Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-03-31
Shading the Soil.

h'ri1 i''a Do TIE Tribune
The good effect Of covering the
soil, either by shade or mulch, is often
so marked as to be apparent even to
the casual observer. In the case Of
surface manuring it is questionable
which IS OF most service, the enrich
mcnt derived from the manure or its
mulching effect, for in many in
stances by merely spreading over the
field old straw, or other coarse litter
containing very little fertilizing mate
rial, the improvement shown in the
grass or clover or grain from such
protection will be even greater than
where fine manure was used. One has
only TO trace this question back TO
find that for all time this has been
the principal treatment which nature
has given in managing soils, and that
under this treatment soils have ALWAYS
improved, although continually grow
ing immense crops of tim Der or grass.
being both mulched and enriched by
an annual covering Of leaves or grass
also with n mantle of snow in
higher latitudes, where more covering
Is nceded-which tends TO keep the
soil in light, friable and moist con-
dltion.
Man cannot attain TO a truer
science of agriculture than that which
nature will teach him if lac will but
look and learn, and If he has by bad
management, or through ignorance
OF her laws, allowed his fields To de-
tcriorate even 20 barrenness, he can
find no easier or truer way of restor-
ing them TO n healthy condition than
10 cover with green crop, such as
clover or rye or buckwheat: enrich
ing the land by the mulch which such
vegetable growth affords. and bv
jhc amount of vegetable matter given
the sod by the green growth plough.
ci under before maturity: and even
our ili.age Tor growing crop is only
an artificial way of Keeping the soil
uapropcr condition for plant growth,
which nature will do even better for
her products OF The soil hy suitably
covering or muichiug instead. We
often hear Of potatoes growing we'll
without cultivation. SIMPLY by cover
ing the soil when planted with a few
inches of old straw. The official re-
port Of The Kansas potato crop last
year was that all those that were
mulchcd yielded much the best.
In the course of my farm manage
mcnt, ! have met with some very de-
cidcd results in favor OF shading the
soil. 4 ten acre lot, which had be-
come so poor that found / must do
something TO help restore IL, was
seeded very literally to the large
Kind Of clover; this after a fine catch
grew thick and rank until it was
about tiirecn inches high, when the
wind and rain OF n thunder shower
laid 1t all fiat to the ground but it
very soon made a strong new upward
growth of about two feet before cut
ting, but when cut / found the butts
of clover which lay horizontal since
being cast were black and shiny. and
the surface of the ground was black.
After taking this crop, which was
between three and four tons 10 the
acre, the ground was plonghed, COW
cred with manure, and sowed TO
wheat, which yielded the following
year thirty-six bushels per acre, and
has produced well ever since. An
other very gratifying result Of this
operation was the complete smother
ing and eradlcating of an acre of
Canada thistles which had persisted |
in occupying the middle Of the field |
in spite Of all former tillage; these,
growing with the clover, and all being |
lodged together, the clover grew
again so much the quicker as To CON- |
pletely block and kill out the this.
ties, and they have not made an ap.
pearance there stree. At another |
time | allowed twenty-five acre field |
of clover to stand without either feed |
ing or cutting of; this gave a fair |
result, though not so much of an
improvement as I had hoped for.