Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-07-04

leave the soil barren all through the
Fall and Winter, "A thing which Ma
ture would not do, and they would no.
If they realized that each acre left il
this way costs them So per year. thai
! is. the nitrateS which have formed il
the soil during the Summer months
are being given OIL during September
October and November. until the
ground freezes.
IF they had SOwn vetch and rye as
soon as the corn had been cut, they
would have caught these nitrates, and
: made them part Of the vetch and
rye, and really have added as much
to the plant food in an acre as though
they had applied So worth of nitrate
of soda, and in addition would nave
! had the humuS to help hold the moist
ure the next year
Here are two lessons for you to
learn today: First. that Nature be
lieveS in rotation of crops. and fol
lows the parallel-veined plants with
the net-veined; secondly, that Ma
ture believes in cover crops. and that
a field should never be left bare, CT
Summer fallOw, as some call it, Give
it clover. alfalfa. or vetch. to work
with, and the land will be adding the
nitrateS which these plants take from
the air, and also storing up the nj
trateS which have already formed.
and working them into a form which
will preserve them for future use.
But now coming back to the first
question: Why do we pillow There
are as many answers to this question
As there are kinds of soil, and the an
swer must b. according to the soil
you have to handle If clay, it will
ne entirely different from this sand.
and what Is good for one kind of sand
may not be best for another. but here
We have No. s. have told YOU about
the acid from the pine needles You
can see the moss, which indicates that
thi, land IS decidedly acid, as moss
viii not grow on alkaline land.
There IS little dark cOloring to
the surface - be sure. but if you will
take some Of that surface soil and
place il I'm q test tube. ami burn II,
YOU will find that there il very little
that will burn, and that in reality
most Of this dark color is nothing but
charcoal. the result of former fires
IF the land was in condition to be
titled, and W. could apply enough
limestone, mari, or wood ashes Co the
surface to nautraliZe this acid, and il
had a considerable amount Of humus
in it. ! should not want to plow il as
deep a | DO now If the roots were
out 50 that you could pIow eight
inches deep. would say to turn down
this surface soil and get it far
-, 81 ka -, httK
that acid. and give us new sand to
start with. but blowing it as shallow
as you can you will find your pIOw
point will run under enough roots to
tax your strength and patience, and
so this first blowing must De as Sha.-
low As you can make it.
The first idea is to free the ground
Of the ferns. willows and opening
grasses. rather than 10 turn over the
whole root system We must get rid
Of this wild growth. and this is the
easiest way know Of. Is your coul-
ter sharp?
Guess can shave with it" said
Sam Il thought | would need it, and
50 | ground it w last night after !
got through with the chores.
That's good said the Sand Far
mer. Now set your plOw for two or
three inches. and see how that goes.
As soon a Sam was ready to start
he graSped the plOw handles, and
spoke to his horses. and they jumped
into their collars. They had not gone
many feet before the pillow point ran
under a root. and they were brought
up short, while the handles Of the
pow raped Sans ribs a sharp blow
and made him calculate something
which We will not attempt to print.
"Steady. my boy. steady said the
Sand Farmer, you're only starting
i'm on this battle. and you and your
horses will have TO learn patience.
This Is what I meant when said it
was easier to rush into battle and die,
than il was 20 stay bv such job
and live. Keep back a little from the
handles and hold your horses steady
When you get near a stump bear
down or the handles, and let your
point come up. and when you have
passed the stump set the point in
again Let me drive for you once
around. and show you what | mean. "
The pIow was pulled back and an
other start made and the horses soon
learned to ease up on the collar when
the point touched a root, but before
! the day was over both the horses and
Sam felt as though they had been in
a real battle, and they were tired and
stiff and sore. Sans back ached from
the pulling back Of the plow and his
ribs were black and blue from the
raps he had received from the pillow
handles More than once he was
tempted to give up and go home, but
every time, ne thought Of the North
Star watching him, although he could
not see it, and then he thought of his
mother, and went at his task anew.
After supper, as he sat on the
piazza with the Sand Farmer, mother
was softly playing at the piano the
old hymn:
crock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee"
J The Sand Farmer said to Sam, we
don't have any rocks in this country
and we don't know the real meaning
OF those words. Once | was crossing
over Mount Marcy, and in some way
we got the wrong trail, and just as