98 Bulletin 174. 



B. How TO Reclaim Depleted Lands, 



1. If you think they lack humus, ^^^PP^il ^tMe maiiure or turn 

 under a green-crop. — The best general green-crop is red clover, but 

 it does not catcli well on very sandy and very hard soils. Then 

 begin with any crop which will grow — rj'e, buckwheat, corn, beans, 

 anything to get a start. If the land produces weeds when left to 

 itself, it is good enough to produce something else. Turn the weeds 

 under, sow something, turn it under, sow again ; in two or three 

 years the results will be seen. 



2. Till frequently and wisely. — Many depleted lands need till- 

 age more than humus or plant-food. Usually they need both. Pre- 

 pare the land thoroughly for the green-crop. Plow when the land 

 is most fit. In very hard clays, try fall plowing. 



3. If the land is so poor that it is wholly hare, determine v:)hether 

 it is tiery acid. If it is, a^yply lime or ashes. — Apply some fer- 

 tilizer to enable you to get a start of plants. The start once made, 

 the future is yours. Plow under herbage ; add plant-food as your 

 experiments suggest. 



We have lands wliich are now so completely run out that the sand 

 drifts and no plants can obtain a foothold. It is probable that they 

 can be reclaimed, although it is a question if the reclamation will 

 always pay. Analyses have been made of samples of some of these 

 lands, and it is found that they contain liberal supplies of potash and 

 phosphoric acid, l)ut almost no nitrogen. They are almost wholly 

 lacking in humus. The soils are so leachy that an application of 

 nitrate of soda or other very soluble materials would ])robably be of 

 little avail. Probably the best means of recuperating these lands 

 is to make applications of stable manure and then sow rye or some 

 other cover-crop for the purpose of making a body of humus in the 

 soil. If stal)le manure cannot be had, tankage will be found to be 

 a good substitute since it contains nitrogen in a more or less insoluble 

 form. AVe advise persons who have such lands to experiment with 

 a small piece, and when the experiments prove successful to 

 extend them to a larger area. In the Old World, spurry is used to 

 begin the reclamation of such lands. Seed can be had of the leading 

 seedsmen. 



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