The Osceola times., 1882-04-29
AGRICULTURE.

AGRICULTURE.
u,nt. m acknowledgement
so,,.-rbe Advantages Of Thorough o"'-
t,yetion-HIlIpg Potatoes
uIsrs on DRAINAGE.
Tho d;stance between drains must pe
determined by the nature Oh tne soi,'
,heir denth and the amount OF faii. a
inosa I norous soil will permit water 10
zach the drains for q long distance
wb;le a tough. compact clay is almost I'M
narv;ons TO water, and requires the drains
70 he made much nearer. In q piack,
ioose soil. drains at the depth OF our ieet
s ara snfficient at a distance often RODS
ansrt ana but il the land is hard.ran or stin
ciay, to drain it thoroughly tae als,ahoo as
anart should be from four 70 SIX Iods.
But few persons in thS part oi ,ne
country realize the great tdvahtage 'pa'
deep drains have over sea'low ones. IN
NV extensive acquainhnce In this and
attaining counties among drainers, l
rrow of hut few tht drain to depth
averaoiry over one end half to three
feet Farmers pay axes on Their land
eli The wav down and on wet lands it
oftan amounts to AREN'T, yet they never
Ot Oet anv agriculturs benefit from it any
deener than thg drain, but they do
cot ibe benefit of it that deep, even If it
e e;obt feet: in hct, an orchard or vine-
ward should not be drained less than
that depth. Tbe time is probably not
far distant when such shallow drains
will be taken Up, and put down again at
a proper dept. Persons often say that
Il costs too much to drain deep, when
in fact the cost is less. For instance. it
wonld cost but very little more to dig
two drains % the depth of four feet than
II will to dg three to the depth OF two
and balfteet, and the two deep drains
will drain fully as much land as the
three shilow, and will drain it much
better AMI save the expense of the third
line or tile. But the depth OF drains is
not alvsys q matter Of choice, as very
often the outlet is not sufficient, and l
have frquently noticed that persons are
sometimes extremely contrary about
giving their neighbors above them an
outlet and sometimes spend more time
and money in lawing about 1t than would
do the whole work, besides creating q
had seling. In making an improvement
of this kind, that is to last for all time to
come. it is much better to secure a 20 ID
outlet in the first place, If it does cos
souethine more, especially if the land Ii
ast and Won have but little fall; but il
All cases it is best to have a good outlet
40 that the water will fall from Six tt
tvelye inches when it leaves the tile.
CLAY SOILS.
II is sometimes thought by the mex
perienced that clay soils ere poor TO
hrmers, and so they are If not under
stood. But in reality they are very fer
tile. The secret ia, as Understood b,
European farmers, TO thoroughly pulver
ize the land 80 as to unlock the fertilit,
contained in it. Such lands produce ex
cellent wheat crops. A writer who ba
found clay soils very good for farm pur
poses says:
II have raised potatoes more years ol
the prairie than | ever did on clay soil
anil / find a more ready sale for my pc
tatoes in Peoria raised on clay soil thai
| ever did for those which raised o.
the prairie soil. To be sure raised som
fertilizers, but l get paid double 70
every cent laid out in manures. My cor
does not yield quite as many bushels pc
acre as on richer soil, but it ID Of mucl
better quality than any corn ever raise
on the prairie, or ever saw raised there
from the fact that it is much more solit
and weighs more. can raise, and d
raise, from twenty-five to forty bnshel
per acre, and have seen fifty bushels pc
acre raised on an old clay farm near m
that had borne the name OF being playe
out for fifteen years. Corn can be raise
here without paying out cent for ms
pures, by changing the land to oats
rye, or by seeding to grass and breakin
up. Excellent hay is produced on ella
soil, and very fair yield, ranging fror
one to two tons per acre, according
the season; and when grass land is broke
up and planted to corn, you may be sur
OF fifty bushels per acre, the season b'
ing favorable and the cuitivatio
ample"
THOROUGH CULTIVATION.
The greatest profit in farming can onl
be made from the land when the valu
of thorough cultivation is justly estiu
ated. Manure supplies the plants wit
fertilizing matter, yet 1t must natural
fail to convey the great measure of goo
where it does not have the best possibl
conditions for reaching the plant root
in such forn as TO be most readily en-
completely assimilated. When tn
manure is merely applied to the lane
and the cultivation but Indifferent
performed, much of the fertilizlng vala
must naturally be lost, through the az
ton of air and sun combined, and be
ing carried off on the surface by th
rains, the neglect TO stir the soil proper
ly and constantly afforGing no opportur
ity for the mercurial matter to reach tn
roots of the growing plants.
Some carefully conducted experiment
made in England a few years ago, shove
that more profit was realized from Gel
tain farm by thorough cultivation, with
out manure, than by doing go in connet
ton with liberal manuriDg. This ma
seem simply Impossible and assuredl
is not good method to suggest to on
readers to follow, yet the experiment
proved conclusively that such was tn
case. If this should be persisted in fo
any number of years, the result woul
naturally be an mpoyerishment of tn
soil, although 1t is surprising to see ho'
many Southern farms are worked wit
very little manure, yet most exceller
crops, especially Of corn are grown, an
this too, with merely good cultivatio
and no manure at all.
KILLING POTATOES.
There is some difference of opinion &
to the merit of the level system OF cult
waiting potatoes. The writer grew SON
last year without any hilling whatevs
and the crop was in every respect as goo
as any proceeding crops that had bee
/ b;lloJ Gonna suritare ,roa laval fuiti ~