The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-06-07
THE FARM-YARD CLUB OF LOTHIAN
By DR.. George B. Loring i.

ELEVENTH MEETING-sUBJEoT DRAIN AGE.
The manner in which fertilizer and fer
tilization has been discussed at the last two
meetings of the club, had brought the men,
bers to the conclusion that skill in the COM
bination and application of the materials
which abound on every hand are more i'm.
portant in the business of supplying an i'm
poverished soil with food, and of presery.
ing good one, than an extravagant, in
discriminate and costly use of many of the
artificial fertilizers which require more
money than wit in those who use them.
1t appeared to be universally conceded
that, it'll fair supply of barn-yard man.
ure as a basis, most valuable composts
might be made of this material, COM
bined with muck or loan, and strengthen
ed and extended with snch condensed fer
tilizers as guano, fish, and bones in their
original condition, secured before their cost
isneu W chemical combinations. The
mixing OF soils, too, for the purpose OF
,no,.using the latent qualities and erecting
And ones was very favorably received
AN u,,,,,,.o.Was determined, therefore, that
all practical Ipi22 En had gone far enough enough for
plantations belongseGs ana that iur.ner ex-
plorer, who might pursuet so1 na.;ro r
with the hope of arriving at b al voInai,le
fact, and some new and useful Ia, IT,
vital force of the soil, moreover, was . nS
forgotten-that force which sometimes
fails when the chemical constituents re-
main, and the absence of which presents a
problem to the explorer which the tests
and analyses of his laboratory cannot solve.
The day after the adjournment, MIR.
Howe @nd Inhn Thomas met as usual, to
prepare for the next mc,une. rLou rea-
| lized fully the opinions entertained by the
club on the subject last under discussion,
and they determined to lei well enough
alone, and take one more step in the long
road of investigation upon which they had
entered.
81 suggested the question of fertilizers, y
said Mr.. Howe, as proper subject to fol-
| low that of cattle, because the two are so
intimately connected, and, TO certain ex-
! tent, the object of one Is to supply the
other. But think we really ought to have
considered the preparation of the soil for
the reception of manures before consider
| ing the manures themselves. No doubt a
great deal of labor and money is wasted on
land which is unfit to bear crop. The
land may be too dry and 1t may too wet.
When it is too dry 1t had better be aban'
doned, except for crops requiring a hot
quick soil. When it is too wet, it should be
thoroughly and properly drained; for
consider stagnant water in the soil or sub
soil as poisonous to vegetable life as II IS 10
| animal life; and should as soon think oil
! finding healthy community occupying a
saturated miasmatic district asof finding
a vigorous vegetable growth in soils rest
ing upon cold, stagnant pools. do not
agree with some theorists that all soil
should be drained; nor do l agree with
others that soils which require drainage are
the most valuable soils we have, when the
water IS once out of them. But many
fields are so located that il is especially i'm
portant to make productive portion OF thu
farm; 1t is often very necessary that tht
farmer should reclaim lands lying near hi
homestead in order to avoid the expensive
necessity of cultivating lands far remOv
ed from home | think we had better an
nounce drainage as our next topic OF dis
cussion."
~ agree with you," replied Thomas
''but there are 30 many wild and extraya
giant notions with regard to retaining low
meadows and tapping the springs on thu
hill .sides, and understanding light loans
that am half afraid Of wild and bite
wrangle over the subject and HEAVIER
deliver me from another fodder-corn fight.
"But let il be drainage, said Mr. Howe
"and let us call ON Mr. Hopkins to give Il
an account of the work he has already don
in this direction. He has relaid old ston
drains, and cleared out bitches, and plant
ed tiles enough in his clay-felds since b
came into this town to ruin an ordinar
farmer Perhaps he can tell us his expert
ence."
And so they selected, as the next top il
.. .as DRAINAGE,
and MIR. Hopkins agreed to tell what h
knew about it.
The club assembled as usual, was Gale
10 order, the record of the meeting wa
read, and the assembly settled down to lis
ten to the abatement Of Mr.. Hopkins, VIII
spoke substantially as follows;
Gentlemen Of the Club: When bega
the work Of restoring this farm to which
am so strongly attached realized as u
first step the need of bringing the land IN
mediately about my building INTO 600
condition for cultivation. 1 remembers
: how In my youth my father was compete
to select with great care the localities &c
his various crops, and how he was oblige
to avoid for one crop the sandy Knoll
the rear of the house, and for another GRO
the wet and springy meadow in front. :,
had seen grass crops killed in one place 3
drought, and drowned in another when th
season happened to be wet And feeiln