The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-01-26
Cultivating sandy Soil.

Ohio Correspondence Country Gentleman.
roller is good on sandy soil. but not so good
as granger" or plank drag; an implemenl
made of four two-ipch planks. each a foot wide
and eight feet long, Tapped on each other aoou'
two inches, weather-board fashion, and the
whole dragged the rough way" I think this is
better than to drag it 1.-THE smooth way" 1t
carries before it cargo of sand, and drops a
little here and there in the hollow places. But
after all is DONE with roller or harrow or gran
ger, better than either or all together 1t needs
time and age to make the surface right before
the seeds are plan ted.
A fine sand will, if leveled by the granger,
stand drought remarkably we'll; not by resisting
evaporation flor this goes FAST. but by rapid
capillary attraction, bringing up moisture from
below. Sand seems to have a special power
for collecting nitrogen. In a rainy season my
sandy plains give cornstalks of size out of
all proportion to their apparent fertility. No
rain is wasted sand, none away, on
other Soils but all of it percolateS through and
the nitrogen is strained out for the benefit OF
the crop. In a rainy season the corn on my
plains is taller and the ears are heavier than on
the best bottom lands of the Muskngum.
White or yellow sand absorbS heat slowly, but
1t also parts with it slowly Hence it needs
long Stunning, and the enr1chiuG, mellowlng
action of the rains, before planting is done.
Sand needs humuS, it needs decaying vegeta-
BILE matter, to give it life and action by the
yeasting effect of the carbonic acid Hence the
special value of green manuring for this class of
soils. In light porous sand the carbonic acid
escaping from green manure. consequent
upon the rapid oxygenation of the material, Is
liable to escape into the atmosphere IN the form
OF gas. Hence the necessity, in light sand, of
turning vegetable matter under to some depth.
But dry. strawy manure, if plowed down, will
make trouble in drought by drying out the
ground. It is better if applied on the surface in
the form of mulching. This brings the line of
constant moisture near the surface and holds it
there.
One very dry summer when the white clover
on very sandy plains became brown and pow
derry in the heat, the cattle and sheep nosed
aside the manure, which had been scattered in
one place. to browse the green heritage which
they could not find elsewhere.
All manure SAND does its best work If
placed at or near the surface. Its action is
downward by teaching. rather than upward by
evaporation. Even the green manure, which
was turned down to some depth to await the
fermenting process, or oxygenation, should be
turned up near the surface again before plant
ing Most sands carry more nitrogen and car
bon than would be apparent to the casual OBJ
server. This is especially true of the sands
which are every where in the South. The
abundant semi tropical rains, the warmth of the
and the humid atmos phere produce
derful growth of weeds and grass in summer.
These supply the elements named, but
there is lack of potash, phosphorus, and lime,
at least in available form. They must be
supplied artihciaily, or made available in the
soil. if already there. by the solvent action of
carbonic acid arising from the ferment of green
manures.
The Southern native farmers plow shallow
a mere ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, they say, the bot
tom is dead and cold. From their point of view
of action they right. But the Northern
colonist turns green matter deep down; this
warns and vitalizes the soil by the process of
oxygenation slow combustion. Then he
turns it to the surface again, bringing up the
minerals which the vegetable acids have dis
solved, and the glowing tropical sun completes
the ripening or the '.sweetening." But mulch
is grateful to the land and the crop through s.
ardent heat of summer