IMPROVING THE SOIL.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2045, 13 September 1880, Page 4

IMPROVING THE SOIL.

Many farms are every year becoming poorer from constant cropping, and the question among the agricultural class is—How will wo reclaim our land or bring it back to its former fertility ? We read and we look to our best farmers for relief, but few have yet diverged from the old ruts, simply a rotation of crops, impoverishing the soil like ono milking a good cow and not feeding her properly, and expecting a good flow of rich milk.

The soils in their texture are so varied, as sandy, clay, loam, and gravelly, being worked wot, and the life-giving properties nearly gone, beside the various changes of season, it is almost impossible to presoribo a sure remedy and mode of cultivation. Farms should be kept up to their average fertility when new, and not allowed to go down, for it is much eaiier to keep up than to restore them, and attended with loss expense, We will never know how to do this until we learn the use of proper fertilisers nearest at hand. Commercial fertilisers are often too expensive, counting first cost, then the freight by rail for several hundred miles. It has been acknowledged by good farmers, and scientific men generally, that red clover is one of onr foremost fertilising plants, and that buckwheat is next in value. The former penetrates the soil with its tap roots and rootlets loosening up the soil, while the stems and foliage gather chemical properties from the atmosphere. Now, as these ar.e facts, we have a good fertiliser near at hand, if properly managed. Our motto should bo, till a less number of acres and do it better, and gather off of one acre more than some do off of two, and make “ better gains.” On thin land I would advise sowing buckwheat, and turn it while in bloom, for the reason that all plants when forming their seed require more nourishment from the soil than at any other time, and vegetation of all kinds will rot more readily when ploughed under green. But clover is our best plant to utilise. I would advise the ploughing of the land for clover early, as soon os dry enough, in the spring, whore land is thin or badly worn, to the depth of three or four inches ; then harrow down fine and level, sow the seed about at the rate of one bushel to eight acres. The seed should be tested before sowing, by trying some in a box of good damp soil set close to the fire. The seed should be new seed to insure a good stand. Immediately after the sower, let a boy follow, with a lot of fine brush drawn by a horse, in the same manner as brushing in turnips. Some get a good stand by sowing on wheat land in the spring, or with a light sowing of oats, but land must be pretty new to insure a good stand, and sown early. To make the best use of clover as a fertiliser, take a good sod plough and cutter and turn the crop under while in bloom (say in June for winter wheat) five or six inches deep. After it has lain a short time harrow thoroughly the same way that it was ploughed, and cultivate two or three times during the summer before seeding time with corn cultivator ; set light so as not to disturb the sod, Harrow, roll, and pack well before drilling in your wheat. The next year sow wheat, or reserve for com.

Another way of handling clover with good results is as follows :—Let the crop grow in the spring for hay; out it as soon as the bloom fades, and stack or put into the barn. Then let the clover come on with the second crop for seed ; cut the seed off, and then break up late in the fall, deep This will deposit a lot of seed in the bottom of the furrow, which, if not disturbed, will lay dormant in the ground. Plough shallower the following spring for com, cultivate well ; cut up the corn in large shock rows, and plough deep enough to bring up the dormant clover ; harrow and roll the land ; thoroughly drill in your wheat early in the season for the latitude you are in ; save your barnyard manure and straw manure, and with it try and get your land of average quality, by using it on the thinner spots, which occur more or less on every farm. Brother farmers, try these experiments as I have described in this article, and see if it will not give you full cribs, wheat bins, and a fat pocket-book.