298 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



creasing the fertility of their soil, but are unable to 

 make ii as productive as is desirable. 



In the majority of ca.--e3, underdraining is the first 

 stop to be taken in all attempts at increasing the fer- 

 tility of the soil. It will do more for Americ'an ag- 

 riculture than it has for that of Great Britain. Our 

 rains are heavier and more prolonged, and our 

 droughts longer and more intense. Underdraining 

 •carries off the water when it is in excess, and increa- 

 ses the supply when it is deficient. Where land is 

 not worth more than $10 per acre, it may not be 

 profitable to exj.end from $^20 to $30 per acre in un- 

 derdraining; but where land that needs underdrain- 

 ing is worth $50 per acre, nothing can be more pro- 

 fitable. Underdraining is a permanent investment. 

 It frequently doubles the crops. The soil can be 

 plowed earlier in the spring and later in the fall. 

 Underdraining inci cases the temperature of the soil, 

 and crops mature much earlier. The entire in- 

 crease of the crops is net profit. In other words, if 

 it costs $10 per acre to raite a crop of wheat on un- 

 drained soil, and the crop sells for $15, there will be 

 $5 per acre profit; while on the undordrained acre, 

 if the crop sells for $.30, there will be $20 profit. 

 The crop is only doubled, while the profit is quad- 

 rupled. 



To increase the quantity and quality of the ma- 

 nure should be the next object. The mineral ma'ter 

 in a ton of ordinary barn yard manure can be pur 

 chased in the form of ashes, plaster and bone-dust, 

 for levss than 15 cents; and the carbonaceous matter 

 can be obtained in the form of peat, muck, &c., for 

 5 cents. All the substances iu a ton of manure, 

 therefore, except the ten pounds of ammonia that it 

 contains, can be purchased for 20 cents. If manure 

 id worth a dollar a ton, the 10 lbs. of ammonia is 

 worth 80 cents, or four times as much as all the 

 other ingredients of the manure. We may add that 

 there is no artificial source of ammonia from which 

 it can be obtained for less than 12 cents per lb. In 

 making manure, therefore, the great object is to get 

 ammonia. The atmosphere" and rain water contain 

 it, and plants can obtain it from these sources. Some 

 plants can obtain more than others. Other things 

 being equal, we should grow those plants which ob- 

 tain the most from these natural sources. It has 

 been ascertained by experiment, that clover, peas, 

 beans, vetches and lupins, obtain a considerable 

 qiiantity of ammonia from the air, rain, dews, &c., 

 while wheat, barley, and probably other similar 

 ])lants, do not. The more we can grow of the for- 

 mer and the less of the latter, the richer will our soil 

 become, provided they are consumed on the farm by 

 animals, and the manure returned to the land. 



The more ammonia a manure contains, the more 

 valuable will it t>e. The quantity of ammonia in a 

 minure bears a con.stant proportion to the nitrogen 

 (ammonia) in the food consumed by the animals. 

 Other things being equal, therefore, we should not 

 only grovv those plants which obtain the most am- 

 nionia from the atmosphere, but should feed out on 

 the farm those foods which, other things being equal, 

 contain the most nitrogen (ammonia.) Among 

 these, peas, beans and oil cake hold the first rank. 

 Either of the?-e^foods contain nearly three times as 

 much nitrogen as barley, oats, rye, &c., and the ma- 

 nure made from their consumption would be nearly 

 jthree times as valuable. Clover hay contains twice 

 is m^ch nitrogen as timothy hay; pea and bean 



straw twice as much aa wheat, barley, oat and rye 

 straw, and the manure made Irom them would be 

 correspondingly valuable. 



Among the most economical means of increasing 

 the fertility of the soil at present known, therefore, 

 are underdraining, good tillage — svhioh not only de- 

 stroys weeds, but renders the ujerl matter of the soil 

 available, and enables it to absorb more ammonia 

 from the atmosphere; growing less wheat, barley, 

 oats, rye, timothy grass, &l- , and more clover, peas, 

 beans, vetches, lupins, and other leguminous plants, 

 as well as more turnips and other root crops; keep- 

 ing more stock, and feeding them wiih the laht 

 named plants, and carefully preserving and applying 

 the manure. 



STUDY THE MECHANICAL QUALITIES OF THE SOIL. 



AVhile we can hardly be said to have paid tcM 

 tmich attention to the simple elements of plants 

 which a soil contains, we may safely aver that we 

 have given far too little attention to the mechanical 

 condition of the soil — to its power of absorbing 

 moisture and fertilizing gases from the atmosphere, 

 to its retentive and cnpillary powers, and to the qujin- 

 tity of water required to saturate it. Led away by 

 the delusive fascinations of the '• Miierai" and " Spt- 

 cial'' manure theories, we have neglected for the past 

 ten or fifteen years to study these characteristics of 

 soils; and, indeed, many writers at the present day 

 appear to have forgotten that soils have any such 

 qualities. 



It is known that soils which contain much humvs 

 or decayed vegetable matter, have great power in 

 drawing moisture from the air. Clay, too, possesses 

 this power to a great extent, but it should be well 

 pulverized in order to allow the air to permeate 

 through it. Pure sand does not possess this powt r 

 at all; and yet sandy soi's which contain a little 

 clay and humus, often suffer less from drouth than 

 tenacious clays, owing doubtless to their permeabili'y. 

 Sir HuMPHRKY Davis says: "The soils which are 

 most ffficient iu supplying the plant with water, by 

 atmospheric absorption, are tho^e in which there is a 

 due ndxture of sand, finely divided clay, and carbon- 

 ate of lime, with some animal or vegetable matter; 

 and which are so loose and light as to be freely per- 

 meable to the atmosphere. With respect to this 

 quality, carbonate of lime and animal and vegetable 

 matter are of great use in soi's; they give absorbent 

 power to the soil without giving it tenacity. Sand, 

 on the contrary, which also destroys tenacity, gives 

 little absorbent power. I have compared the ab- 

 .sorbeut power of many soils with respect to atmos- 

 pheric moisture, and I have always found it great- 

 est in the most fertile soils; so that it affords one 

 method of judging of the productiveness of land." 

 There is a rich field open for investsgatiou in this 

 direction, and we should be thankful for the experi- 

 ence of our readers. 



The quantity of water required to thoroughly 

 .■saturate the various earths, is a question of much 

 importance. Schubler found that a cubic foot, 

 when thoroughly saturated, contained of water as 

 follows: — Silicious sand, 27.3 lbs.; gypsum powder, 

 27.4; calcareous sand, 31.8; carbonate of lime 47.5; 

 fine slaty marl, 35.6; pure grey clay, 43.3; stiff clay 

 or brick earth, 45.4; garden mould, 48.4. The fact 

 that " garden mould" imbibes more water than any 



