The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-09-18

mechanics the philosophical axiom,
"what is saved in power is lost in
time" The process of renovation will
be impeded of course under less liberal
management. Going forward in the
work, if good set of grass is obtained
in the field it may lay for one or two
years, and to receive the full benefit
of work done should be pastured but
little and late in the season, that the
land may have the full benefit of the
shade and the fertilizing effects of the
falling and decaying grass. A good
set of clover obtained the problem of
renovation is half solved; lime freely
on the sod. r., Now with thorough til.
lage and proper rotation of crops; the
land will soon returnra fair interest
for the expenditure q money and
labor. Reference has been made to
lands in this neighborhood so COM
pletely exhausted as to produce scanty
growth of sedge and poverty grass; l
refer to the property known as the
Talbot estate. When in this condi-
tion Colonel Capron the founder and
builder of Laurel Cotton Mills came
into possession of it, He was an agri-
culturalist of advanced ideas in his
day, and to whose wisdom and cour-
age the farmer of forty years ago owed
much Colonel Capron owned a thou
sand acres of such land and in less
than a decade SO completely renovated
it that portions produced over one hun
dred bushels corn per acre-more
than twenty barrels. j The Colonel
kept one hundred cows and relied
more on barnyard manure and ashes
than on lime and guano though he
| did lime and advocated applying on
sod to lay two years; he used guano
and bone but not as literally as is the
custom of to-day. He made large ex-
penditures in draining bis land, and
the failure of this land to produce
large crops in late yearsis due mainly
to the fact that the under. drains have
ceased to act. The property now
owned by our esteemed brother S.
Gambrill, a part of the Capron farm,
was not SO highly improved by the
Colonel owing / suppose in some meas
ure to the fact that it was more re-
mote from his barnyard}and the depot.
Mr.. Talbot by system of green ma
nuring brought the land to good
state of cultivation; seeding several
years consecutively in wheat, fertilized
freely with bone and guano which
gave him full crops of grain. No grass
seed was sowed but the guano gave q
rank growth of weeds and natural
grasses which were turned under each
year; after the third crop of wheat he
lined heavily and the land produced
large crops of grass and grain and
continued to be productive for some
years. Since it came into the hands
of Mr. Gambrill he has pursued the
high pressure system and with what
results we are all aware. This farm
is now in high ssate of improvement.
DISCUSSION OF THE ESSAY.
DR.. Hume.-The Essayist pretty
we'll covers the whole subject; there
are, however, several little points to
which attention might be drawn.
First-The beginning of the renova-
tion is lime, no matter how poor the
land, the very first application ought
to be lime. Second-Another great
aid is by spreading straw; have had
this year an evidence of the reliability
of this practice on field in front of
my place where it was red clay, on
which I spread straw after sowing
wheat which came up through it, and
l never saw a better set of grass.
Drainage is another feature worthy of
our consideration in the question of
worn-out soils; it is absolutely essen
tial. Don't think that capital is so
much needed, lime and clover seed
are both cheap; by the use of these
two agencies, any land in Prince
Georges county can be made rich. +
Mr.. W. H. Steigher-I quite agree
with the essayist. 1 would put 20 or
25 bushels of lime on in the fall when
l did my cross plowing for wheat. I
think lime will help get vegetation
into the soil; it will do good even in a
road bed; it makes plant food; you
are much more sure of getting a set of
clover. Recently I met a gentleman
of great experience in agricultural
matters in Virginia, Maryland and