The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-03

grass the more stock. the more stock the
more manure does not wholly explain
the advantage Of keeping land iu grass al
least part Of the time MANY other for
age crops viii give more bulk Of food than
either grass or clover Corn will do so
either as grain with stalks, or grown for
fodder only. So with plenty of corn a
farmer may feed more cattle than he can
on pasture and hay He can make more
manure, and this is produced. as in the
case OF grass largely from the air But
IL does not follow that tho farmer who
has ali his land in corn will increase its
fertility fastest. He may max more ma
nure, but the losses from soil left naked
seven or eight months in the wear waste
good deal Of what manure is applied.
From these losses, a grass or clover sod
is almost entire protection. 1t does not
wash away. Rather if foods overflow il.
the leaves of grass and clover hold the
sediment it contains and thus add to the
soils fertility. Neither does grass land
lose its surface soil, always the richest.
by being blown away as soil exposed to
blowing winds must always do if naked
Rather the grass catches much of the
drifting soil carried by winds, and thus
increases its fertility. How much soil is
thus carried from an open field is seen in
the blackness of a winter snowbank after
few days on the lee side of a plowed
field.
The losses from teaching through the
soil, especially in very wet climates, are,
however, greater than often supposed.
Grass is in this country an effectual
guard against such losses, as was clearly
shown by very carefully-conducted ex-
periments made at the New York expert
ment station several years ago. Strips
of soil were heavily manfred over under
drains, and the outflow was carefully an
alyZed. Those from naked strips showed
| the presence of fertility especially of nj
| trogen. Those from drains under sod were
almost entirely pure. In fact, except in
| the very wettest times, the drains I'M
| der the sod did not flow The grass
| and clover roots held the water from
| reaching them. In the moister climate
of England and with warmer winters
there was much greater loss of fertility,
not only nitrogen, but some mineral ele-
ments, especially potash, teaching out
| through under-drains in extremely wet
weather. The English climate is so ex-
| tremely wet that under-drains in that
| country ought to be much deeper than is
| necessary here Drains on land that is to
| be kept Always under the plough ought to
! be 81 to four feet deep. In going down
| this greater depth,the surplus water must
! lose some OF its fertilizing properties to
the soil.
While grass is thus a conservator of
! fertility, it does not offer the best condi-
tions for creating it. After two three or
four years, therefore, in our climate, the
! sod, unless artificially MANFRED, grows
thin and poor. Glover is limited to two
years, as it isa biennial. Frequent seeding
with clover, then, and frequent alterna-
ton with hoed crops are the rules for best
| promoting fertility. This is also in &C
| cordance with the practice of the best
| farmers 1t is unfortunate for the
farmer who has land that he can
never pillow, for he can never. get the
best use either of his grass land or that
! put in cultivated crops, unless he is able
to alternate. 1t is also unfortunate for
the farmer who has so little land that he
cannot spare any of it to seed with clover
and grass. The recuperative power of
| clover in restoring fertility, and especially
of clover roots in opening the subsoIl, are
points that the market gardeners who
spend hundreds of dollars in buying sta
| bic manure do not enough appreciate
Less manure on clover sod two years
old will serve their purpose better, and in
most cases will cost less