■.jBaiae; 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
51 
From the Albany Cultivator. 
Practical Husbandry. 
Improvement of Worn Out and Naturally Poor 
Old Fields, &c., in the Middle Stales. 
I intimated in a late paper in the Cultivator, 
(vo.. 1, p. 344,) that i tvouia shortly give the 
readers ut that excellent work an answer to the 
qnes ion Aotc the improvenrent of the finds of 
iaiid mentioned in the heading of this article, 
could be acsomplished in the cheapest way. 1 
now proceed to the fulhlmcnl of my promise. 
Land is poor or rich from various causes. It 
may be oor naturally, from being deprived of 
the accumulation of decomposed organized mat 
ier, by the washings of rain, the overfl >wing of 
streams, &c., a;id by its own gravelly and po- 
rous nature, admitting the up'.var' filtering of 
spring water, as is the case in low gravelly b n- 
toins. It may also be poor from the too large a 
portio'.i o. iron in its composition. But the most 
universal cause of poverty of soil, is exh.vustiox, 
from over-cropping, taking always, and return- 
ing noihing; as was s i generally the practice in 
old times, and is too much the practice now in 
ali the nidJle States. In a former paper I have 
expressed the opinion that a man may purchase 
and improve a piece of this poor or worn out land 
cheaper than will be the cost of removal to, and 
purchase of a piece of land in the west, especi il- 
ly when the sacrifices incident to such removal 
are taken into the account. I most sincerely be- 
lieve in the truth of ih s proposition. But let in 
uroceed to tlie subject — the how, not the ichy, 
this land should be improved. 
The first object to be attended to in the im- 
provement of land, is the grubbing up and clear- 
ing off every tree and shrub that is not wanted. 
Let this be done, at the beginning. Allow no 
clumps or clusters of bushes or briars, or single 
ones either, to remain in the field. The next 
thing is ditching and draining ox ail sunken and 
boggy places, if such exist. Very often the sim- 
ple plow furrow will answ'er, but sometimes a 
deep ditch must be dug. If it be deep enough, 
a blind ditch should always be preferred, so that 
you may cultivate the land over the d teh, and 
also save your land the ineonvenience of open 
ditches. Having grubbed and ditched, and thus 
drained the land, the next object is to ascertain 
the quality of the soil, ali pans of it. You may 
find that the low places you have drained are 
compos d of hard clay. Borne of the upper or 
higlier places may be too sandy. You will m 
such case, employ your carts in carrying clay to 
the sandy parts, and return with sand m the clay- 
ey parts; and be very li teral in your exchanges, 
too. You may spread the clay at once, or allow 
it to remain a winter in cart load heaps, and 
spread it in the spring. The sand rhay be spread, 
of course at once. Ali this isjuerely getting tlie 
land ready- A carpenter builds his shop, and 
‘•'gets out” his stuff, before he thinks of “going 
to work” at his trade. So does every other ar- 
tisan or m.echanic. Why should a farmer not, 
also, before he goes to work to make money and 
a living, first “gel his shop in order?” Having 
properly grubbed, drained, and mixed the soil, 
the next thing to be done is to as ertain the qua- 
lity of the whole. It most probably wants lime 
t ) make it complete. Take a handful here and 
there from the whole field, say twenty handsful 
in all; mix them well together; then take a hand- 
ful from the whole mixture, put it up in a shovel 
and heat it red hot; then take it from the fire 
and let it c .;o! ; when cold, pulverize it into a 
fine pow’der, and pour upon it good cider vinegar ; 
diluted muriatic acid is 1 est.but vinegar, if goad, 
will do; if it fbams c insiderabiy, you ivant no 
lime in the soil ; it it does not foam, you must 
then apply lime, .nearly all the land in the mid- 
dle States wants lime, and is benefitted by its 
application. I^ it wants noliine, then go to woik 
as follows; plow in the fall with the deepest 
working plow you con afford. In the spring, sow 
corn broadcast ; and as soon as it is as high as 
you can well turn under with a good p'ow and 
twoorth ee horse team, turn it under well, and 
immediateiv sow corn again broadcast; as soon 
as that is high enough to turn under, turn that 
also with a deep wotking p'ow. Generally you 
may turn under three crops in the same season. 
In the tall plow deeply in turning the last crop 
of corn under, hair.ovv and s“ed wi‘h wheat. 
However poor your land may have been, you 
may be sure of a goodcrop of wheat t e ensuing 
harvest. In sowing the corn, about three to four 
bushels should be sown t the acre, each crop. 
If by the trial above described, you find yotir 
land requires lime, then, before the first plow ing, 
apply twenty bushels of slaked ime to thr acre, 
broadcast, then plow ns beloie dirt cted, sow the 
corn, and rocecd as before, taking oire to sow' 
! wenty bushels of lime ■lefore turning u.-.der each 
crop of corn; sow the lime on the corn as it 
stae-ds, and turn corn and ime ali in together. 
In tliis w'ai'.a first rate soil may be nude out of 
the poorest old fisliin Maryland or anywhere 
else; and it w'lll be observed that the only cost 
is in the liming and value of the seed corn, ex- 
cept the labor. Those who cannot afford to ex- 
pend so much labor and money the first season, 
can extend the time over 'everal seasons, apply- 
ing say twenty or thirty bushels of lime to the 
acre, and turning under but one crop ofcorneach 
year. 
The above may be consiiercd a br ef summary 
of the while argument; and, it seems to me, 
scarcely requires elucidation Some may how- 
ever req tire explanations, and I therefore proceed 
to give them. 
A ciny soil only requires "sand to make it a 
good one, s ) far as coiisrituti mis concerned; a 
sandy soil requires clay to make it good. These 
two elements of a good soil generally exist on all 
farms; and wherever they do exist in separate 
places, they should be combined and mixed, that 
the whole may be made fertile. If your land be 
too clayey, and you have no sand on your farm, 
probably some neigh 'or would be glad to ex- 
change some of his sand for some of your clay, 
doing half the hauling, and thus both farms will 
be benefitted at half the labor each. Rely upon 
it, there-is more to be obtdned in the imnrove- 
mentoflandby a judicious admi.xture of soils, 
than is generally supposed. Manuring cannot 
supply its place, however large the quantity ap- 
plied; and when once made, the efiectis perma- 
nent, th benefit perpetual, the i reprove men t 
iast.s for ever. 
Low wet places are not only unprodaciive,.but 
they are unhealthy, unseemly, and an absolute 
loss of all tlie land so situated. . If vour farm 
consists of one hundred acres, and tv/enty acres 
of it is of this low and wet kind, you have but, 
eighty acres of land. Therefore drain, by ditch 
ing this low land, make it productive, by'adding 
sand, tfec., w'here necessary, and you will in ef- 
fect have addeo twenty acres to your farm. And 
in draining, take care to avail yourself of the ad- 
vantages of blind ditches. I do not suppose it 
necessary to tell you how to make them — the 
way may be found in almost all agricultural 
works; and they are very simple. A summary 
of the different plans may be stated as follows ; 
Dig the trench as in the usual way of making an 
open ditch, of the proper depth and capacity, to 
carry off the water. Then lay in the bottom of 
the ditch, stones loosely packed, so that water 
will freely pass between them, ab.outafoot deep. 
Then lay upon these loose stones, larger and 
Hat ones, to keep the eanh from filling the in- 
terstices^ and then return the earth thrown out, 
leveling the whole siirface. Some, instead of 
stone, lay in the bottom of the ditch, branches 
and limbs of trees and shrubs, and cover these 
with earth ; but such blind dilches are obvious- 
ly subject to obstruction from the decay of the 
wood, and thence from the cavina in of the su- 
perincumbent earth, Others, In Europe especial- 
ly, use an arching of tiles in the ditch instead of 
stones or brushwood ; but this is too expensive 
for this country as yet. Where stones can be 
had, a good blind ditch nay be made permanent- 
ly effi'ctive by their use; next to stone, brush- 
wood is to be preferred. 
It surely cannot be necessary to say a word 
in illustration of the grubbing up of ail useless 
growths of bushes, trees, &c. Never ail. v/ your 
fences to be sheltered by bii-lies or trees of any 
kind ; they rot the timber, and you lose all th • 
land they occupy. “Headlands,” as they are 
called, are just so much deducted from x our 
measure of acres. Clear out all such. If you 
have no otiTer dean, place in your field, let the 
headlands and fence corners be clean. 
In ascertaining the precise quality of the soil, 
you accomplish precisely what every oilier ar- 
tisan does when he ascertains his abi'ity to do a 
certain job. You find o. A what the materi ds 
vou are to woik upon are capable of producing. 
It in that cxaminaii jn, you find your’ m iteriais 
d' ficie.at in any one necessary injredient — lime, 
for example — von. as other artisans would ns- 
eessaiilv and instinctively do, apply lime. If 
you find it dcdcien- in vegetable fibre, &c., you 
appiv that substance, and if you find it deficient 
in clay or sand, as either o these preponderate, 
you aj’piy one or the ot .er, as the result o; the 
examination shall indicate. 
Having picpHr-u liie soil for the reception of 
manure, t.ie cheapest auo most eliicient method 
tini material for supplying nutiitious principles 
to the s.dl, if the next matter for consideration. 
I believe liiat corn sown broadcast, as above di- 
rected, is the cheapest, most efficient and speed- 
iest fertilizer, ^lome, and very many, suppose 
that the id plan of clover laying is the best and 
ch-apest I differ with them. You can only 
turn under a crop of clover once in two years; 
you can oy an efio t ruin under three crops of 
corn in one year; and I beiiove that each crop of 
corn will carry as much nutritious matter into 
the s .!• as each crop of clover can do. 
Now inihi- system ofimpruvement, you have 
only to purcii .se the lime, it that be necessary; 
you can r iss the seed corn on s jiiie part of tUe 
farm. a 1. tli„- rest of the improvement is derived 
from labor. 
Ne . er uiacerta.- e the impioteinent of more 
land than you a e cfei tain you can manage, if 
you e.xpend your funds upon too large a surface, 
you will be likely to lose the whole advantage of 
them. Calculate hoiv much land you can work 
well, and confine you- seif to that and no more. 
And in ali your operations in agriculture, take 
care not to undertake too much- Suppose you 
can only work ten acres well in one year, if you 
undertake twenty acres, some of it will have in- 
justice done to it, and the result is obvious. 
Deen plowing is one of the most efficient 
agents in the improvement of soils, asitisin the 
continuation of good soils. Never omit it. It 
may pay you scantily for a year or two ; but it 
will ultimately repay you an hundredfold. With- 
out it there cannot be any continued successful 
farming, no matter what the oiiginal s il may 
have been. Discard all shallow working plows 
from your farm, except the mere seed and culti- 
vator plows. 
Some lands will be benefitted by fifty bushels 
of lime to the acre, and by it be rendered suffi- 
cientlj' calcareous; others may require onehun^ 
dred bushels; aU this is to be found out only by 
proper experiments, as above indicated. It the 
solution ofthe soil foams lieely in the vinegar or 
muriatic acid, it wants no lime ; if but partially, 
it wants probably fifty bushels to the acre; if not 
at all, it may require an hundred bushels. If it 
be a red clayey soil, it wants more lime than if it 
be white, or blue or yellow. 
If you have m lime, and wood ashes are at 
hand; you may accomplish all the objects you 
aim at by their appUcaiion. As ashes are most- 
ly composed of different kinds of lime, besides 
their more soluble potash, from fifty to one hun- 
dred bushels of ashes to the acre, applied in the 
same manner as directed for lime, will have the 
same effect as lime, besides giving you the ad- 
vantage of the potash, the first year. 
Where nei her lime nor ashes are to be obtain- 
ed, plaster of Paris, as it is called, may be applied 
to most lands with advantage. The action of 
piaster continues to be a subject of dispute. My 
opinion is, that it simply serves the purpose of 
fixing the ammonia floating in the atmosphere, 
and that evolved from docaying animal matters, 
and thus seeming it to the uses of the soil. No 
matter what its mode of action is, however, it 
certainly is a very efficient agent in soils gene- 
rally, and in the absence of other still more ef- 
fective agents, it should always be used, or at 
least tiled. 
I have said noihjng of fencing, the most ex- 
per sive item of farming, because it has nothing 
to do With the main object of this paper, and be- 
cause the cheapest fence is t at which each lo- 
cality can afford with the greatest facility. One 
farmer can build a stone fence all around his 
farm, easier than he can a rail fence, simply be- 
cause he has too many stones on his land, and 
in irettine lid of them he hauls them to the line 
where he intends to make ins fence, and in the 
seasons when he cannot be more profitably em- 
ployed, he erects the wall. In the absence of 
stone, and wliere timber is plenty, the rail fence, 
the post arid rail Nc., will of c.mrse be the cheap- 
est feni ing. I have no favorable opiin m of 
hedges, excrpt in the absolute absence of both 
stone and timber. They require a long time to 
grow ; and in this country there is not a single 
