IMPROVING WORN-OUT LAND

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1714, 30 June 1883, Page 4

IMPROVING WORN-OUT LA ND

Uhder the heading " How to do it," the San Francisco Weekly Chronicle publishes the fplfowing aoootlnt of what had been effected by a-, farmer oa poor land in America, a story from whiuh with tbo remarks following it, a hint may perhaps be taken by some of our farmers : "In 1871, a fanner bought 400 acres of reputed poor land iv Grlynn county, Georgia, and poor land there is poor laud indeed. Upon this land he put 100 sheep. In 1873 by natural increase he had 376 ewes, and had sent to market 73 wethers. He hail a portable fence, and penned his sheep nightly, and e\ cry tn o nights they manured two and a halt acres well. In the first eight years he. had 100 acres of land highly manured and in a state of cultivation, which, when lie purchased it, was almost worthless. This man has always kept a book account of eveiy dime and dollar spent upon his sheep, and by casting up a balance sheet alter several yeais found that his sheep cost him exactly 75 uunts, or 3s l^d, per annum por head. They averaged him about three and a hall pounds of wool each. Last spring he clipped in May and again in September, and the clip amounted to five and a halt pounds per head. Last year he sold 80001b oi wool, making an absolute net profit of 10"64d0J (1:34b 1 13s 4d). Last year he sold 92 wethers as mutton for 342d0l (£7l os), making a total of 2259d0l (£ll7 ISs 4d) ; besides this, from 84 acres of the fertilised poor land — 41 acres in corn, averaging 31 bufehels (1271 bushels at 2s = £03 Us); 10 in sugarcane, that made 59 barrels of syrup ; 13 in oats, that averaged 42 bushel to the acre (030 bushels at 2d = £31 10s; or, £95 Is forjeoru and oats), besides growing.other truck. Now, if a man can take a poor piece of land and with good management bring it into a high state of productiveness at no expense, but, on the contrary, make money all the time he is doing it, cannot a person take good land and keep it up to its present standard ? Ot course it can be done, with far less trouble than the pooi land can be brought up ; but the trouble is that when the otdiliary tiller of the soil starts on good virgin soil, he is prone to behe\e that with ordinary cultivation it will always remain so, and he puts forth no eflorts to keep up the fertility ot the soil, and as his land yields a little less year by year, he attributes the cau.se to the reason or the seed, and never lor a moment thinks that it is on account of the constant and gradual decline in the fertility ot the soil. The proper way to farm is to keep your land in at least its original condition of fertility aud this can be done with anythlikc good management. Then it should be the object and elloit ot eveiy landowner to bo manage as to keep up the fertility."