206 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



lion with ihe plough. Such a system of hus- 

 bandry will, in time, reclaim ail our worn lands. 

 The cheapest plan, however, will be to use lime, 

 if we are under the necessity of selling properly 

 to pay lor it. I beg leave here to give a word of 

 truth (or farmers, from the ' Raleigh Register.' 

 In one of the old Roman writers there :s a siory 

 told of one Paridus, "who had two daughters 

 and a vineyard. When (he oldest was married, 

 he gave her a third part olthe vineyard ; notwiiii- 

 standing which, he obtained from two-ihirds the 

 same crop as from the whole. When the other 

 was married, he portioned her with half of what 

 remained, and still the produce of his larm was 

 undiminished." This story is an excellent moral, 

 and should be improved, it illustrates the advan- 

 tage of cultivating a small quantity of land well, 

 rather than a greater quantity badly. It is a fact 

 •which strikes the most superficial observer, that 

 farmers generally cultivate too much land. The 

 evils of doing so are obvious : great expense of 

 labor, and imperlect cultivation, by which land is 

 impoverished, and comparatively small profits re- 

 alized. It IS a common idea among farmers, that 

 the best investment of property, because the safest, 

 is in land. When, therelbre, they have accumu- 

 lated a sum of money, they will, if possible, en- 

 large their farms. But, in most instances, it 

 would be as much for their interest to bury their 

 surplus money as to multiply their acres beyond 

 their means of thorough cultivation. Nothing is 

 more true than the remark of a celebrated writer, 

 that "farmers are yet to learn the immense pro- 

 ductive power of a perfectly cultivated acre." 

 Lime, when applied to sandy soils, without vege- 

 table matter, will have nothing to act upon but 

 sand, which forms mortar, such as we use in 

 building. 



Lime given to clay soils, without manure, 

 forms marl, and in either case there is no improve- 

 ment of the soil. Lime given to poor soils, hav- 

 ing a thin coat of vegetation, exerts but a (eeble 

 influence, because there will not be nutritious 

 gases enough after vegetable decomposition to 

 produce luxuriant vegetation. Thin lands, must 

 be manured as well as limed before they can be 

 reclaimed. Lands of ttiis character may, in time, 

 become rich by liming without manure ; if we 

 are careful not to give more lime than such lands 

 can bear; a small quantity on poor soils will be 

 sufficient to decompose its vegetable matter. 

 But if manures be used with lime on poor soils, 

 they are speedily reclaimed.* 



Worn lands in eastern Virginia, such as we 

 cultivate in grain, yielding three bushels to the 

 acre, will be wonderl'ully improved by the applica- 

 tion of lime. Two barrels, or 600 pounds of lime 

 on such lands, will more than double the crop the 

 first year. Rich lands require no lime, it is our 

 worn and exhausted fields we wish reclaimed ; 

 and in order to do this lime must be used as an 

 exciting agent, and vegetation of all kinds will 

 be pushed forward ; the native grasses will in a 

 short time become more luxuriant, and ultimately 

 bring back worn lands to their native fertility. 



Our lands should be limed, as soon as the coat 



* Some farmers lime heavily; but six bushels on thin 

 land will answer a better purpose than six hundred; 

 unless there was in the soil, vegetable matter enough 

 to neutralize it. 



of vegetation is killed by the frost ; or as early 

 in the fall as convenient: immediately alter lim- 

 ing the soil, turn it over with the plough, and the 

 vegetable matter in the spring will have under- 

 gone partial decomposition, and be in a proper state 

 to yield its principles to the tender roots of plants, 

 as soon as the warmth of spring pushes them 

 Ibrward. Where vegetable and animal manures 

 are very fine and well rotted, lime may be used 

 with advantage in the spring ; but coarse unrotted 

 vegetable matters require lime in the fall, in or- 

 der to carry on the work of disorganization 

 through the winter months; and ttie various nu- 

 tritive gases will be evolved for the spring crops. 

 Decomposition will then go on through the spring 

 and summer months and give the growing plants 

 a due portion of aliment : (or their evolution and 

 growth depends on the decomposition of vegeta- 

 ble and animal manures. Some farmers lime in 

 ihe hill, or roll small grain in lime belbre seeding; 

 and it is astonishing to see with what rapidity 

 vegetation is pushed forward for a few weeks. 

 But as soon as the roots extend beyond the hill 

 in a hungry slate, it is truly mortifying to see how 

 rapidly the plant declines ; hence the necessity of 

 spreading lime or manures over the suriace of 

 the earth, that the young roots may be continu- 

 ally supplied with food. 



Observation and experience both teach us 

 that worn lands may be made rich by liming and 

 ploughing. Lands we do not intend (or immediate 

 use, should be inclosed, limed and ploughed, and 

 the succeeding crops of vegetation, being more 

 luxuriant, will increase their fertility : but if we 

 wish to enrich the soil for immediate use, I would 

 suggest the (bllowing plan of treatment. Give to 

 an acre of land, yielding five bushels of wheat, two 

 barrels, or 600 lbs. quick-lime in the fall, and turn 

 it in with the plough; in the spring, seed it in 

 oats or buck-wheat and fallow the crop at harvest. 

 The second crop, will be ready lor the plough in 

 October, to be fkllowed lor wheat and clover. 

 Under favorable circumstances the crop of wheat, 

 the followingyear, will yield 12 bushels, and the 

 land v/ill be made rich when the clover crop is 

 turned in eighteen months after taking the crop of 

 wheat ; or in three years after the application of 

 lime. 



Expense per acre. 

 612^ lbs. lime, 75 cents per cwt. - ^4 50 

 1 bushel oats ----- 40 



1 gallon clover seed - - - 1 00 



$5 99 

 Credit. 

 By 7 bushels wheat, from increased fer- 

 tility of soil 87 00 



So that the first crop of wheat, overpaya the 

 expense of lime and grain given to the land ; — 

 this is not all, the soil is enriched and will produce 

 from the clover fallow 15 or 20 bushels. This 

 plan of treatment should follow hoe crops, with 

 a little variation. If a hoe crop be taken from a 

 field in 1840, the land should be seeded in wheat 

 and clover in the fall, and in the spring of 1841, 

 give one barrel of caustic lime per acre, to the 

 young clover; the wheat crop will be removed 

 in the summer, and in the spring o( 1842, lime 

 the clover again with ihe same quantity, and 

 fallow it in the fall. 

 Lands treated in this way will bear a hoe crop 



