RESUSCITATION OF WORN OUT LANDS. 



By Thomas Wharton. 



To comply with a promise made, I give a slight sketch of my 

 success in using manures, raising corn, grain and clover on lands 

 that were completely exhausted of every productive quality, having 

 heen regularly skinned for upwards of 40 years, and reduced compa- 

 ratively to a barren sand bed, only producing five-fingered grass and 

 mullens. I commenced operations by deep plowing, and turning up 

 a perfectly new surface of yellow sandy loam, which my neighbors 

 assured me would yield no returns for my labor; I then procured a 

 quantity of crushed bones and dry wood ashes; these by properly 

 mixing and fermenting, by sprinkling water on every layer of ashes, 

 soon caused the desired heat; and to avoid escape of the ammonia, 

 used a few bushels of gypsum. Thus prepared, I harrow my land per- 

 fectly smooth, then with a marker of four teeth, set at the distance 

 of three feet three inches, I mark the rows, crossing in perfectly 

 straight lines and at right angles, then plant at each intersection four 

 or five kernels of corn previously steeped 12 hours in a solution of 

 nitre in chamber-ley and dried with plaster, followed by a handful 

 of the prepared bones spread thinly over and around the hills, finish- 

 ing by drawing mould over and covering the seeds about two inches 

 deep. As soon as the corn is well up, run the cultivator through, a 

 turn to each row. A man and steady horSe will do 5 acres per day. 

 In a week or ten days the cultivator is .run through crosswise, and 

 should any weeds escape, which may occur if the operator is not very 

 careful, let the hoe follow, and by the time the hoeing is finished 

 and the weather dry, let the cultivator take another turn and a se- 

 cond crossing before the corn is in the tassel. This last operation 

 will leave the land light and free from weeds as a garden; and my 

 produce was from 60 to 80 bushels of ears, with a growth of stalks 

 averaging 10 to 12 feet in height, (last year, 12 to 14 feet, see New 

 Haven report,) in a season when my neighbors were nearly burnt 



