The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-10


Please tell me how to improve my land
so that it will become more and more
productive.
In reply to this question Commissioner
r. T. Nesbitt says: The suggestions
from this department upon this subject
are intended. of course for the average
farmer of the state who has no money
to throw away or to risk upon costly
experiments, but who wants information
obtained from the experience of others
which can be put into practice cheaply
There are practically but two ways Of
improving the soil.
!. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. subsoillng.
?. Chemically-Ad plant food to the
soil in any manner whatever.
3. Every intelligent man knows some
of the advantages of drainage: It makes
the soil warmer; 1T keeps the plant food
from becoming too diluted and leaves il
in a proper form for absorption by the
plant; it permits free access of air to the
roots of plants; it brings about decom-
position of organic matter and prevents
the formation of hurtfnl acids. There
land, drain all your wet lands where they
admit of it.. This can be done cheaply
by covered bitches properly located with
ten or twelve inches of rocks at the bot
tom, or if rocks are not convenient. pine
poles from four to six inches in diameter
and with the bark off viii answer almost
as well. With the low places drained.
then comes deep blowing and subsoling
for the higher la1a, which will enable it
to hold the surplus water of heavy rains
without washing and permit the roots of
plants to run down deeper in search of
food. Your low lands being drained and
your uplands subsoiled you have done
about all that you can do for the mechan-
ical Improvement of your land. OF course
all lands with any inclination to wash
must be terraced for no depth of subsoil-
ing will alone prevent washing of the soil
during very heavy rains.
To chemically improve the land, there
must be returned to the soil more plant
food than is taken away by the annual
crops.
TO do this the farmer must bend all
his energies to the making of manure
in his stables and lots; he must haul muck
from the swamps and leaves from the
woods, with which to bed his stock of
every kind, removing. and renewing the
bedding as often as necessary: he must
keep his cotton seed or exchange them
for cotton seed meal, which, with acid
phosphate and stable manure, he must
use in making a compost, This compost
should be applied literally, either broad
cast or in the drill, and If not enough to
manure all the crops, should be supple
mented with sufficient commercial fertii-
izerS for that purpose
In addition to this all small grain crops
as soon as taken off the land must be
followed by peas sowed broadcast, and
all land in corn must be soWed in peas at
the last blowing.
By these simple and inexpensive means,
with common sense rotation of crops
the fertility of the average Georgia farm
can not only be maintained, but Increased.
Making "a Garden soil.
The soil in my garden. says a writer in
the Epitomist, contains a considerable
admixture of clay and is somewhat heav-
Ter than is desirable, especially for early
vegetables, and three years ago 1 began
a series of experiments with a view to
,.Irf -
one portion of it l spread about four
inches of sand, on another about two
inches of fine coal ashes, the clinkers be-
ing run through a mill and ground to the
size of wheat grains and on the balance
four inches of fine stable manure This
manure was not rotted, but was very fine
being composed chiefly of waste short cut
straw and cornstalks which had been
thrown out Of the manger and used as
an absorbent bedding All of these mate
rails were applied late in autumn and
plowed under, the ploW being run five
inches deep. AS early in the following
spring as the ground could be worked
nicely, it was thoroughly narrowed, and
the various materials Incorporated with
it, In a short time that portion on which
the manure was spread was dry enough
for planting, and it was light and easily
worked. The two portions on which the
ashes and sand were spread settled down
solid and remained as heavy as before.
The ground was marked out and the
seeds of various vegetables were soWn
the rows running across three portions
A few days afterward we had a sharp
shower ap9 the ground was beaten down
quite harf The seeds sown in the ma
nured port.~a were the first to come UP
and the stand was good Those in the
sanded portion appeared next but the
plants seemed to be affected with malaria
for they looked rather yellow and weak
Lastly appeared those among the ashes
or, l should say, few of them, for there
was not one-fourth of a stand, and they
seemed to be suffering from something
worse, even, than malaria for they were
weakly and yellow, and in few days
most of them had disappeared.
Then my garden looked like a wilder
ness of woel At one end Of the row the
plants were strong and thrifty, in the mid
die there was nothing to speak Of and al
the other end there was about such a
stand as might be expected from baton
of government seeds. Not until the lat
ter part of May was able to induce any
thing more than a few weeds to grow
among those ashes No more coal ashes
will ever go on land that wish to grow
a crop on.
To tighten heavy soil there is nothing
equal to fine manure. If the soil was
mostly clay I would cover it about four
inches deep and pillow II in, running the
pillow five or six deep. The following an-
tumn / would repeat the application ana
pillow ten or twelve inches deep. Continue
and tha. ruriT xxyfff he