No. U4.J 479 



dered superior to all other plants, on account of its long roots, 

 which penetrate the soil to the depth of two feet ; it is not affec- 

 ted by drought, or molested by insects, and grows with great ra- 

 pidity, producing luxuriant stems and leaves, yielding in 100 

 days ten tons of herbage; it opens stiff clays. 



I find rye the best green crop to plow under, but rather expen- 

 sive, still I have turned in many acres of it when five feet high, 

 it is particularly advantageous to sandy soils. I have likeAvise 

 plowed in turnips, potato tops, red clover after the second cutting, 

 old grass after the first cutting, when about ten inches high. By 

 continuous cropping, the saline substances contained in the soil 

 are brought to the surface, and carried off by rains, as well as by 

 the crops removed, until at length the soil becomes exhausted, 

 and finally returns to a state of nature, unless the agriculturist 

 adopts other means of maintaining its saline productive powers, 

 as no soil can possibly contain an inexhaustible supply of the 

 saline matters required by growing plants. When a crop is to be 

 plowed in for the purpose of enriching the soil, it should be cut, 

 harrowed, or rolled, before the period of full bloom, for the pur- 

 pose of retaining the nitrogen they then contain, as this element 

 is particularly valuable to the succeeding crop. And I would in 

 no case plow the plants under deeper than four inches, in order 

 that the mass may be reached immediately by air, and at the same 

 time be within reach of the first roots of the succeeding growth 

 of plants, invigorating and nourishing their tender rootlets. It 

 is a diificult matter to induce an agriculturist to plow in a luxu- 

 riant crop of vegetable produce, for the anticipated productive- 

 ness of his soil, notwithstanding when he has tried the experiment, 

 it has always proved in the highest degree satisfactory ; and it 

 cannot be otherwise, from the fact that all green crops contain 

 mucilaginous substances, and woody fibre, which ferment quickly, 

 and readily become fit food for the intended crop. The tendrils 

 and leaves pruned from grape vines should be cut up and buried 

 at their roots, in thirty days not a vestige of them can be found, 

 and the vines will grow more vigorously, and produce finer grapes 

 than by the use of any solid manure. 



