Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1884-07-03
AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.
4IIzAoE AND MANURISe.


writes as follows on cultivation and
fsrtilization: "CultivAtion to promote
growth Ia all important, especially with
aquiokly maturing cror. In some re-
speots it is similar TO mAnuring; ia indeed
indirectly kind Of manuring. By open.
ing the soil 1t admits air, and this acting
upon the vegetable matter present
brings about the formation Of nitric aold,
the ultimate form in which IL Is probable
that heterogeneous manures enter plants.
In other words, cultivation Is equivalent
20 . dressing with heterogeneous manure.
The amount 1t can produce depends upon
the supply Of vegetable matter, contain
ing nitrogen, which Il present in the soil,
and npon the existence OF q / tile line.
When heterogeneous vegetable matter, such
.ae peas or clover, and lime are both
present in good quantity, frequent pillow
ing In warm weather develops q good
deal Of nitric acid not as tree acid but
"a nltrates. IL cannot OF course supply
mineral subtanoes which are absent rom
the soil, such "a phosphAtes, potash, &c.,
hence no amount Of blowing can make a
good crop on q soil wanting in these. But
whore they are present, looked mp in
little pieces OF minerals, II may cause the
unlocking Of these necessary substances.
Keep the plows going the, eiore; when.
ever a crust forms, break il as soon as
possible and let in the enriching air.
!. Frequent blowing, in addition to the
good mentioned above, kills the grass be-
fore It Attains any size or acquires strong
foothold. This is absolutely essential Ia
nat culture; because II grass gets large,
the pillow can only kill that along the
drill by covering II we'll up and that
makes a bed-whereas when Just coming
up very little dirt thrown upon 1t viii
smother it. Attention should never be
diverted from the necessity OF making the
plow leave as little work as possible for
the hoe. Hoe work is the expensive part
OF crop, and 1t must BIZ brought to
minimum If large profits are secured
Good preparation, high manuring, fire.
quent blowing and little hoeiDg these
are the leading points in raising crops
that pay. Under the system OF husbandry
which has generally prevailed at the
south, saving is, If anything, more i'm
portant than making; a sound indioious
economy is our great need. We spend
money lavishly for provisions and laber,
and stint 1t for manure which latter Ia
by all odds the best thing 8 farmer can
spend money for. Even English farmers
whoexport nothing from their farms, whose
whole energies are expended In raising
bread and meat; who keep maximum
amount Of stock and produce maximum
quantities OF homemade manure, spend
money freely for phosphate Ands other
fertilizers. Some newspapers preach
against the use Of fertilizers, and some
farmers who have not studied the subject
carefully, join them. They figure up the
large amount expended by the farmers Of
county for fertilizers, and point to these
figures as conclusive that the county will
be drained OF its money. Why not calcu-
late the large amount spent for labor,
two or three times as much as ia ever
spent for fertilizers, and insist that the
farmers are being ruined and exhausted
thereby. II a farmer should keep all the
stock he could utilize, should have them
consume all the straw, hay and other
forage on his farm and supplement these
with grain, bran and oil cake bouQht
from outsiders, and should most carefully
save all the manure from his stock, ali
the fowl manure, ashes, wash water and
every other conceivable manurial matter
harped upon by certain class Of writer's,
he would not have half OF the manure he
could advantageously and probably ust
upon his farm. AS a matter OF course he
ought to husband everything in the vay
OF homemade manure, but when he ha;
done that he will never be able 10 max,
poor farm, OF any size, rich ; Il he car
hold his own he will be doing remark
ably we'll.
speaking Of fertilizers, we observe
that very favorable reports have beer
maze Of late, concerning kainit as Q
manure Tor peas. Il would be we'll fol
those VINO propose putting their grair
nelos in peas to give it o trial. One re-
port is that in test case where equa
weights OF ammonisted phosphate, acid
phosphate and kainit were applied IL
equal plats OF land the kainit made twio,
as many peas as either Of the other two
where the pea is used as renovator
worn SOILS II Is exceedingly important t,
push the crop to a mRximum-a poo
growth hardly pays for seed and tn,
blowing in. But II go cheap iertilize
as kRinit can double the yield, tn,
the road to improvement Is wide again
Try 100 pounds per acre, in the drill (; 1
broadcast 200 or 800 pounds. In thi
connection, permit us to urge the import
ance of leaving uDplowed strips, three o
four feet wide, a. intervals, In the grail
fields which are planted in peas. Lay Of
very carefully on level. When tn
land is In stubDle Is the best time to d
this very important work do II we'll, ant
these strips will serve as perpetual guide
to lay off rows by, and prove the oheapes
as we'll ss most efficatious means 0
arresting the washing away OF the soil
As breaking and planting the stubble II
peas oounterRcts, in part, the anti wash
ing Of the grain fields, it is doubly i'm
portant 10 leave such strips now. 7
give land rest from the pillow and to pre-
vent washing, 1t is better to SOW pea
broadcast IN the stubble fields; to pro1uo
the greatest yield Of peas It is better +
plant in drill and cultivate. II one will
leave the level unbr0keE strips and ma
nure the peas, II would probably b
better to plant In drills. The latter par
Of June Is the best time to plant peas
and as upland corn Is usually laid b
about that time, IL is we'll to broadcss
peas at the last blowing"
II ia claimed by southern farmers tina
sowing the oow-pes when laying by cor
has several points in its favor. Its aotio
on the soil ia considered as enriohin
as that of clover, the ground Is shade
preventing drouth, the vigorous root
penetrate the soil and loosen it up render
ing 1t mellow, iriable and porous to
greater depth, their broad and luxuriar
foliage apprOprlates ammonia from th
air and stores it in the soil and by the
decay and that of their large and flesh
roots there is added an immense amour
Of humus to the soil which by this CON
bined action is put in excellent conditio
for succeeding crops OF grain and grass
AS noted above one OF the cheapes
fertilizers, kainit, appears to be Of tn
most value for this crop Is the COW pc
grown BY Psninsulsr farmers
To Xii sIugs.
This clipping taken from q Glasgow