408 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



TUKNINQ IN GBEEN- CROPS. 



ROBABLY there Is no method 

 by which humus can be so 

 speedily and economically 

 supplied to an exhausted soil, as by 

 turning in green crojys. For this 

 purpose the buckwheat plant is very 

 valuable, as it flourishes on lands 

 which are too far reduced to produce 

 any other grain, and as it decomposes rapidly, 

 even when there is but a limited supply of 

 moisture in the soil. 



It is an oriental production, having been 

 brought from the East during the Crusades, 

 and has not lost its sensibility to cold ; it there- 

 fore succeeds best on dry, sandy soils, where 

 there is a good degree of heat. It will, how- 

 ever, thrive on lower lands, if previously 

 drained, and on dry clays ; so that, as a green 

 crop for supplying humus, it is tolerably well 

 adapted to every variety of soil on which it is 

 desirable that such a crop should be grown. 



On these light sands, and especially on hill- 

 sides, the labor of carting manure is a serious 

 obstacle to their permanent improvement, and 

 where, also, the wash of the autumnal and 

 spring rains deprives the surface of everything 

 in the condition of resolvable humus, no pro- 

 cess of manuring can exceed the one now 

 recommended, either as regards efficiency or 

 economy. Such lands generally produce a 

 slight vegetation which is rarely worth the 

 expense of harvesting, but which may be of 

 service if turned down and followed by a 

 green crop. 



When this course is adopted, plow when 

 the grass growing upon the land has obtained 

 its maximum growth — say, just in blossom. 

 Then roll thoroughly, and after giving the 

 surface a good working with the harrow, sow 

 the seed, and roll again. The latter rolling 

 will facilitate the germination of the seed, and 

 also render the labor of turning in more easy. 

 When the Avheat makes its appearance, a 

 good dressing of lime should be applied, and 

 the crop turned under as soon as it is in bloom. 

 The roller must now follow the plow, and 

 another application of lime, with a dozen bush- 

 els of wood ashes to the acre, would improve 

 the next crop exceedingly. 



It is an error to suppose that by adopting 

 this process of enrichment, we necessarily re- 

 turn no more to the soil than the crop turned 

 in takes from it. The alimenc of buckwheat, 



as well as the aliment of all other crops, is de- 

 rived, in part, from the atmosphere ; so that 

 we not only, in this process, obey literally a 

 fundamental principle of good husbandry, in 

 returning all to the land which we take from 

 its vegetative powers and resources, but a 

 considerable amount beisdes. Were the crop 

 to restore only what it derived from the land 

 — allowing the land to receive nothing from 

 the atmosphere, in the meanwhile — the turning 

 in of green crops, now so universally recog- 

 nized as a judicious means of enrichn^nt, 

 would be abandoned, or rather would never 

 have been devised or practiced. 



In order that the reader may comprehend 

 more fully the fertilizing capabilities of buck- 

 wheat, we annex the following analysis. It 

 may be proper, however, to remark that the 

 quantity of silica, which appears large in pro- 

 portion to the other constituents, may have J| 

 been increased by the dust adhering to the ™ 

 grain in this case. 



Silica, 7.06 



Earthy phosphates, 57.60 



Lime, . • 0.14 



Magnesia , 2.66 



Potash 23.33 



Soda, 2.04 



Sulphuric acid, 7.30 



Chloriue, 0.20 



ICO.33 

 Plain lands that possess but little fertility, 

 and which consequently require manuring be- 

 fore they can be profitably cropped, may be 

 prepared for producing good crops of rye, by 

 a crop of buckwheat. Rye is the only product 

 which alternates favorably with this grain, and 

 may be grown after it on any soil of ordinary 

 richness. As a preparatory crop for the for- 

 mer, it is perhaps the most valuable that can 

 be suggested. 



For sowing, from half a bushel to three 

 pecks of good seed is the proper quantity for 

 an acre. It should be sown as evenly as pos- 

 sible, for on this will depend the uniformity of 

 amelioration. In a great measure. No previous 

 preparation of the seed is necessary, as It ger- 

 minates readily in soil that is too dry to insure l 

 the vegetation of most other grains, and is so | 

 hardy tliat no ordlnaiy privation of moisture is 

 capable of seriously allecting Its development 

 while young. 



As it Is one of the class of lime plants, it is 

 more essentially benefited by calcareous mat- 

 ter — that partaking of chalk or lime — than any 

 other ci'op; consequently the application of 



