The Colfax chronicle. (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1876-1877, 1877-07-14
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FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
The Object of Tillage.

fertlllzlng elements OF the SOL;
pulverizstion is an important ele-
ment, as furnishing conditions
most useful for the progress of the
absorbing 6bres Of the plant thro'
the soil, as well as increasing the
instertitial spaces at the service o.
the roots. But the condition of
the soil is not the only element
which concerns us in tillage, for it
is the plant as well as the soil, the
soil as well as the plant, which
concerns the cullivator. A nursery
tree with but few fbrous roots
may do poorly when first trans
planted into good soil, while an
other tree with abundance Of flores
and fibrils, may flourish, even if
transferred to q tar inferior soil
than the FIRST. It is not alone sui
fcient that the food be furnished
to the soil about the plant, but 1t
is also essential that the plant
possess sufficient mouths In contact
with the food. In any given area
of soil Of definite fertility, that
cubic foot Of earth which contains
the greatest number of absorbing
roots, will furnish the most food
to the plant. And, again, the
plant which occupies most COM
pletely with its root 6bres given
area uf soil, extracts the most nu-
triment therefrom that Is possible
for its species. In this TACT We
have the hint for the improvement
of agricultural crops. Of two
acres of a given plant, as maize,
for instance, under like conditions
of seed, fertility and culture, that
crop whose roots present the larg-
est absorbing areas to the soil, or,
in other words, that acre whose
intersticee of the soil lis more COM
pletely occupied by the young corn
roots, will bear the more ample
return. Indeed, if we can express
such results by figures, We are
compelled to say that a priori, of
two acres of land, planted with
the same crop, under like condi-
tons, that acre whose area is
doubly as occupied with absorb
ing rootlets as the other, should
produce double the crop; and al
though this, indeed, may not al
ways hold good in maDured soil.
yet in land agriculturally iniertlie,
it will undoubtedly hold good
In this bearing constitutes the
practical value and the importance
of the idea of rOot-pruning for
cultivated crops. The complete
. tillage is, therefore, the complete
pulverization of the soil, or "a
proper root-bed, and the complete
occupation of that soil with roots
in q condition to absorb soluble
matter. In order to obtain the
best results, We must get our land
into the proper condition of fertil-
ity, through the application of ma
nures, and must pillow, harrow,
and in general terms, place our
land in a good condition of filth;
and, lastly, by root pruning the
growing crop in a proper manner,
force our plants 10 occupy as large
q part OF their adjacent areas OF
soil as is possible for their species.
These being the essentials for the
best culture apart from the ele-
ments of good seed and other
proper and habitual methods.
For in root-pruning we have OBJ
served that by removing portion
Of an old root, whose absorbing
functions have ceased, and whose
habits of growth are struggling,
and its fbers and fibrils not nearly
as we'll distributed or as numerous
as they might be, weencourage an
immense development of root
6bres, which are young, quick
growing, and eager to absorb
Through judicious timing OF our
pruning, we com Del the roots to
fill a given area Of soil before they
are allowed to ramble in fact,
they must Use the fertility supplied
near their stem, before they can
wander to rob their neighbors. In
q word, in root-proning. provided
the other essentials of tillage are
present, art is enabled to force
root growth in the direction most
for the good of the cultivator, and
can confine plant to a given area
of coil, and in compelling the more
complete occupation of that soil,
receive the benefits Of ordinarily
gained over q far more extended
area. In doing this. ART docs