Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1883-05-25
DETERT0R1TIONofMe SOIL.

M IN AOAaA ACaN ~ tff ft@AA -
II is an unpleasant fact, ar~l me which
In the course Of a few yeafs W. sail have
to look squarely III the face. that rot
withdrawing the vast amoant Of new
land that is annually brought under cul-
aivation. the aggregate annual amount
Of grain and forage crops not only does
not increase in the same proportion,
but actually shows a falling CT. III
soMe Of the older States Of the Union
where an improved system Of farming
prevails, the deficiency is not so appar-
gnt az il is elsewhere. Bat in no in
stance does the number Of well cultivat-
ed farms bear any proportion TO those
which are stu subjected to the old ex-
haustive processes, and the result is, that
every new publication that relates to
agricultural statistics. shows to what an
extent soils naturally fertile have deteri-
GRATED. In this new country, upon
which the first European settlements
we're made but little over two centu-
Fiss ago. 20 where we will, east of the
Allegany mountain, we are constantly
meeting with old fields, worn into gull
lies. or covered with sedge grass, and
perfectly valueless in their present con-
dition for agricultural purposes. In
England, on the contrary, during the
last half century, the crops. inst ad Of
diminishing in quantity, have been in
creased in their agreeable product more
than fifty per cent. Yet the land there
has been under cultivation for more than
= thousand years Now it has been re-
peatedly demonstrated, that by pursu-
ing a similar system, our soils are as
capable Of raising as large an amount Of
grain or hay to the acre as those of any
other country The remarkable decrease
IN our agricultural products, which
statistical tables indicate. can proceed
from no other cause than careless and
slovenly farming The fatal defect in
the old system of farming with US was,
that it did not take into due cOnsidera-
lion the injurious influence excited by
our climate upon surfaces constantly ex-
posed to an almost tropical heat in the
summer season AT an early day, to-
bacco was our staple production. 1t
was what wheat has since become-the
planters money crop, and high prices
aud steady demand stimulated him to
cultivate in NEGLIGENT manner as many
acres Of this plant as the number of his
6@ld hands would admit Of his putting
under the plow A succession Of crops,
taken from the same field, without rest
or lntermission. speedily wore the life
out, Of it. Fresh lands were cleared.
which were subjected to the same ruin
Gus mode of treatment until, in the course
Of few years, thousands Of acres Of as
Brittle soil as the world could boast, be-
came but little better than a sterile
waste. Where the fields were not suf-
sciently exhausted to be thrown entirely
out of cultivation, corn succeeded tobac-
60; aud shallow blowing the sun, the
wind, the rain, and the frost acting con-
tinually upon the exposed surface, COM
pleted the work Of destruction which
reckless tillage had commenced II
there had been instituted from the be-
ginning proper rotation of crSps if
the tap rooted plants had been allowed
to succeed fbrous plants if the manure
Of the baFn-yard aud the wood ashes Of
the house fires, has been hu banded il
shells. or lime, or mari, had replaced
the alkaline constituents which had been
taken from the soil by previous crops; if
plaster had been permitted to exert its
singular influence upon the growing
clover, and if the latter, instead Of be-
ing cut and cartcd off the land, had been
tssrled under it, those fields now look
ing so barren and forlorn would have
been more fertile at this day then they
we're when the pillow turned the first fur
row in the virgin soil. But old habits
are still stronger, with many well mean
ing and undtniable industrious farmers,
than the excellent example set item by
men who have had the sagacity and
force of character TO lift themselves out
OF the rut and grooves in which men less
enterprsing. or more welded to their
own opinion, are still content to travel
The same causes, at the present day,
operate to produce the same results as
they did years ago There is not one
farm in hundred to which its owner
does full justice. The great majority of
them take all off and return little or
nothing back, and vet they are surpris-
ed to find that their ceops are not near
SO good as they were ten and twenty
years ago. If we work an animal and
do not feed him up to the proper mark
that mark being equivalent to his
powers-he will grow feeble day by day
and finally give out altogether. If we
work soil and do not restore to it those
organic and inorganic constituents which
are essential to keep upits productive