564 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Potash, 12.14 



Soda, 0.60 



Magnesia, 2.74 



Lime, 6.23 



Phosphoric Acid, - - - - 5.43 



Sulpiiuric " ... - 3.88 



Silica, 67.88 



Per Oxide of Iron, - - - 0.74 



Chloride of Sodium, - - 0.22 



Loss, 0.14 



100. 



It will be perceived, then, that these figures 

 indicate almost the precise number of lbs. of 

 these important fertilizers abstracted with every 

 2,000 lbs. of straw from the land. If they are 

 correct (and we do not doubt their truth) it will 

 be well for every farmer to bear them in mind. 



Can any man, pursuing such a course of mis- 

 management, expect to continue to make crops 

 of wheat from the use of Guano? At the 

 present price ($60 per ton) we think it cannot 

 make a profitable return But even at the 

 former price of 45 to 50 dollars per ton, its 

 use in the manner mentioned must be eventually 

 a losing business to the farmer. But we believe 

 if it can be bought at a fair price and is used 

 in proper quantities in conjunction with 

 putrescent manures, and the supply of inorgan- 

 ic matter is kept up for the soil by the use of 

 Lime, (in small quantities) the wheat straw 

 being returned to the land, that it will be of great 

 benefit. 



We have seen it used in this way on poor 

 land which was soon after able to bring a good 

 crop of clover. We know f^irmers who make 

 large crops of grain by the use of Guano, who 

 do not use tlieir wheat straw as a fertiJizer at 

 all. It is allowed to remain in a bulk until 

 it rots and mounts on the wings of every 

 breeze to be scattered to the "corners of the 

 earth," while the owner of the farm might 

 say of his departed manure heap what an old 

 ■wag said of the soul of a neighbor of his who 

 had recently died. 



But, where it's gone and how it fares. 

 Nobody knows, and — nobody rares." 



The excuse offered in extenuation of such 

 carelessness is, "We have no time to haul out 

 manure op straw." We say take time to do it. 

 H If 1, out and distribute to your land every kind 

 of manure on the farm that will nnike another 

 stalk of corn or of any other article of produce 

 useful for food or luxury. One of the best 

 farmers we ever knew ; and, by the w<iy, he 



made money by farming, used to say, " Putting 

 manure on the land is the very best farming 

 any man ever does." We know it will pay, and 

 advise everybody who owns land and has a 

 stock of it on hand, if he has not time to get 

 it out with his own force and teams, to hire 

 those of somebody else to do it, even if he has 

 to borrow the money to pay for the accomplish- 

 ment of the job. Money thus expended will 

 come back to his pocket, bringing with it a 

 handsome profit. 



3rd. Improper cultivation or defective prepa- 

 ration of the ground cannot make a crop. There 

 is a great deal of ploughing done which deserves 

 to be called by no better name than " mere 

 scratching." Not only is the furrow too shal- 

 low to allow the roots of plants easily to 

 penetrate the soil, but no pains are taken to 

 have the furrow slices lap well. Negligence in 

 this matter is the cause of many a hole and 

 sink in the surface. These are filled with 

 water and injure plants near them as well as 

 prove obstacles in reaping, &c., and mar the 

 beauty of a field, especially when the ground 

 is " bedded." Ground should be thoroughly 

 broken up with the plough if it is expected to 

 bring it into " good tilth" afterwards. If hard 

 at the time of ploughing and left in a "cloddy 

 condition," break the clods. If the harrow 

 does not break them sufficiently, use a roller 

 heavy enough to insure their reduction. 

 In ploughing, the furrows should be run in 

 such a direction as to assist in draining. Let 

 the " water furrows" empty into the ditches 

 and not (as is very often the case) run parallel 

 with them. Here let us call the attention of 

 farmers to the fact, that nine-tenths of them, 

 when they have cut a ditch to carry off the re- 

 dundant water in a field, leave the bank standing 

 alongside of it, thus raising a dam which 

 catches the water and defeats the object of the 

 ditch. True, the water, in the course of time, 

 will sink and find its way into the ditch; but, 

 until it does, there must be a strip of " water- 

 sobbed" land alfetng its edges of greater or less 

 width according to the shape of the surface 

 around. The banks should be thrown off as 

 completely as possible. You can then culti- 

 vate to the water's edge ; secure more thorough 

 drainage and get rid of the eye-sore of having 

 a hedge of thorns, brambles and unsightly 

 weeds along the edge of every ditch. In .all 



