Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1885-08-22

and solid, but there is no ice and no
irregular expansion which occurs
when water freezes, and which rup-
lures the roots, and heaves the plants |
when the wet soil is frozen. Coarse
soil parts with its water very quickly
because Of the large quantity of air
held between the fragments and
which soon absorbs the water and
leaves the Jumps hard and dry, so
that the roots perish and the plants
are "winter-killed," as it is called.
Or in the freezing of the water con-
tanned between the large particles
the roots are torn apart, and the
plants are left loose upon the surface,
withered and dead. One more rea-
son may be given, which is a most
important one. Plants-as animals
do-live by food; and they reach
their food by sending out roots in
search of it. They get no food in any
other way. 1t follows then that the
more roots a plant has, the more
food it can acquire from the soil and,
equally, the finer the soil is, the more
roots there will be, and the more soil
and plant food they will come in con-
tact with. We might illustrate this
in simple manner. A lot of fowls
are shut up in place where guam
tity of grain is kept in sacks, and no
other way of procuring food is offered
them. Necessarily they must sub
sist upon the few grains they can
pick out through the mesheS of the
sackcloth. They would soon starve.
But let us tear open these sacks and
afford access to the grain, and the
fowls will soon fill themselves. Pre-
cisely in similar manner, the far
mer who offers to his wheat plants
the richest soil, in the shape of hard
Jumps and clods, will find his crops
starving in the midst of abundance,
and being weak and unable to resist
severe cold or hardships of the win
ter they perish. But if the farmer
breaks up these hard Jumps of rich
food, his crops revel in abundance,
and grow and thrive luxuriantly, and
laugh at the rigors of the season ;
either the cold and floods of the win
, ter, or the heats and drouth of the
summer. OF course the very same
principle applies to the manure given
to the wheat which should be equally
f well pulverized and mingled with the
, soil.
, 1t has been a too common practice
among agricultural writers and
teachers to make farmers believe that
the frosts and thaws of winter will dc
this work for them, and will crumble
down the soil and make it fine and
mellow and fit for the needs of the
wheat. Alas this is a fatal mistake;
} and is opposed to fact and all prece.
dent. The farmer who depends upon
: nature to do his work will always be
, disappointed. Nature is opposed to
: man, and has been since the time
when it began to bring forth thorns
: and thistles to compel him to labor.
3 Mans life and work are constant
. struggle with nature, and he who
strives the best, will have the most
) success in his work. The farmer,
therefore, must use every means in
3 his power to aid and assist nature to
3 do his work, and in regard to the pre-.
: paration of the soil for his wheatcrop,
he must do this by first enriching his
9 soil, and then bringing it into con-
t ditiOn of fineness, mellowness and
2 firmness which the wheat plant re-
quires.
t The universal testimony of the best
5 farmers is in favor of this thorough
I working of the soil, and its exceed
S ingly profitable results. ,Wherever
l the culture of the soil is perfect, crops
: are large, and this thorough culture
g is the key to successful growth OF
, wheat.
4 Tho piO for Profit