Vol. XYIII, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1857. 



No. 10. 



HOW CAN WE MOST ECONOMICALLY INCREASE 

 THE FEETILITY OF THE &OIL? 



It is high time this question was asked by every 

 land-owner. la many sections of the country it is 

 beginning to force itself on public attention. It is 

 the great problem which American farmers have 

 to solve. This is a new country. Our climate and 

 circumstances are very different from those of Eu- 

 rope. We have comparatively little experience of 

 our own to guide us, and cannot safely adopt prac- 

 tice3 which rest simply on the experience of Euro- 

 pean farmers. We must develope a system of agri- 

 culture adapted to our own peculiar circumstances. 

 To do this we require more science than the farmers 

 of any other country. European farmers have the 

 recorded and traditionary experience of centuries to 

 guide them. Less than half a century ago, the 

 soil, where we now write, was covered with pri- 

 meval forests. The chief aim of the farmer has 

 been to clear the land, and, without regard to perma- 

 nent fertility, to get from it with as little expense as 

 possible such crops as M^ould furnish the greatest 

 amount of ready cash. He has drawn heavily on 

 the natural fertility of the soil. We do not blame 

 him for so doing. It was doubtless the best thing 

 that could be done under the circumstances. But 

 now things are changed. The first flush of fertilizing 

 matter in the soil has been abstracted. The same 

 cultivation will not produce as good crops as former- 

 ly. fFe must find means to enrich the soil. Our ex- 

 perience on this point is limited. We know thai 

 manure will enrich it, but which is the most econom- 

 ical way of making manure we know not. We mean 

 by this that we do not know what crops we ought 

 to grow for the purpose of plowing under, or for 

 feeding to animals on the farm. We possess certain 

 information in regard to the value of manure mada 

 from this or that particular kind of food, but w e do 

 not know what food can be grown with least injury 

 to the soil. In other words, we do not know what 

 plants used as food for animals remove from the soil 

 the least quantity of those substances most required 

 for the growth of wheat and other plants used as 

 food for man. Without this knowledge it is impos- 

 sible to adopt the best system of rotation of crops. 

 On this point we are < ntirely dependent on European 

 experience. In England we know that turnips, clo- 

 ver, peas, beans and vetches impoverish the soil but 

 little, and are the best crops that can be raised for 

 feeding ou the farm. But who can tell us what 

 crops are best for similar purposes in this country? 



The first rational attempt to institute experiments 

 that shall throw light on this subject has yet to be 

 made on the American Continent. Till we have a 

 series of experiments, scientifically designed and 

 carefully executed, we must grope our way in the 

 darkness of ignorance, with what little aid we can 

 get from the fitful and uncertain Ught of accidental 

 and undefined experience. 



To answer the question at the head of this arti- 

 cle, in the present state of agricultural science in 

 this country, is impossible. If it were true that the 

 manurial requirements of plants were indicated by 

 their chemical composition, there would be little 

 difficulty in deducing a rational system of rotation 

 and manuring; but this is not the case. The experi 

 ments of Lawes demonstrate that all conclusions in* 

 regard to the substances best adapted for the growth 

 of plants drawn from their composition, are at best 

 uncertain. Peas and beans contain three times as 

 much nitrogen as wheat, and yet it has been demon- 

 strated that beans and peas require for their maxi- 

 mum growth far less nitrogen than wheat. The ash 

 of wheat contains five times as much phosphoric 

 acid as the ash of turnips, and yet we know that a 

 soil must be richer in available phosphoric acid for 

 the maximum growth of turnips than for wheat. The 

 only way, therefore, in which we can ascertain the, 

 relative proportion in which the elements of plants 

 should exist in a soil to render it the most product- 

 ive for the diCFerent kinds of crops, is by actual ex- 

 periment. "We can hope to make little advance in 

 this direction, till we can have a properly conducted 

 " expeiimental farm." 



Our comparative ignorance in regard to the best 

 systems of rotation and manuring, however, is no ex- 

 cuse for the unskilful processes of agriculture practiced 

 by so many farmers. It would seem useless to de- 

 sire more knowledge, when so few avail themselves 

 of that within their reach. We know quite well 

 that the best system of rotation, of tillage and of ma- 

 nuring, will not enable a soil saturated with stagnant 

 water to produce good crops. Until such land ia 

 underdrained, it is vain to expect an adequate com- 

 pensation for the expense incurred in applying mar 

 nures. It would also seem useless to point out the 

 means of increasing the quantity and value of ma- 

 nure, when so many farmers allow the little manure 

 they make at present to run so shamefully to wasta 

 But such farmers are not readers of the agricultural 

 papers, and the remarks which we have to offer are 

 intended for that enterprising and intelligent class of 

 farmers who avail themselves of every meani of in- 



