372 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAT 85, IS4J 



IMPROVEMF.NT OP THE SOIL BY FAL- 

 LOW CROPS. &c. 

 "The fallow Uino,"says Liebig, "is that period 

 of culture (luriiiK which land is exposed to a pro- 

 jrressive diaii\let,'ration by n.eiina of the iniluence 

 of the iilinospticre, for the purpose of rendering n 

 certain quantity of nlkaliea capable of being appru- 

 priated by plants." ' 



By falluiv crops is meni.t the raisin;: of some 

 crop on green sward while the turf is decaying, in- 

 stead of allowing the land to remain a naked fal- 

 low during this process. 



Tlie object then of fallows, ia to procure the de- 

 cay of vegetable nralters, and the abstraction of al- 

 kalies from the mineral portions of the soil. 



jXuUed fallou-s accomplish both of these objects, 

 and have been long- practiced both in this country 

 and in England. The practice with us has been 

 to plow up grass lands in June or July, and after 

 cross-plowing and harrowing, to sow with winter 

 grain in September or October. In England the 

 land was formerly plowed in the fall, and worked 

 over during the following summer. In both cases 

 one crop is lost; but, though naked fallows answer 

 the intended purpose tolerably well, they are now 

 abandoned by every intelligent farmer on both sides 

 of the water ; with the exception perhaps of wet 

 stiff clayn, which are ameliorated hy e.xposing the 

 naked furrows to the frosts of winter. 'J'he evils 

 of the system are more than tipiivalent to the bene- 

 fitc. The labor is much increased, one crop is 

 lost, and the vegetable matters are dissipated, by 

 their exposure to the air during the process of 

 working the land. 



Eullow crops, on the other hand, avoid these 

 evils, and si'cure greater benefit both to the soil 

 and the crop. 



Process. — 'I'o prepare the soil for a fallow crop, 

 all that is needed is to plow the green award and 

 roll it down ; then, after harrowing thoroughly, the 

 eeed should be sown upon the inverted furrows, 

 either in the spring or fall. If the land i.s stiff and 

 wet, the autumn is preferable ; if light and dry, the 

 spring is tlie best season. 



The ulUibj of fallow crops, instead of naked fal- 

 lows, may be shown by reference to the influence 

 of growing vegetables upon the soil. The elimina- 

 tion of alkalies and decay of vegetable matter are, 

 as we have said, the only objects of fallows. 



It may easily be shown, that both of these ends 

 are much better attained by tilling the fallow land; 

 for, 



1. The alkalies are furnished in greater abun- 

 dance by this procr;68. It matters not whether the 

 land is covered by woodi, or wiih some crop which 

 will take up but few alkalies, such as potash and 

 phosphateH. Now it is found that several legumi- 

 nous plants will grow upon a soil, and will abstract 

 from It but a minute portion of alkalies. The 

 " Windsor bean {viciafahn) contains no free alka- 

 lies, and only ime per cent, of the phosphates uf 

 lime and magnesia." (Kinhof.) "The kidney bean 

 (phnscotus rii/iTfTm) contains only traces of Hall."." 

 ( liraconnot.) " Tho stem of Inceru {medirn/ro saliva) 

 contains only 0.8:) per crnt., that of tho lontil (eri'iim 

 Uns) only 0.57 of phosphate of lime with albumen." 

 {Crome.) " Buckwheat, dried in the eun, yields 

 only O.fiSI per cent, of ashes, of which 0.09 parts 

 are soluble salts." {Liebifr.) Hence these plants 

 and with others, have been called fallow crops. U 

 will be perceived that the alkalies which the oxy- 

 gen ond carbonic ncid of tho air are eliminating 

 Irom the soil, will be increased ia this case, be- 



cause the roots of the crop will permit these agenU lingly simple. It .s evident that what is taken fro 

 lo act with greater power the soil must be returned to it, or the and will I 



The powfr of growing plants to decompose the j impo^erished. We have seen that salts and ge. 

 rocks, and to eliminate alkalies, has already been | are removed. This process simply restores the 

 rrequl-mlv referred to ; and as but a small quantity L The green crop being buried deeply m t 

 of alkali '.s removed by .he fallow crop, the amount ground, soon begins to ferment "nd decay , a 1. 

 ,n the soil is, upon the whole, increased. quantity of organic food is thus added to the 



2. It is further evident, that the roots leave in But humus or geine is not the only substance 

 the soil nearly as much vegetable matter as is car- U^red by plants. 1 hey must have -» kal.es^ 

 ied away in the stalks and grain. This dcf.cien- 2. These are supplied in part by the influ 

 cy is made up by the influence of growing plants of the atmosphere, the ordinary process of U.sil 

 upon the humus-of the soil. There is little doubt, gration But this is trifling con.pared w h 

 b t that decay proceedn much more rapidly when 3. The galvanic effect of the '--ng P ant 

 th«,soil is tilled than when it is not; and the rea- agency of growing plants has hitherto been o^ 

 on is the galvanic agency of the root, and the ! looked in this connection As the roots fom 

 fLii^^'y whicMhevoff^rfor'the introduction of airigalvanic battery with the soil, they become 

 and water, by loJser.ing the soil, lend powerfully I most powerful decomposing agents. Now 

 " asten the' decay of^humus, or to convert the ! know thai the poorest ^^^^^^^IZtTul 

 vegetable matters into vegetable food. The fer- ,tain a large quantity of alkalies, potash, lime. 

 nSion o. the sod wilfbe more complete when locked up in the rocks. 'J hese are drawn inlo 

 i is turned in deep, and the gaseous products will organs of plants, where as soon as covered 

 beret ned by the superincumbent earth ; hence earth, ihey exist in a fit stale to nourish f u t , 

 vemay draw'an argun^nt for deep plowing, and 1 crops. If then, we can make « P'- e-"" "j '^ 

 -' _ ^ . .... t-._i.. ..r^,^« o,,/.!, cr,i c vvA rnn render them lertlle g 



for letting the sod remain until it has completely 

 passed through the fermenting process. 



Turning in Green Crops.— The turning in of 

 green crops, has long been a reputed source of ren- 

 dering barren soils fertile. It is well suited to any 

 soil which requires either to he rendered lighter, or 



to be filled with vegetable matter and salts. I''S'>t ' f^pg „„[ only fgsiores what is exhausted by 

 sandy soils, such as pine barrens and loams which j^^^^^^ ^^^ renders the texture much better fitted 

 have been exhausted by a long course of cropping | ^^^"^ ^^^^^ ^j. pi^n^g a,,j t|,c goj| itgelf a brltcr 

 without manuring, are most benefited, while stiff 

 clays are rendered much warmer and more friable. 



Processes. — I. Green crops may be sown for the 



upon such soils, we can render them fertile bj 

 turning in green crops, and thus furnishing the tft 

 quisite amount of geine, alkalies and salts. '^!i| 

 soil is loo barren to produce plants, a small coatHS 

 of ashes will give a start to the green crop, anl 

 then the soil may soon be rendered fertile. 



In case of clayey soils, ihe turning in of gre 

 crops not only restores what is exhausted by " 



the roots of plants, and the soil itself a bntcr 

 tainer of heat. 



In case of dry, gravelly soil.-s, the nddilioi 

 . - . ,vegttable matttr gives the power of absorbing 



purpose and turned in, either before the seed ri- n,„°gj„re „nj equalizing the heat ; li«nce, il pro- 

 pens (in which case two crops may lie turned 'n|tectsiho plant from the extremes of diy and w«t 

 ihe same season,) or after the crop is nearly ripe, i^^^^^^^ 



In Ihe first case, before the ripening of the seed, I xhe importance of this mode of improvement k 

 the plant derives most of its substance from the al- ! ^^^ ^^Hy f^^^ ,,y ,,„j. farmers. By sowing a fe» 

 mosphoicj but when the seeds are ma'u"ng. '•• i pomijg of clover seed with his grain crops, tl.c fir. 

 draws directly upon the matters in the soil. Some : ^_^^,^ ^^^ ^^ constantly augmenting the fertility d 

 experiments have been made to decide which course j^.^ ^^jj wiihoiit the loss of a single crop ; and evtl 

 is best, and they incline to the dry crop. If I"'' jf (,ig jands rest a year, and all their produce il 

 one crop is to he added to the soil, this would be ^^^.^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ j|,py ^^n ^p^e than return i 

 the best process, because it adds o greater amount |'^ ^ ^^^^ years, by the larger quantity and belter 

 of salts and humus ; but two green crops are bet- ^yj^jjjy ^\- ^^^g^J produclionsr 



ter than one dry crop. Buckwheat and oats answer , j^ ^j,, ^^ ^^^^ j^^j fallow crops and the turnio| 

 well (or this purpose. jn of green crops, are somewhat similar in their in- 

 2. But the belter course is to save the crop by | flyg^^g ^po^ the soil. Tho object in both cases il 

 sowing clover with other grain, and the next i ^^ ^^j^^j^^ j^n^jjUgj ^^ g^^Hg ^^d geine. Fallow cropi 

 spring turn it in; and, having rolled it down, plant ... .... .,.:„„;„.ii. 



directly upon the furrows with potatoes and corn. ^ 



rriie surface then should be tilled with the cultiva- , ^.j ^^^^ ^^ rendered very fertile, without the addi 

 I tor or hoe, so as not to disturb the sod. Some re- ^^^^ ^j- n,(,„ufos . especially for crops not rcquirini 



commend, in this case, to spread a light covering of 



compost manure, lest the soil should be too much 



cxhausled by the crop. 



Now il is found thai the quantity of vegetable 



matters added to the soil by this process, will ex- 

 ceed 12 tons to the acre. Elias Phinney, Esq., of 



Lexington, has nclunlly weighed the vegetable 



matter in a cubic fool of green sod, from which he | 



made an oslimate that one aero contained more 



than 13 tons ! 



Tho best time for turning in green crops, or 



breaking up grcen-sward (unless the soil is a stiff 



chu,; ia the spring and early part of summer ; be- 

 cause Ihc sod will become rotted before winti'r, 



and will not afford, as it otherwise might, a shelter 



for worms, during ihat season, ready to injure the 



succeeding crop. 



Theory. — The theory of this process is excecd- 



^ cropi 



yield mostly the former, green crops principallj 

 the latter ; and by both processes taken togellier, i 

 soil may be rendered very fertile, without the addi- 

 tion of manures ; especially for crops not rcquirinf 

 much nitrogen. — Gray's Scienlijic and Praclicd 

 Agriculture. 



From the .same. 



ROOT CULTURE. 



Root culture is not only an important meaiiiof 

 improving the soil in a rntalion system, but Ike 

 products arc the mrst valuable means of feeding 

 and fattening cattle, and of producing m»nul» 

 " It trebles," says Judge Buel, " the amount of ctt' 

 lie food, and doubles the quantity of manure. It 

 moreover may bo made to supply a large amnom 

 of human food." 



Tho principal roots suited to our climate, are B« 

 potato, turnip, carrot, beet, and those usually cultl* 

 vated in our gardens. Of these the potato hM 



