Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-02-18
Preserve the Fertility of tho Soil.

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A man who deposits all his capital
in savings bank, and then adopts
the policy of drawing the interest and
a portion of the principal annually in
order to meet current expenses,
would certainly be considered on the
road to hopeless bankruptcy. But
this Is an exact counterpart Of the
policy pursued by nine-tenths of the
farmers who commence operations
upon our most fertile virgin SOILS
The effect is seen in all our older
States, and in many of the new, and
the cry comes from thousands of
owners of worn out farms: "What
shall we do to restore the fertility of
our land?" When we, or our faith
ers, settled here the soil gave abund-
ant returns for the labor bestowed in
cultivating the various kinds of crops
but all this is changed, and while
there is still ''seed time" the har-
vest comes not.
There is not day III the year in
which we could not find men who
will recount their troubles in strains
similar to the above, and it is evident
that they have been drawing upon
the principal as well as interest of
their bank stock. 1t is true that men
are constantly taking up those old
charters OF once sound banks, and,
by putting in new capital in the form
of good fertilizers, are enabled to
place them again upona paying basis
and OCCASIONAL y to make a few de-
clare large dividends upon the i'll
veStment.
No system Of husbandry can ever
succeed which does not recognize
the fertility of the soil us its basis or
capital, and the crops taken from the
land is the interest thereon. Now i'll
proportion as the farmer permits his
land to deteriorate he diminishes his
capital and lessons his annual divi-
dends. But this gradual lessening
OF ones income might be borne with
better grace if the labor necessary
for its production decreases in the
same ratio; this, however, is not the
case, for it costs Just as much to pillow
and prepare an acre of land which
will yield only ten bushels Of corn
as one that gives fifty or a hundred;
the same principle prevades the entire
routine of agricultural operations;
hence it is very easy to see how a
farmer may labor necessarily and OBJ
tain only small returns.
Whenever farmer finds his crops
growing gradually less per acre he
may at once conclude that his CAPT
tai stock is being impaired, and
measure should be Immediately taken
to restore its original strength. How
to do this is a question depending
upon local circumstances and sur
roundings. Sometimes the swamps
may be drawn upon for their rich de-
posts Of peat, which can be profita-
bly, used in q direct application to
the land or composed with harnyard
manure or with lime, ashes and
waste from some mandatory. Gyp-
sum beds and mari deposits are
made available in such cases, but
generally the best source for OBJ
tanning fertilizers is in the farmers
own stockyards or in turning under
green crops. Rising root crops to
feed to stock and keeping sheep is
the system most generally pursued
IN old and long-settled countries, not
only 10 restore fertility to wornout
soils but 10 improsa that which has
remained fertile. Our Western far
mers. as well as those of the elder
States, should heed this warning,
for ineAhaustible soils have never
yet been found, although their dis
coyery is frequently announced.
1t is much easier to keep land rich
than to make it so after it has once
become poor, besides the well-known
fact that the older country grows
and the more thickly-settlcd it be-
comes the more valuable are the pro
ducts Of the soil, and this should be
in itself sufficient incentive for
keeping up its fertility to the high
est possible standard. Probably
about one in every ten of our East
ern farmers has fully understood the
value Of unimpaired fertility Of the
soil and pursued a system of cultlva-
ton corresponding herewith, and 1t
is only just to say that they are not
anxious to sell out and 90 West OF
elsewhere \ man who can rel y
year i'll and yea out-upon two tons
of hay per acne, and can sell it for
fifty or sixty dollars, or upon seventy
five bushels of corn, and get one dol
lar pr bushel for the same, is far
from being eXtravagant at valuing
his land at $500 or $500 per acre,
while he also takes into considera
ton the fact that the price is more
likely to go up than down in the
future.
Circumstances identical with those
which have enhanced the value OF
the best farming lands in the East
tern States are ctfccting those of the
Western, and their owners should
guard against the fatal error of per
hitting u decrease of fertility while
endeavoring to make the most Of
high prices and y ready market.
There are farms in the vicinity of our
older cities which readily command
$500 to $1,000 per acre for cultiya
ton only, while there are others in
the same neighborhood not worth
fifty, the difference being mainly in
the fertility Of the soil. The owners
of the one have drawn upon the fer
tlity of the soil until it is exhausted,
while the others have been adding
to it for years, and the result of the
two systems are shown in present
values.-N Y. Sun.
HELPS IN HOUSE CLEANING
Provide ammonia for cleansing
paint and carpets, the water when