( 101 ) 



But scarcely a farmer but what has at his command a manure, rich 

 in every respect and with the addition of a cheap alkali, equal in 

 chemical properties to cow dung : I mean the scrapings of ponds, 

 and the mud of rivers and creeks. West Tennessee has an area 

 containing pure muck, the balance of the State has no such advant- 

 age; but next to muck, and nearly as valuable, is pond and river 

 mud. By the addition of two pounds of sal soda or potash, such as is 

 used for washing purposes, to 100 Ibs. of muck, the mass becomes, 

 as near as possible cow dung. So here we have an almost inexhaus- 

 tible supply of cow dung, without its smell or offensiveness. The 

 green sand beds in West Tennessee also will supply fertilizers in 

 unlimited quantities. 



Here then, the provident farmer has all that is requisite to enrich 

 his grounds before seeding to grass. It is needless to say that 

 clover, as a preceding crop to land that is about to enter the long 

 and tedious travail of meadow, is absolutely requisite. But after 

 it is started, the farmer need not think, for one moment, that grass 

 adds to its fertility. It does not, but on the other hand detracts 

 just what the farmer cuts off; and if he is a wise farmer, he will 

 put it back in a shape to increase his drafts on it. 



When a meadow or pasture becomes packed, from too much pas- 

 turage, it will be well enough to run a subsoil through it occasion- 

 ally. This loosens the under sod, and the narrow helve does not 

 tear up the turf. Of course the land has been, if required, well 

 drained. In addition to this, for the renovation of such lands, the 

 application of manure is indispensable. It should be applied im- 

 mediately after a cutting, as it will stimulate the roots, made weak 

 by being deprived of their foliage, to renewed growth, and prevent 

 much of it from drying. Of course it must be done by top dress- 

 ing, and by far the most efficacious plan is to apply it in the liquid 

 form. It may be done by diluting the manure with from five to 

 ten parts of water, and using a cart, such as is used for sprinkling 

 streets. Another, and the most common way, is to drive through 

 the meadow with a load of good compost, such as we have described, 

 and with two hands in the rear of the wagon with shovels, it can 

 be scattered broadcast as fast as the team will walk. 



Pastures treated to a top-dressing after every cutting could, like 

 the English pastures, instead of three acres to the ox, feed three 

 oxen to one acre, and the meadows would not yield a scanty ton 



