Cultivation of Clay I,ands. 
a certain extent, is within every farmer’s 
reach, and is one of the legitimate objects of 
every good farmer’s system, is to add large 
quantities of coarse, unfermented manure, 
and all his undecayed vegetables ; which 
may be done on a large scale, by turning in 
matured crops produced upon the land. 
There is no danger of putting .on too much 
manure of this kind, if buried sufficiently 
deep, in proportion to the quantity used. 
And there is as little danger of suffering 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 un¬ 
lock it. The mechanical, as well as chemi¬ 
cal character of this soil, particularly adapts 
it to the preservation of manures; for in ad¬ 
dition to its strong chemical affinity for am¬ 
monia, which is the fertilizing principle in all 
soils, its mechanical structure enables it to 
hold beyond the possibility of escape, all the 
animal and vegetable substances buried be¬ 
neath it. 
After doing whatever can be effected advan¬ 
tageously towards altering its character as 
above described, the next process is to put 
the surface into the right shape. This 
should always have some descent, sufficient 
to enable the water to pass off freely. When 
the natural surface has not declivity enough 
to effect the object, the land must be thrown 
into beds of 10 to 20 feet wide, with a deep, 
double furrow between each, to conduct off 
the water, which falls from the more elevated 
surface ; and the water accumulated in these 
furrows, should be led away through some 
natural ravine or artificial ditch. 
For all grain crops to be sown in the 
Spring, the land should be plowed the pre¬ 
ceding fall. The following spring, the grain 
may he sown directly upon the surface, and 
harrowed in and rolled, without allowing the 
plow to touch it. By this operation, we 
have the bed, in which the grain is to nestle, 
and from which it is to draw its future sup¬ 
port, more finely divided by the elements, 
and the action of frost through the winter, 
than can be done by any instrument what¬ 
ever, and no alteration of this handiwork of 
nature can be made but for the worse. 
If com or roots are required, the land 
should be half plowed 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 5 and it will 
be in the best possible condition for early 
tillage, and abundant crops. It will be mel¬ 
low, friable, and comparatively dry, and by 
thorough cross-plowing, harrowing and roll¬ 
ing, in the spring, it will he well fitted fox 
the reception of the seed. 
Of the immense capabilities of good clay 
soils, we have never been more favorably im¬ 
pressed than during the last and present sea¬ 
sons. While surrounded by scorched fields 
and withered crops, during the excessive 
drought of last year, our own crops of ev¬ 
ery kind, on a tenacious clay, were suffi¬ 
ciently supplied with moisture, and were 
never heavier and better. The present sum¬ 
mer has been one of excessive rains, yet 
when the land was well supplied with ma¬ 
nure, and properly laid up, the yield has 
been peculiarly good. The long continued 
cold of the spring was unfavorable to many 
crops, yet after a thorough examination, 
during the summer, of those growing on 
every variety of soil, over an extent of seve¬ 
ral hundred miles, we have no where seen 
them better, or more abundant, on any land 
in no higher condition. 
For winter wheat , we do not think them 
suitable, unless prepared by thorough under¬ 
draining, as the wheat is very generally win¬ 
ter killed, or thrown out by the frost, or 
drowned by excessive rains, before the sun 
gets sufficiently 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 pre¬ 
pared, 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 
management, they will be in a constantly 
improving state, and afford the most profita¬ 
ble and remunerating returns. But while in 
this condition, 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 
