Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-09-04
The ;farm aud fireside,
MORE GRASS NEEDED.

The folly of Tennessee agriculture is the
attempt of her farmers to cultivate too much
land, and lay down so little in grass or per.
manent pasture. five take survey of those
countries where agriculture fourishes to the
greatest degree, we shall find the greatest
thrift and the highest rents in those which
have the largest amount of permanent pastu-
rage In France tv-three per cent. of tilla-
bic land is annually sown in grain, while in
England only twenty-five per cent. is sown.
France has twenty two per cent. in grass
England, fifty per cent So great is the i'm
provement in the soil by the superior man.
agement of English farmers, that the yield of
wheat to each inhabitant in the two countries
is almost identical. Every acre in England
devoted to grain receives the manure from
animals fed off three acres of grass. In
France the manure made from each acre of
grass has to be spread over two.and-a-half
acres of grain. But the profit does not stop
with the improvement in the soil. The mar
velous improvement in the live stock of Eng
land is due more to the superiority of her
pastures than to any amenity of climate or
situation. Grass is wealth. The affairs of
nature are so ordered that the greatest agri.
cultural prosperity IL inseperable from the
culture of grasses, and land rests in the exact
proportion to the attention which is given to
the cultivated grasses. 1t is by no means
uncommon to find 10 England land for agricul.
tural purposes rating at $1,000 per acre. IT.
rigated meadows in Lombardy rent some.
times for 800 per acre. One hundred acres
of land can be bought in many parts of Ten
nessee for the sum which is annually paid in
Lombardy for the rent of an acre. This
truth is suggestive Disguise it as we may,
grass is our agricultural redeemer ), to it We
must look for a restoration of our worn.out
fields, for the improvement of our, agricul-
ture and labor, and stock, and for that degree
of leisure upon the farm, without which
high. degree of intelligence is impossible
among farmers.
Many Tennessee farmers seem to think
that the greater the amount in. cultivation,
the larger the profits. Just the reverse, with
in limits, is true. 1t better to enrich and
cultivate ten acres of corn that will yield
sixty-bushels per acre than to cultivate sixty
acres that will only yield ten bushels per
acre. The profits in one case are very great /;
in the other there is actual loss. How must
this be remedied? The plan is easy. Lay
down to permanent pasture every acre that
cannot he enriched, and let it lie. 1t will
soon enrich itself, for where land is suffered
to remain in grass there are certain natural
forces that act in restoration. A dark brown
soil. rich in vegetable matter, accumulates
and deepens in proportion to the time the
land is allowed to remain in grass. The
roots Of the grasses penetrate the earth and
bring to the surface plant food which was
before inaccessible. 1t is said that the an
nual production of roots on old grass land is
equal to one-fourth of the weight Of the hay
carried of. The roots and leaves of grasses
contain saline matters beneficial to vegetation.
When grass is burned one-tenth of its weight
in ash remains.
Besides these agencies of fertility. there are
mechanical agencies at work. The grass
roots let in the rain, which washes down the
upper clay and leaves the vegetable mould Of
decaying grass near the surface. The freezes
lift up the soil which mingles with the leaves
of the grasses and assists in forming a rich
vegetable mould. Earth worms aid in this
work of fertilization in old pasture lands by
bringing to the surface little heaps of dung,
with which they top.dress the meadows.
Above all, however, is the ameloratng effects
brought about by the shade of the grasses.
Wherever a spot of land is kept continually
shaded there the fertility of the soil will be
increased. One has but to look upon the
fence rows, under pile of boards, on the
north hillsides, to be assured of this fact.
Shade is, by all odds, the most powerful fac
tor in the restoration of worn.out soils. Let
our farmers look to the grasses They will
prove a friend indeed. They will enrich,
while slovenly cultivation will pauperize our
lands. A live patriotism, live, free pos.
terity, or an impoverished soil will sooner
or later drive our farmers from cotton and to.
bacco into grass, hay, stock and plenty.-Ru-
raj Sun.