entity In 1876. who knows but what
the Introduction of alfalfa may mark
the turning point In our agriculture,
Just M the introduction Of clover and
turnips one hundred and fifty years
ago marked new era in the agricul-
ture of Great Britain?
Application Of Mnnurcs.
While in conversation with an in
telligeut granger the other day he re-
marked that he had not reaped the
benefit from the heavy application OF
manure that he expected. lie had
spread over his corn field an inch Of
manure, and was prepared for II large
increase of yield, but Notwithstanding
the season was favorable, he had har-
vested but tribe over fifty bushels of
shelled grain per acre. Further con-
versation ELECTED the information that
he had drawn out upon the field men
tened the contents of his barn-yard
(mostly straw and water) and had put
IL ut the rate of thirty large wagon
loads per acre. We have been applying
II little common sense arithmatic to
this manure question since that cou-
versation, and find, first, that farmers
are very generally mistaken in regard
to the real amount of manure they APP
ply per acre in what constitutes their
heavy manuring; and, again, they do
not appreciate the actual difference in
cash value of unrotted coarse manure
and that which has been thoroughly
pulverized. The thirty loads of coarse
material that our friend took from his
barnyard and applied TO his field for
corn would have made, perhaps, seven
loads of rotted manure, which, if
spread evenly upon an acre of ground,
would cover it less than one fifteenth
of an inch in depth. Certainly he
ought not to have anticipated very
great increase from so ungenerOus
feeding. Fifty loaus of ordinary COM
posted stable manure and muck, of say
two thousand i've hundred per load
will cover an acre of ground over nearly
q hali-inch in thickness. This is heavy
munuring, and will invariably produce
effects commensurate with its cost. A
heavy manurng with him would, if
accurately estimated, rarely reach an
eighth of an inch covering the ground.
We are very apt to be deceived by bulk
and weight. Water is not manure,
and straw amounts to very little; but
two many think these substances put
together make pretty fair fertilizIng
material. The smaller bulk and weight
i'm which we get our manures the
cheaper is. their application, and often
there is as much real substance in a
ton of concentrated manure as in
twenty or thirty tons or more of coarse
litter and water. Market gardeners
find that it pays large rate of interest
to apply manure at the rate of seventy
FIVE to one hundred tons per acre. 1t
certainly will pay the farmer, if he can
get it, to make half as heavy an appli-
cation for ordinary crops.
The Perforating Power of Roots.
1t is indeed wonderful how easily the
roots of plants and trees bore through
hard, impacted soils in search of nour-
ishment. They use for this purpose u
sort of awl, of immense power, situated
ut the end of the root, and capable,
with the aid of the other root machin-
cry, of thrusting aside heavy weights,
and getting through almost any OBJ
structions. Yet the awl consists only
of microscopic or. absorbent cells,
formed by protoplasm or vegetable
mucus-the fluid in which vital action
is first set up. The roots OF the elm
and the maple will bore through the
hardest soil of walks or streets, enter
drains, Irvine about water-pipes, and
penetrate through the seams of stone
anu DTlCk StTuCtuTeS. ue TOUlS Vi SOlilt
plants have Geen known to pass through
eighteen inches of solid brick work,
and make their appearance in the
wine cellar below. Plants have a vast
power in overcoming obstacles when
foraging for food. They are like a
hungry animal which no fences can
restrain when there is food beyond.
The movement of roots in soils pro-
coed on certain principles of utility in
connection with the welfare of the
plant. Some need much more moist
ure than others, and the roots will
drive through rocks to obtain it, others
need silicious food, and will penetrate
through clay bank to reach the de-
sired Forging ground. The urgency
with which nature drives plants and
in pursuit of food is almost
Journal of Chemistry.
Southern Manufactures.
Scarcely southern paper comes to
hand without some notice or argument
for the encouragement of the estab-
lishmeut of various manufactures in
that section. Georgia has made the
greatest advance in cotton manufac-
but other States are fast
IL . IL,