PRACTICAL PAPERS—SANDY LAND. 
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tions are dry most of the year, some are often submerged, and 
others have water constantly m the low places, and every* 
where just beneath the surface. On some portions there is a 
thick coat of decayed vegetable matter, and the surface is a 
mat of roots, that will decay in the soil when plowed ; on oth¬ 
ers the soil is very thin, and only plants of the lowest order, 
or of a purely aqueous growth are found. Other places have 
a luxuriant growth of bushes and other plants, nourished by 
the moisture in the ground, the decaying material on the sur¬ 
face, and the great heat of the Wisconsin summers. All por¬ 
tions of these lands are wet, sour and mossy, and will not nat¬ 
urally grow either the best meadow grasses or other crops, un¬ 
til they are freed from stagnant water; yet very little of it is 
so situated that it cannot be sufficiently drained to produce 
almost any cultivated crop. To these lands the farmers in the 
sandy regions must look for their main plow lands. When 
drained they will become warm, and the muck being incorpo¬ 
rated with the sands of the surface, their tillage will be easy, 
and productive crops may be expected. 
In cultivating sandy lands one principle must not be lost 
sight of, a continuous application of vegetable matter to the 
surface of the ground to form and renew the soil; to act as a 
mulch during the heats of summer; to prevent the sand from 
blowing by the winds, and to keep up the needed supply of 
plant food, for whatever crop may be grown. A large supply 
of vegetable matter can be secured by using no fire in clearing 
the land, or afterwards ; but on the contrary burying all the 
small bushes, brush, weeds, and bogs with the plow. After¬ 
wards the supply must come from rearing such crops as will 
give the greatest amount of vegetable matter, that may fall 
upon the ground where it grew, or that may be carted from 
the barn-yard. Straw and hay give the most vegetable matter, 
and are best prepared for the use of the land after passing as 
food and bedding to cattle and horses. The more concen¬ 
trated manures furnished by sheep, hogs and fowls are better 
adapted to lands of a clayey texture. Some of these animals 
