74 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



hard, and frequently stiffen loose surfaces.* The grass seed harrowed into 

 a properly prepared soil, at the suitable season of the year, might so root 

 itself as to withstand the subsequent heats, while those dropped on a hard 

 or a loose surface by birds, or borne there by winds, would be exposed 

 directly to the rays of the sun, which, if it did not entirely prevent germ- 

 ination, would dry up and kill the tender roots before they could strike 

 deep enough to resist its influence. Much will depend, in this experi- 

 ment, upon a proper selection of the variety of grass sown. That variety 

 should be sown which is found to flourish best on similar soils, in the same 

 climate, even though relatively it may be an inferior grass.t 



By means as cheap and attainable as these, I have not a doubt that no 

 inconsiderable portions of the nearly naked soils of the lide-WLier zone 

 might be brought into pasture sufficiently good to make their ultimate con- 

 version into prime pastures, by means of sheep husbandry, certain. 



On the worn-out granite soils of th middle region, the once fertile red 

 clay lands now occupied only by dwarf pines, worthless broom-grass, etc. 

 deep plowing and thorough sowing (with' the aid of steeps and the cheap 

 top-dressing, before adverted to) would generally, I believe, bring these 

 lands into pretty good pasture. These soils, having been subjected only 

 to the one-horse plow, and hand tillage, are worn out only on the surface, 

 This is proved, in innumerable- instances, in Fairfax, and other northern 

 counties of Virginia. Lands considered entirely worn out, and sold for a 

 mere trifle, are subjected to the northern two-horse plow, and from one to 

 three inches of earth, never before disturbed, is brought to the surface, 

 which readily supports grass, and even grain crops the latter tempora- 

 rily. Thus, most fortunately, the means are still left, with the aid D!' pas- 

 turage, to make many of these lands profitably productive, and to restore 

 them to much of their former fertility. 



We come now to another class of lands which may, in many cases, be 

 worth reclaiming, but which will not, by merely being plowed and sown, 

 produce sufficient grass to make their fertilization by sheep husbandry at- 

 tainable or attainable within a moderate period of time. These are thti 

 inferior (but not the worst) sands of the tide-water zone. Here green 

 manuring must be resorted to, by means of plants which will better with' 

 stand the climatic and other difficulties in the way of their getting well- 

 rooted, and which will flourish in poorer soils than the grasses. Both of 

 these conditions are answered by various plants. Spurry ( Spergula arvcn- 

 ftisj and white Lupins ( Lupinus albus) will flourish on dry, barren, and 

 even shifting sands, and are extensively used as green manuring crops on 

 such soils, on the Continent of Europe. From their rapid growth and ex- 

 traordinary productiveness, they are admirably adapted to this end. The 

 introduction of these plants would probably supply an important desidera- 

 tum in Southern Agriculture, unless, as I have already expressed the opin- 

 ion,! the pea leaves little to wish for, as a green manuring crop on every 

 class of southern soils. Soaked in a solution of nitre rolled in lime top- 

 dressed, after sprouting, with a slight sprinkling of ashes and gypsumjj 



* The sands of the tide-water zone aro everywhere, at greater or less depths, underlaid by clay. Thes 

 might in some cases be reached by the plow, and portions of them incorporated with the superincumbent 

 soil 



t See Letter III. } In Letter III. 



|| Sprengel's analysis, in Letter-Ill., chows the larc;e amount of potash required for the seed, and of lime 

 fat" the; straw of the pea. The favorable effect of plaster on this, as on most other IcguminosiB, is wel' 

 known. Ashes, plaster and lime can be purchased here at an average of less than ten cents a bushel. A 

 bushel of gypsum, mixed with say two bushels of ashes, makes a top-dressing which will pay for itself a 

 number of" times over, on any land to which I have ever seen it. applied. In addition to rolling the seed in 

 iine, a few bushels of it, or of marl, would ma ! <e a good, and, where accessible and cheap, an economical 

 top-dressing. When I speak uf the price of lime here, I do not refer to marl. The lutler, in Its natural 

 lute, could be purchased at the beds lor probably a sin" .ing a load. 



