The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-04-22
Retaining OH Lands.
We have some WORKOUT land. Please
tell us how to reclaim it.

ID. s., Uniontown. Ala"
This is by no means an isolated case.
All over the South there are thousands
OF acres Of 'worn-out' land.
Land that has been so misused and
abused that it can no longer produce
crops that pay for the cost and trouble
of cultivation is called WORKOUT land.
What Shall we do with these lands?
This is an interesting and important
question. Can they be made to pro-
duce paying crops again? If so, how
shall we proceed to make them do so?
1t will help us i'll answering this in
quiry to examine into the history of
these lands and see if we can find what
has made them poor. Many of them
were originally the finest and richest
farms in the South. Many things have
contributed to bring them to their pres
ent almost worthless condition Among
these we find three prominent causes
Chief among them is washing and
teaching The water has been per-
mitted to run down more or less steep
grades and carry the finest particles of
the soil with it.
Soils generally contain all the ele-
merits or ingredients of fertility These
are found in an insoluble condition. In
this state they can not help the crops
grow. To make them soluble and
available for plant growth we must
fertilze the soil. The fine particles of
soil dissolve in the water and the plant
food is thus fed by the water to the
growing plants. Hence these fine par
ticles make the soil rich or productive.
If we take these away the soil is left,
with its plant food insoluble. Such
soil we call poor.
Washing soon makes any soil poor.
Often this washing produces gullies
and takes off the fine soil and leaves
The hard clay soil exposed. Very often
it does not do this, but only takes the
fine dust particles out end leaves the
c0arser particles. This we call leach
ing. Both of these results generally go
along together.
Another source of damage to the soil
results from stirring the land when it
is wet AS soon as the sunshine and
wind dry off such land there ire thou
! sands, yea, millions, of little brickbats
produced. These are absolutely worth |
less to the growing crop.
By constantly blowing when the clay
or subsoil is wet we make layer of
very compact earth just below where
we ploW This we call hard-pan. This |
layer prevents circulation of water, in
creases the washing and interferes
with the Growth of the roots of the
crop. Shallow blowing helps the wash
ing and the formation of this hard-pan
Another great source of damage to
the land is the habit or custom of burn
ing off the grass, trash and other vege-
table matter. All of these are needed |
TO make humus in the SOIL which they |
do if permitted to rot. No vegetable |
matter should ever be burned in a |
farm. Without humus it is impossible |
to make large crops. We thus see that |
by misuse of fire and water we make !
the lands poor. These are intended to |
be our greatest farm blessings. We |
make them our greatest curses.
Now, having briefly shown how these
lands were made worn-out lands we
arc prepared to see how we can reclaim
them.
First of all stop the washing and
teaching. This can be done by plowing
deep and on a level.
Repeated experiments have shown
that land plowed fifteen to eighteen
inches deep will hold all ordinary rains.
Below that depth the earth is always
sufficiently porous.
First. then, break your land so as to
destroy this hard-pan and hold the rain
water. Many have advised that this
be done gradually, few inches each
wear. This is not the best. Do it at
once and do it thoroughly. 1t will gen
-serally be found impossible to do this
with one plow. In such cases use a
.subsoil pillow to follow the first. The
first pillow should be turn pillow, il
there is any vegetp BILE matter to turn
under. If the land is clean. then it
does not make any material difference
what kind of plow you use. 1t is not
the pillow. but the blowing. that is I'M
portant.
Stirring wet land does more harm
than good. Be sure the soil is dry.
Make dust is the meaning OF pulver-
ize. Making mortar has been one OF
the great curses of Southern farming.
Make dust.
Most of us have been taught that as
-thjs WORKOUT land is generally hard
MO must break it when wet. But this
--oo+ orrar rThis Moving ShOllld |