The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1881-04-08
CLOVER RECUpERATOR.

We make the DllOwing extract from
DIR. Harland's work on Farming with I.
Green Manures, y 9s lately published in /
the Country Gentleman:
It is very common practice among
agricultural writers to advise all persons I
having large farms which are in a very
poor cOSditiOn to sell one-half or two /
thirds Of their land, and apply all the l
money they receive in manuring and inn /
proving the balance of their property.
In some cases this may be the most
prudent course to follow, but. as gen
eTal rule. I am opposed to this advice,
for two very good reasons
First, you can get very little per acre
for your poor fields ; and, secondly, if
you improve your property with jUdg-
ment, You can enhance its value so rap
idly that in seven OF eight ye0rs it VIII
be worth double or treble its former val
uatiOn.
To begin ycur improvement. take the
old field about half mile from the
house, and which Is covered with thin
yellow grass and mellow soil, about
one or two inches deep, produced by
many years of exposure to the weather.
1t has never been ploWed since YOU
knew it. And l beg you do not plOw it
now, st the beginning of your efforts to
make it better. Let me show you what
a coating of fine, mellow earth is worth
upon its surface.
In Egypt the annual overflow of the
Nile deposits on the land q thin stratum
OF very fine soil, which amounts to only
four or five inches in q century. This
yearly settling, which is only the twen-
tieth of an inch in thickness, of almost
impalable dust, keeps the farms forever
rich and productive The Egyptians 40
not plOW this precious coat under kut
SOW the seed on he moist ground. as the
waters subside, and then. if possible.
they drive sheep and hogs or goats over
it, to press the seed into the soil
We should learn a useful lesson from
their example and experience. We
should not pl9w down the only part
which the air has enriched, by miugling
and uniting with it for so many years /:
but early IN the spring we should harrow
as many acres Of the old field as we can
SOW with clover seed, at one peek to
the acre. After the seed is sOwn. we
should roll the ground, and SOW one or
two bushels of plaster per acre.
The principal roots of all plants must
be near the surface, that they NAV feel
the life-giving influences of air and
moisture or the soil must be IoOsened
by nature or by tillage, that the atmos-
phere may penetrate even the deepeet
hbreS Of vegetation. Hence the reason
that plant food acts so we'll upon the
surface and that all seeds germinate
more quickly, more naturally. when COW
cred by only one or two inches of soil.
But these great truths must not be
misunderstood, Though the soil must
be loose, the finer the seed the greater
the necessity, when planting or sowing
Of pressing with the hand or foot. or
roller, the earth into close contact with
the grain.
Well, to return to our old field. If
the clover should grow five OF six inch
es high by the middle of August. give il
half or whole bushel more of plaster
per acre. The second year YOU must
treat in the same way and if the clo-
yer IS thin on the ground. SOW more seed
and again roll it we'll Do all this the
third and fourth year, if necessary.
After this it viii Teseed itself. provided
you continue the plaster each year.
Here Is a practical illustration of this
plan, which l know to be a fact.
y person bought a very poor farm
near the southern boundary of PenUsvI-
yania, and tried to raise grain upon Is
IN the usual way but nothing grew
large or strong enough to produce seed.
fortunately, he did not sacrifice the
property by selling it at a very low fig
uFe- as many would have done. He
sowed every acre of it with clover seed
and plastered it every.year. For a liy-
ing lie followed the profession Of an auc-
tiOneer
About seven or eight or more years
the clover grew upon his farm, undi5-
turbed by ,plOw or hoof of anv kind.
Then he concluded to try his hand again
at farming. Many of his neighbors
gathered to see the first pI0wing. after
so long a rest from tilla-e.
An sid farmer who was present assur-
ed me that the soil turned over eight or
nine inches deep ~ black as your hat
and as mellow as an ash heap.
More than fifty years have now passed
since tIat occurrence, and the farm has
the reputation of being rich and produc-
tive to the present day.