The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-01-08

but the nitrogen which all plants re-
quire, and without which they cannot
thrive, must be sought for in the waste
of animal organizations. Hence it is
the most expensive material which en-
tiers into the composition of our ma
nures. To obtain it, the farmer has to
resort to the troublesome and expensive
process of soiling cattle, and the col
lection and composing OF their manure,
and ship loads Of guano, fish scraps, and
dried flesh are yearly imported to sup
ply the demand. Therefore, the great
desideratum for the agricuIturist, is
to discover some cheap mode of obtain
ing this important agent, and an Geo.
nomical method of distributing it when
found.
The worn out wheat fields of Virginia
are rapidly renovated by the systematic
cultivation of the grasses, and particu-
larly clover, which, turned under with
lime and phosphates added, has worked
like charm upon old fields long aban-
doned as worthless. But clover will
not grow readily under the burning
suns and in the light sandy soils of the
cotton states, and substitute has been
| diligently sought for.
The soil of the four and a half acres
upon which the experiment alluded to
was tried, is light and sandy loan.
The higher portions of the field are
dry, but part slopes gradually to a
salt lead, and being low and wet, has
been underdrained with wooden box, s,
on the ordinary and well known plan.
For three years past crop of corn has
| been taken from the field, and no ma
nure applied, except dressings of At
lantic company phosphate. Not one OF
| these three crops has been in any way
remarkable. It had been observed that,
| growing in this field, during the winter
month, was a heavy crop of the native
vetch, of which there are two species,
one bearing a large pod and pea, the
other, smaller, and seeding in a very
different way.
In other respects the plants are quite
similar in their appearance and habits,
which are peculiar. The seed germin-
ates and springs into life in October,
| at a season when the weeds and grasses
of summer begin to decay. The vines
push rapidly to maturity during the
winter months, seeding in March. AS
soon as ripe the seed is shed, thus spon-
| taneously replanting the ground upon
which it grew, before the blowing and
| preparation for the planters crops are
| commenced. Animals of all sorts are
remarkably fond of vetch plants as for,
age, either in the green state or dried,
and feed greedily upon them, thus
proving their nutritive qualities.
The applicability therefore of the
plant for land improvement can, from
what has been said, be seen at a glance.
Being a winter growth it can in no way
interfere with the planting operations.
It seeds itself, and is practically indie
structible, unless plowed and destroyed
before it seeds. 1t propagates itself
only by seed, and apparently is one OF
that class of plants which draws its
sustenance largely from the air. 1t
may be looked upon as the nearest ap-
proach to clover that we can find, and
in this experiment has proved itself a
valuable agent in furnishing to a corn
crop sufficient nitrogen to produce an
average of forty-fve bushels of corn to
the acre.
About the first of May Q874 this
growth of vetch vines was simply
listed with the hoe into the corn alleys
of the previous year, but before listing,
one hundred pounds per acre of agri-
cultural lime was busted over the vii es,
and after listing four hundred and fifty
pounds of Atlantic fertilizer was scat
tered on the list, and the land bedded
with the pillow; excepting a strip OF
eleven rows, upon which no phosphate
or nitrOgenized manure of any kind
was put, but only lime at the rate of
0700) seventeen hundred pounds to the
acre. The corn was planted alb )ut May
18th, twenty inches apart on the bed
and kept clean with cultivation, and
bedded with the pillow when sheeting.
In comparing the eleven rows planted
without fertilizers, but with lime alone,
with the balance of the field, which had
received a liberal dressing of Atlantic
company fertilizer, no perceptible diff
ference could be detected, proving
that the vegetable matter furnished by
the decomposition of the vetch vines
contained a sufficient supply of nitro
gen for the sustenance of the corn crop
growing on the land, and the grain pro-
duced equaled in every particular,
both as to quantity and quality, that
which was taken from the other part OF
the field, which had received liberal
dressings of highly concentrated am
manure.
The lesson, therefore, which this ex
pertinent appears to me to teach is, that
the true art of land improvement con-
sists in planting green crops for the
supply of the nitrogen, and using COM
mercial lime and phosphates for fur
nishing the ash elements. A systematic
application of this principles will at
small cost reclaim many of the waste
places, and bring back prosperity to the
farmers of our state.
He who can reap forty-fve bushels of
,orn to the acre will want for little else.
Jorn and meat in abundance will secure
abor at all times, and the field which
las been made rich enough to make the
orn will certainly the next year pro-
luce paying crop of cotton. Similar
experiments to the above, with other
inds of green crops, have recently
cen attracting much att ntion among
linking agriculturiets, and a similar j
uc0ess has IN most cases crowned their
forts, -RuraL CarOkiniGR. ii