The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-05-06
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
MEANS OF MAINTAINING SOIL
FERTILITY.
Tho Main Reliance Must Bc Manure
Care OF Wagons and Carriages
Iiotbcds--Pork Pickings aui
household Helps.
Maintaining Soil Fertility.

Of soil restored. Rotation OF crops"
Is without doubt an important item
In crop productions and its impor.
lance ought not to be lost sight of
by farmers for "a single season il pos
sible. Saving and applying manure"
Is another very important matter.
No doubt that the manure lost in
the United States each season if
properly saved and used, would pro-
duce an annual increase in the yields
Of farm crops to almost, IL not entire.
ly, extmguish the great 'war debt
Of the nation.
But to assume that rotation OF
crops and saving manure without the
use OF other means will even prevent
tho further depletion OF soil, to say
nothing of restoring fertility to de-
pleted soils, is without doubt most
grievous error. IL is not claimed
that rotation of crops has the power
alone to prevent depletion and, in
fact, only small advantage is claimed
for it. Saving and applying manure
then must be the main reliance OF
those who advocate this theory
| Tho manure carefully saved from
feeding to stock the product OF
given amount Of land will not supply
sufficient amount Of manure to
cover all Of the land from which the
crop had been taken. Ii will only
cover properly about ono-tenth the
area covered by the crop so fed.
Thus the c;op from 100 aorcs care
fully fed TO stock and all the manure
saved and applied to the land would
not cover more than ten acres. so
] that ten years would be required to
go over the entire 100 acres. and
long before the expiration Of this
time tho manure would be exhausted
on the first lands it was applied TO.
So that IL is clear that manure alone
will not preserve fertility. But besides
this every farmer cannot, and, in
fact, but a few can. feed all the pro-
ducts to stock. The world would
perish for the want OF bread il all
farmers would feed the entire product
Of their farms to stock. Then where
are you with your manure racket"
be IL ever so good.
What then Is the main reliance 20
not only prevent depletion of soil but
also to restore soils already depletedp
asks the Journal OF Agriculture A
good physician will seek to find the
cause OF his patients ailments and will
treat the cause and remove it. A
quack will treat the symptoms and
let the case remain in darkness to
himself.
| What then is the cause OF the de-
pletion OF soils so usually complained
of. and the cause OF low yields OF
crops as shown by the census reports
for the past twenty years?
The attempt to cultivate much
larger area than could be properly
done has been'the universal practice.
Shallow blowing with too little after
cultivation has been practiced rs a
necessity and not because IL was
thought to be the best Careless
blowing and too little narrowing has
been the rule. And these failures
and overdoses arc the causes OF the
depletion OF soils. The remedy is u
reduction of the cultivated area, deep
and thorough blowing the ground so
that not only the thin surface soil is
cultivated. such thorough blowing
that will result in strict obedience to
the requirements originally made
when the first man was sent out to
It'll tho ground"
II the soil is broken up to such
depth that the moisture Of rains and
melting SHOWS will be quickly alb
sorbed and carried deep down into
the earth where il Is stored for the
use Of plants when needed, then IL is
brought to the surface along with
the necessarily accompanying fer
tility by the capillary action OF the
] earth, there can be no depletion OF
soils. This il tilling the ground, the
whole ground and not simply thin
crust OF the earth, as is done by shall
How blowing.
i Shallow blowing allows the surface
| to soon dry out and with dry sur
face the benefit of rising fertility and
moisture is lost to tho growing
plants, and the air which Is "a great
reservoir of fertility" fails to deposit
tho moisture and plant food it con-
tains while the surface is dry and
hard. The air and the earth must
act conformity in the elaboration OF
plant food for tho support OF growth
and the conditions favorable to this
action must be supplied by the proper
cultivation of the soil. The failure
to do this causes loss Of fertility and
loss OF crop yields. Deep blowing
and thorough preparation OF the
coil by frequent and thorough har-
rowings are indispensable requisites
in preparing the soil to receive the
seed that is to produce the paying
crops. Cultivation is term little
known among the average farmers.
To obtain from mother earth" the
fullest rewards the laws which she
has laid down must be complied with.
must be obeyed. True cultivation OF
/ A. Ill II ..,.xtx x.,,.x a.,.~l I<x,al