The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1915-02-11
Fulton County Soils.

n cOnClnudClOU Ol our HIIl'
ia IS to young people about Full
ton county slate and shale lands
we will begin where we left of
last week. We saw how neces
sary it is TO have lots of humu'
in the so'l-rotted vegetable mat
ter organic matter-or whatev
er name you prefer to call it-as
they are practically the same
This week we will make sugges
tions how to get it and thereby
make your land new" again
But before making the sugges
tions, we will call your attention
to some excellent business prac
ticed by manufacturers. Every
now and then manufactures shut
down and stop all production il
order to make repairs to the en-
CINE, machinery, buildings &c,
Every one knows that it is bet.
ter to do this than to let the ma
chinery shake itself to pieces be,
fore stopping altogether. Now,
what is a farmer if he is not a
manufacturer? He uses machi-
merry, air, water, and a combina-
tion of minerals to make corn,
wheat, beef, mutton, &c. There
fore, if it is good policy for man.
ufacturers of other commodities
to shut down occasionally be-
cause of needed repairs to some
parts of his plant, why not for
the farmer also when his soil is
out of repair? If you have a field
that you know has become poor
because it has been farmed too
hard, soil thin and washing away
shut down" for year, or, if
necessary, two years, and repair
that field. The production will
double for many years after
wards, and your final profits will
be great. If you feel that you
cannot spare the very poor crop
to be had by scratching over the
field without stopping to repair it
then make sale this spring and
quit farming while you have
something to sell, for the long
er you try to farm wornout soil
the poorer you will grow.
There are a number of things
that will grow on poor land in
sufficient quantities to furnish
humus when ploughed do W n.
One of them is Sweet Clover.
Find reliable western scotsman
and order a sack of sweet clover
seed and sow that field and let
the clover mature, plow it down
and let it rot. If not satisfied
with one crop, plough down an
other, especially if the first one
was light. Soy beans will do the
same for your old field. But we
think clover will do better here.
With apologies to Mr.. David A.
Black, of Waterfall, this county,
we take the liberty of referring
readers to a field he reclaimed
from the commons by exactly
this method. Perhaps he helped
the young plants a little by a
drink OF limewater and some
powders of which he will give
you the formula, but there is the
field to speak for his methods.
But if you cannot lime and buy
fertilizer to help the sweet clover
sow it anyhow-it will grow.
Sweet clover is not known by
sight to many. Specimens, how
ever, can be found growing as
weeds here and there in the coun
ty. 1t sometimes grows to a
length Of seven feet, sends great
roots into the subsoil, and when
not crowded, the main stem
grows to the thickness of your
finger. 1t makes fine pasture,
and will catch" where alfalfa
and some Of the other clovers re-
fuse to grow. A ton of dried
sweet clover contains about 35
pounds of nitrogen worth Sc to
81. Most of the nitrogen in this
legume is drawn from the air.
Local Institute.