THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



27 



of stiff clays, recommends as the most effectual 

 mode of improvement and the most desirable 

 where circumstances will justify the expense, 

 the incorporation of a sufficient quantity of sand. 

 Thorough under-draining is next advised if the 

 cost can be incurred. At any rate, he advises 

 where the natural fall of the land does not af- 

 ford sufficient declivity to cany off the surface 

 water, the making of beds ten or twenty feet 

 wide with furrows leading into a common ditch 

 with sufficient fall. He adds, 



"Another mode of improvement, which to a 

 certain extent is within every farmer's reach, 

 and as one of the legitimate objects of every 

 good farmer's system, is to add large quantities 

 of coarse, unfermented manure, and all his un- 

 decayed vegetables ; which may be done on a 

 large scale, by turning in matured crops pro- 

 duced upon the land. There is no danger of 

 putting on too much manure of this kind, if bu- 

 ried sufficiently deep, in proportion to the quan- 

 tity used. And there is as little danger of suf- 

 fering any loss of the manure. It will last till 

 exhausted by the growth of vegetation. Nor 

 will it burn the land, according to the common 

 phrase, as an excess of manure does on light 

 and sandy soils. It is not carried away by rains, 

 or evaporated by heat; but like coin, securely 

 hoarded in a strong box, it is safely retained till 

 the owner's key is applied to unlock it. The 

 mechanical, as well as chemical character of 

 this soil, particularly adapts it to the preserva- 

 tion of manures; for in addition to its strong 

 chemical affinity for ammonia, which is the fer- 

 tilizing principle in all soils, its mechanical struc- 

 ture enables it to hold, beyond the possibility of 

 escape, all the animal and vegetable substances 

 buried beneath it." 



Mr. Allen recommends, and in this we know 

 that he is correct, that clay lands should be 

 ploughed for spring crops in the fall. Fie goes 

 on to say, 



£i If corn or roots are required, the land should 

 be half ploughed the previous fall ; that is, a 

 space should be left unmolested, of the width of 

 a furrow, on which the upturned furrow is thrown. 

 By this operation a large dry surface is exposed 

 to the salutary effects of air and moisture, heat 

 and frost ; and it will be in the best possible con- 

 dition for early tillage, and abundant crops. It 

 will be mellow, friable, and comparatively dry, 

 and by thorough cross-ploughing, harrowing and 

 rolling in the spring, it will be well fitted for the 

 reception of the seed. 



" For winter wheat we do not think them 

 suitable, unless prepared by thorough under- 

 draining, as the wheat is very generally winter- 



killed, or thrown out by the frost, or drowned 

 by excessive rains, before the sun gets suffi- 

 ciently high to protect it. But with the best 

 varieties of spring wheat, it produces largely. 

 For the production of rye, it is totally unsuited ; 

 but of barley, oats, peas, grass and roots, when 

 suitably prepared, no soil produces better crops. 

 Their chief value, however, is for grass lands, 

 and when properly put down in meadow, they 

 ought never to be disturbed, as with good ma- 

 nagement, they will be in a constantly improv- 

 ing state, and afford the most profitable and re- 

 munerating returns. But while in this condi- 

 tion, no animals should ever be suffered to graze 

 them, and especially while the ground is soft. 

 Poaching is destruction to them, and no scarcity 

 of other food will justify the farmer in driving 

 his cattle upon his meadows while saturated 

 with water. It is a common opinion by those 

 unaccustomed to them that clay lands will not 

 produce good clover; yet we have never seen 

 better clover, or larger crops, than we have re- 

 peatedly raised on them. 



" When required for roots, corn, or other hoed 

 crops, the soil should be well charged with ma- 

 nure, and the most thorough tillage will be am- 

 ply repaid. 'A little land well tilled,' has a pe- 

 culiar signification when applied to this kind of 

 soil. Plaster, (sulphate of lime,) has no appre- 

 ciable effect on it when applied in small quanti- 

 ties; and lime, (carbonate of lime,) has less 

 than on any of the lighter soils. Ashes are va- 

 luable on any land, and, we believe, under all 

 circumstances ; yet we have repeatedly made 

 the application of them on a very stiff clay, 

 without deriving any immediate perceptible be- 

 nefit. A longer time is required under certain 

 circumstances, for them and other manures to 

 act, but their action continues through a much 

 longer period." 



From the American Agriculturist. 

 PRACTICAL FARMING. 



Wheatsheaf Farm. — We recently made a 

 visit to the farm of W. A. Seeley, Esq. of Staten 

 Island. The buildings are in a style of entire 

 plainness and simplicity, yet with perfect adap- 

 tation to the object in view. A large and well 

 constructed windmill, of the most substantial 

 kind, occupies one of the group of farm build- 

 ings, which is used during a great part of the 

 year in grinding for this and the neighboring 

 farms. But the peculiar merits of the out- 

 buildings consist in the barns. There are two 

 of them, of large size, and so constructed, as to 

 afford the greatest quantity of available room. 

 They are both built upon a side hill, thus en- 

 abling the loaded hay and grain to be drawn in 

 upon a level with the upper side, and the entire 

 floor is appropriated to their occupancy, while 

 at the same time that it affords a great abun- 



