NEW ENGL.AND FARMER. 



PUiJLlSHED 1!Y GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. .5J, NORTH MARKET. STREET, (at thk Agricultural VVarkhuuse.)— T. G. FESSENUEN, EDITOR. 

 V?. BOSTON, WED>fESnAV EVENINtt, MARCH 6, 1833. jn 



COMMUNICATTONS. 



For til! New Engtiivd Farmer. 

 ARABLE LANDS; GKEEN CROPS FOR MA- 

 NURE, <fcc. 



Princeton, JVcw Jersey, Fehruary 21, 1S33. 



Dear Sra, — A.s you have deemed my remarks 

 on tlie culture of Iiidiun corn worth an insertion 

 in your paper, I will proceed to state what I con- 

 sider a judicious and protitahledisposilion of a por- 

 tion of the laud, which has heen occupied hy the 

 corn crop. It may he necessary to say in the fir.si 

 place, the farms in this section of the country are 

 i;cncrally large, varying from 200 to 400 acres, 

 and frojii 20 to 50 acres on each farm is annually 

 planted with corn; a portion of this is set off in 

 the ensuing s(>nng for potatoes, pumpkins, &c. say 

 from 2 to .5 acres. And with the exception ol 

 those who still pursue the old system of open or 

 suunner fallows, the remainder is usually sown 

 with oats; but the system of oat-liusl)audry it ap- 

 pears to me nmst give way to a course of croiis 

 which I consider better calcidated to promote tin 

 farmer's interest, and of which I shall now proceed 

 to sp.^ak. 



\Vlien the corn crop has been ploughed the lasi 

 time, say in the month of July, put on the small 

 harrows, of wliich I spoke in a former coinmuni- 

 catioji anil harrosv the corn twice through ea«;h 

 row one way ; let another hand follow after tin 

 harrow anil sow the land with clover-seed at thi 

 late of about 10 pounds per acre ; in coriSo- 

 quence of the luxuriance of the corn at this sea- 

 sou one row only can be sown at a cast and the 

 seed nuist be thrown low or a considerable por- 

 tion of it will be olistructed by the leaves and 

 lodged around the stalks. After the seed is sown 

 harrow crosswise twice through each I'ow ; the 

 seed will soon come up, and if the season is favor- 

 able get considerable top before the winter sets iiL 

 The next summer it may be pastured until har- 

 vest, and then ploughed for a crop of wheat ur rye 

 which is to be sown in the fall. 



Wheat is decidedly a surer crop sown on land 

 pi-epared in this way, than any other which I 

 have seen |)ractisi;d. If it is desirable to iiiow tin 

 clover for hay or liir soiling cattle, the grouud may 

 be prepared to mow by cutting the corn stubs 

 closj to the ground, and causing it to he rollen 

 with a heavy roller early in the spring. I saw a 

 field mowed last year, the' first crop of which, 1 

 suppose gave from one and a half tons to two tons 

 cured hay per acre. The second crop ploughed in, 

 the land mumired, anrl the ground now occ.uideil 

 with whe.it promising a fine crop. 



This system of husbandry may be fiuniliar to 

 yon and many of your readers, but to me it is in a 

 measure new, having quite recently heen intro- 

 duced among us. It has beeo practised a few 

 years in some sections of I'BUDSylvania, and in 

 Warren county, in New Jersey, with great suc- 

 cess. In Warren county it is customary to plimgli 

 thi! land twice before sowing the wheat, whiili 1 

 believe is an advantage, provided the last plough- 

 ing can be comjileted two or three weeks bcfiin 

 sowing, liut from my little experience 1 woulii 

 rather risk once iiloughiug, than to have th. 

 second performed immediately before the seed is 



i-iinunitted to the grouud, as, besides the benefit 

 which it derives from the atmosphere, 1 consider 

 it highly important that land shoidd lay some 

 lime that it may settle and he rendered more com- 

 pact hy the rains which may fall, which is per- 

 haps of more .advantage to a clover sward than to 

 laud which has been occupied by any other crop, 

 owing to its extreme mellowness. That the 

 quantity of roots in land well set v.ith clover, and 

 that too at the most vigorous stage of its growth, 

 say one year old, must be immense no one can 

 doubt ; and this immense quantity of vegetable 

 matter, and the crop of clover, is attended with 

 little more expense than the seed, as 1 consider 

 the benefit which the corn crop derives from 

 stirring the ground, equivalent to the labor be- 

 stowed in preparing it for the reception of the 

 seed. 



I must say a few words on the subject of i)lough- 

 ing in green crops, and more for the purpose ot 

 obtaining some information from you, than froiu 

 my light which I shall pretend, or expect to 

 throw upon the subject. 



For the benefit of any cro(> I would rather have 

 the same quantity of vegetable matter which has 

 ^rown beneath the soil, than that grown above 

 ihe soil, or in other words would rather have the 

 loot than the top of the clover to plough in ibr 

 iiiauure, unless the land has been recently limeu 

 or a dressing of lime can be applied at the same 

 ■ime. In this opinion I may perhajis be singular, 

 and am willing to admit the fact that I have never 

 heard the same idea suggested by any other in- 

 iliviilual. I will, however, give you my reasons 

 fiir forming this opinion, and if wrong, 1 beg you 

 or some of your able correspondents to set me 

 right. 



It appears to tne the portion of a plant growing 

 above the soil must imbibe from the atmosphere a 

 portion of its oxygen, and combining with the 

 juices of the plant form an acid which is rather 

 injurious to vegetation than otherwise: or per- 

 haps, whicli is quite as plausible, an acid may be 

 formed in the soil during the decomposition ol 

 the vegetable matter, the fermentation of which 

 must be quite rapid where heavy crops are turned 

 iiiidir, as the weather is generally warm when 

 this operation is performed. 



I should be much gratified to see your ojiinion 

 upon this iioint, as I have no doubt it would be 

 nrthoilox. My opinion is founded on the fidlow- 

 ing facts: — having seen various green crops 

 ploughed ill, viz. buckwheat, oats, and clover, 

 and the land sowed with wheat or rye, I have 

 watched closely the results, and where land thus 

 prepared, has been sown with rye without rnaiiun 

 I have nover seen any benefit from the vegetabU 

 matter thus buried in the soil, but in one or twi 

 instances when the green crops have been luxuriant 

 it appeared to injure the succeeding crop <if grain. 

 Where manure has been applied with the green 

 ilrissiiig, and ulieat or rye sown, it appeared to bi 

 of considerable advantage, and when tiiis operation 

 has been tried on land recently limed, or a dress- 

 ing of lime ploughed in with the vegetable matter, 

 .sii fir as my obs rvation has extended it has been 

 itteiided wiih uiiiliirm success. One tact which 

 has led to confirm ineiu this opinion, is that in the 



linestone districts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey 

 farmers frequently plough in green crops, and con- 

 siiler it of great advantage, not only to the land, 

 but to the succeeding crop, while in other districts, 

 intelligent farmers who do not use lime have tried 

 the experiment, and after being laughed at by their 

 neighbors for throwing away a good crop, have 

 abandoned it, believing they derive little or no 

 benefit therefrom. In the county of Warren, they 

 lime the land after they have turned under the 

 clover sward, barrow, and then jjlough for seed. 

 But, whether right or wrong, there is some niys- 

 teiy about this matter which ibr want of a knowl- 

 edge of chemistry I am unable to solve. 



My opinion in relation to it has been that the 

 lime corrects a certain acid which may have beea 

 (brnied in the soil, sweetens the vegetable matter 

 ploughed in, and prepares it to become food for 

 the succeeding crop. Manure I suppose to act 

 in the same manner though in a less degree. 



If you think the above communication contains 

 any thing calculated to promote the interest of the 

 farmer it is at your service. But I fear I have 

 been tedious. If, however, it should only be the 

 means of drawing from you some remarks on the 

 subject S()oken of, I shall (eel myself amply com- 

 pensated lor the little time and labor spent in its 

 preparatinn. With respect, yours, A. C. 



Our cnirespondent has entered on a wide field 

 of investigation, and most of it so far as our knowl- 

 I'dge extend , has been but little explored. Some 

 old agricultural writers have denied tlie possibility 

 of any acid existing in soils. They say the term 

 sour soil, so frequently used by farmers, means 

 nothing more than any barren soil. Later writers, 

 however, maintain that vegetable acids, as well as 

 mineral acids, have existence in some soils, and 

 are often unsusp>cted causes of sterility. Dead 

 acid plants are the most efl^ectual in promoting 

 ;he growth of sour living vegetables. And "the 

 growth of sorrel is not only peculiarly favored by 

 the application of vegetables containing acids al- 

 ready formed, but also by such matters as will 

 (brm acid in the course of their decomposition. 

 Farm-yard manure, and all other putrescent ani- 

 mal and vegetable substances, form acttic acid as 

 tin ir decomposition proceeds. If heaps of rotting 

 naiiure are left without being spread, in a field 

 the least subject to produce sorrel, a few weeks of 

 growing weather will bring out that plant close 

 around every heap — and for some time it will con- 

 titiue to show more benefit from that rank manuring 

 than any other grass." * * » » » 



" All vegetable acids, (except the prussic) how- 

 ever diflTereut in their properties, are composed of 

 ,he sams three elementary bodies, differing only 

 III their proportions,* and consequently are all re- 

 .solvable into each other. A little more or a little 

 iiss of one of these ingredients may change the 

 icetic to the oxalic acid, or that to any other. 



> tJaibuu, Oxygeu a&d Hydrogen. 



