No. 7. 



Improve the Soil. 



203 



talents to understand all that relates to these 

 constantly operating causes, with the power 

 to make the most of tliem, are more rarely 

 concentrated in one person, than the know- 

 ledge and capacity to be eminent in the other 

 professions, — this, and the defused position of 

 farmers, form some of the causes to which 

 may be ascribed the circumstance of there be- 

 ing few pre-eminent farmers. 



]3ut it is evident that tliis all-important 

 business has now entered upon a new epoch, 

 and which is manifesting itself in more atten- 

 tion to the selecting of good seed, new arti- 

 cles of culture, whereby the rigours of winter 

 are equalized with the food of summer — bet- 

 ter breeds of cattle, and above all, by the 

 iiumber and excellence of the treatises and 

 periodicals that are published in this country, 

 and Great Britain, and to which every farmer 

 should attend, and be especially careful to see 

 that his sons read and reflect on the subjects 

 they treat of. 



Improve the Soil. 



The article which follows points out several 

 methods of improving the soil. Every far- 

 mer knows very well the superior proBt of a 

 fertile soil in the production of crops that 

 liberally repay him for his labour ; but every 

 one is not equally sensible of the various 

 ways of enriching his lands, nor does he 

 eagerly embrace every opportunity within his 

 knowledge. 



Farmers should awaken and look to the im- 

 portance of this subject, embrace every chance 

 within the reach of their means and informa- 

 tion, to render their soil more fertile ; and 

 they will soon find a permanent improvement, 

 and it will give better crops with less labour, 

 for a mellow fertile soil is the most easy to 

 work. Many means of improving the soil 

 are neglected for want of information, and 

 wlien new plans are recommended they are 

 adopted slowly, as many cannot confide in 

 any practices that were not sanctioned by the 

 usage of our forefathers. 



" The golden rule in agriculture is to apply 

 such manures and tillage as will make heavy 

 land lighter, and light land heavier, cold land 

 hotter, and hot land colder." He only is a 

 farmer who knows and follows this rule. 



Lands are seldom so rich but it may be a 

 matter of gain to increase the fertility ; and 

 few tracts are so poor but that with proper 

 tillage and manuring, they may be made the 

 residence of plenty. 



Manures are composed of all those sub- 

 stances which either directly or indirectly, 

 supply plants with their requisite food, by 

 means of which they are enabled to expand 

 and come to maturity. 



In the first place, the different earths will 



serve to manure each other. Thus, clay is a 

 fertilizer of a light sandy soil, and sand is 

 equally a fertilizer of clay. Where clay ig 

 applied to a sandy soil, it should be carted on 

 in the fall, and spread evenly over the ground, 

 that the frost may pulverize it before it is 

 mixed wJlh the soil in the spring. 



The better these earths are mixed in the 

 respective soils, the more sensible and imme- 

 diate will be their effect: but their principal 

 excellence is that they are calculated perma- 

 nently to improve the soils to which they are 

 applied. Stiff loams are also in the same 

 way assisted by sand, and sand again by these ; 

 but neither in so great a degree as in the for- 

 mer case. Generally it may be observed that 

 all light, dry soils are improved by being 

 mixed with heavy earths, and vice versa. 



Sand and fine gravel will greatly fertilize 

 the soil of bog meadows, and this earth again 

 is very good manure for all upland soils. It 

 is peculiarly excellent for Indian Corn when 

 applied to the hills, and is very good for fiax, 

 hemp, and most other summer crops. Like 

 gypsum, it is friendly to the growth of white 

 clover. When applied to upland grasses it 

 should be laid on as a top dressing. Every 

 kind of black mud from ponds and swamps, 

 answers a somewhat similar purpose ; though 

 if the mud be stiff and clayey, it should only 

 be applied to a light dry soil. 



The different sorts of marl found in bog 

 swamps are also excellent manures for all up- 

 land soils. These earths are usually found at 

 the depth of from one to three feet from the 

 surface, and are either of a white, gray or 

 brownish colour. The former is the most 

 efficacious, and the latter the least so, their 

 strength being in proportion to the quantity 

 of carbonate of lime they contain. It is best 

 to mix these earths with the mass of black 

 earth or bog dirt, that forms the upper stratum, 

 in order to reduce their strength, and when 

 thus mixed, a load of even the weakest kinJ 

 is more efficacious than two of common barn 

 dung. 



Their operation as manures is similar to 

 that of t!ie Nova Scotia gypsum, have little 

 or no effect when first applied to wheat and 

 rye ; but by its afterwards covering the ground 

 with a thick grou'th of white clover, it is 

 rendered fit for producing largely of these 

 crops. The same may be observed of the bog 

 dirt. Like this, these marls are peculiarly 

 excellent for Indian corn, and all summer 

 grain, and a less quantity is sufficient. They 

 may be used as top-dressing or otherwise. 



Ashes as a manure are found to be more 

 efficacious in some parts of the country than 

 in others, generally most so, when applied to 

 lands near the ocean. In some parts where 

 the soil is extremely light and the bottom 

 sand, the farmer can afford to pay 12^ cents 



