Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-11-28

up at my expense t. defend You, while
the native owners of the sill have been
DESTROYED in vast numbers in or1er that
you might enjoy It's whole wealth. in
peace Nations We kn w become
efeminate under too much ease and
aihuence, and have bcen subducd, and
oven eStermina ed, by more hardy
races We shall now 500 whether plants
are sub ect 10 tho same law. l am
going to withdraw ell protection from
you, aud you must for the future make
your own seed-bed, and defend your
self In the best way you can n. aiust the
natives, who will do everything in their
power 10 exterminate you. The only
help propose to give you Is this 4
will not remove any part of your fam
ilv; therefore, while / shall only sow
two bushels of seed on an acre of the
protected ground. you will be able to
area"
The yield of the protected and will
be in all pro- ability about thirteen
bushels per acre. while the history of
the unprotected land may be- given in a
very few words. The seed that was
shed came up thickly enough, but the
crop was almost completely destroyed
by weeds. Thu wirter was unusually
mild, and there was hardly day in
which growth could not take place
The crop of wheat was not so much
smothered. as s'arved, aud the dense
mass OF couch grasS--which was one of
the chief weeds-secmed TO be capable
of appropriating every particle of food
1t Is quite impossible, thereto q, 10
form any estimate of the yield, and rs /
wish 10 see what will be the result of
another years self-sowing, the crop,
such as it is, will be left standing; but
it would be quite safe to state that tho
produce of the half acre this year would
not amount 10 more than a few pints.
Some important practical knowlodgo
can be gained from the experiment.
We sec that wheat has no power to
contend against the natural vegetation
of the soil; we may also assume that
weeds, although they may not be able
to destroy o crop, yet must greatly re-
duce the yield throughout the world
Some weeds arc far more injurious
than others. Thistles, for example.
and similar plants which take their
food from the subs IL by tap roots, aro
far less in urious than plants which
feed near the surface but the most in
curious of all are those perennial plants
which belong to the same family as the
wheat, ard have creeping roots Couch
grass. therefore. which possesses all of
these injurious properties, is the great
est enemy TO cereal crops, and, where
it abounds. wheat growing Is almost
impossible.
Some time ago pointed out that al
though weeds and the natural fertility
of the soil might exist together, arti-
fc.al lDanures and weeds could not OK
ist together with profit to the cultiva-
tor. Weeds have an extraordinary
avidity for artificial manures, and It
gives us more trouble to keep half an
acre of highly manurcd land clean,
than five times the area of uu ranurud,
or b d!y manured land.
Weeds with roots close to the surface
seize upon nitric acid be ore tho crop
can get hold OF it. and although we
may hoe thom up, and they are let on
the land to decay, still thoy are no.
available as food for the crop until tho
70 low ng year. think, therefore, that
l sba not be in error in saying that
the profitable use of artificla mHnures
must be accompanied by a cleaner sys-
TEN of farming; aud, further, that this
cleaner system Of farming can not be
carried cut successfully, except by tho
introduction OF crops somewhat similar
TO our root crops, on which the clean
ing is chiefly done by mcans of tho
horse hoe.-Sr j. y. LGWcs, tn III;
CJhn.ry Gosttemaa.