Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

the necessary heat in the soil. Decomposition of vegetable matter, the food of the crop, is also seriously retarded by this cold temperature. Stagnant waters are as unhealthy to cultivated crops as they are to animals. We have now in our mind an extensive inclined plane which we examined last summer, of more than half a mile slope, embracing 70 or 80 acres, and possessing a rich soil, one fifth of which was rendered unfit for tillage or the finer grasses, in consequence of springs which burst forth near the top of the plane, the waters of which passed down its whole extent, and principally in the soil, in gentle depressions or hollows. We are confident the evil here might be remedied at a slight expense, which would be remunerated in a single season by draining. Grounds habitually wet, either from springs or water stagnating in the soil, for want of declivity of drains to carry it off, will not produce good crops. Draining is an effectual cure for the evil. Open drains will alone answer to carry off surface water, and in situations where much water may occasionally pass. These should hardly ever be less than three feet broad at surface, and two feet deep; the sides sloping so as to leave the bottom eight to twelve inches broad. A greater depth and breadth are often requisite. Long experience has convinced us that good drains in the end are always the cheapest drains, and that, when they are well constructed, they constitute one of the most profitable improvements of the farm. But we consider under-drains in soils which are habitually wet, cheaper, better, and more profitable to the proprietor, either to carry off stagnant water from flat surfaces, or to arrest that proceeding from springs, than open drains. They are more efficient, because they generally lie deeper, and are not so liable to be choked up. They are more economical, because they seldom, if well made, require repairs, and do not waste any land. They are beneficial on all flat

A

surfaces which have a retentive subsoil, and upon all slopes rendered wet by springs. They are wanted wherever water at midsummer rests upon the subsoil, or saturates the soil within the reach of the roots of cultivated crops. We do not here mean to discuss the principles or describe the mode of draining, as we have published much upon this subject, and design to publish more, with such pictorial illustrations as shall serve to render the subject perfectly familiar to the readers of the Cultivator. very simple means of determining whether a field is likely to be benefited by under-draining is, in June or July, to dig a hole like a posthole, say two feet deep, and the presence of water at the bottom, and the height to which it rises, will at once decide whether the land is to be benefited, and to what extent, by under-draining. Draining effectually is almost an untried experiment with us. We are not familiar with the process, and startle at the expense: yet if we compare the cost with the advantages which will accrue for a succession of years, we shall find the operation to be a very economical one.

Well drained grounds may be sown or planted ten to fifteen days earlier in spring than those which want draining, and the crops are much less liable to be injured by heavy rains.-Ed. Cultivator.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Pattern Farm of Baron Von Voght.

We find in one of our recent foreign agricultural periodicals, the British Farmers' Magazine, some account of the successful experiments in husbandry of this distinguished German, highly worthy of no

tice. We give an outline of his practice, under the persuasion that it will be found interesting and useful to the readers of the Cultivator.

In 1813, the baron undertook to improve the condition of an estate denominated Flottbeck, as a pattern farm, and to make it an experimental farm for the north of Germany. In 1829, he had carried his improvements to so high a state of excellence, that he published, for the benefit of the visiters who thronged to see him, a pamphlet, developing the principles, by the adoption of which, his soii, naturally bad, had been raised to a state of high productiveness. It is from a portion of this pamphlet, for we have not seen the whole of it, that we collate the following facts.

The soil of Flottbeck is a mixture of sand and clay. Its original depth of krume (mould) was only 3 inches; the surface was uneven, and the soil wet, water standing for a long time, and manure ineffectual on account of the consequent low temperature. Fields could not be sown owing to quagmires, often till June. The winter crops were full of tares and perennial rooted weeds; summer crops abounded in wild radish and mustard; the clover with wild chamomile, sorrel, &c.; and the fields with dog's grass and other noxious plants. How many of our farms now form a counterpart to this description of Flottbeck?

The means of improving which the baron instituted to raise the condition and increase the fertility of his farm, consisted principally in

1. Levelling the surface and thorough drainage. 2. Deepening the krume or soil at least one inch a year, till he had gained a depth of 14 inches, this depth being requisite, in his opinion, for the roots of plants to penetrate, and as a reservoir for moisture, to supply the crop in time of dry weather. To obtain this depth, trench-ploughing (rayolt) was resorted to when necessary.

3. Increasing the fertility with the increasing depth of the soil, by ploughing in green crops, and by husbanding and judiciously applying manures, the latter applied to the potato and rape crops, and before it had become exhausted by fermentation.

4. Throwing the land into one-bout ridges in autumn (it being generally flat and rather stiff), and cleaning the intermediate furrows with a double mouldboard plough. This operation enriched the soil by atmospheric influence, broke down its stubbornness, and laid it dry, so that the spring operations could be commenced two or three weeks earlier than formerly.

5. Thorough pulverization preparatory to putting in seed, and giving these only a superficial covering of earth.

6. Graduating, by a scale which the baron's long observation and numerous experiments had enabled him to contrive, the manure to be applied to the precise demands of the soil and crop; thus receiving the whole benefit which it was capable of imparting, without loss by excess.

7. A judicious rotation, in which green crops often intervened. The rotation was one of six years, as the clover, which he observes forms the basis of agriculture, cannot return oftener. The intermediate crops were wheat, oats, mixed fodder, barley, rye, potatoes, vetches, rape, &c., the climate of Germany not admitting of the culture of Indian corn.

In 1829 Flottbeck exhibited a far different appearance from what it did in 1813. All the fields showed a level surface; the krume or mould had everywhere a depth of 14 inches. The fields rendered dry by ditches, and under water carried off by 27 under drains; no noxious plants infesting the ground, save the dog's grass, when the clover happened to be frozen out, and the produce so much increased as that the same area which, in 1813, would yield

only 14 bushels rye, in 1829 was found to produce 24 bushels of wheat.

We think there is much in Baron Von Voght's practice that commends itself to the notice of our farmers. The means which he employed are within our reach, and the advantages of using them manifest. The climate of Germany is not very dissimilar to ours, save that ours is rather the most mild. That the readers of the Cultivator may understand the principles upon which the improvements at Flottbeck were based, we subjoin them in the baron's own words.

"The few general principles adopted here, with all kinds of produce, are the fruit of thirteen years' experience, and several thousand experiments.

"1. The soil must have 11.280 to 14.100 inches of krume, in order to admit of the roots penetrating into the ground; that in wet weather the water, which in a flat soil might drown the crops, may be absorbed, and formed in the deep into a reservoir, from which the extremities of the roots may imbibe a nourishing moisture, impregnated with carbonic gas, which it draws from the manure fermenting in the earth.*

The krume must have a depth of 14.100 inches, in order that the exhausted surface, being buried at a greater depth, may reimbibe the lost moisture.

"This I obtained by having the land ploughed.in autumn, at a depth of about 5.640 to 7.520 inches, then having it finely harrowed, and finally rayolt it with two ploughs, one behind the other (the last with four animals). This requires, of course, swing

"Thaer mentions the following proportion of the value of the soil, with a flat and deep mould. "If," says he, "the soil, with a mould of 3 inches, is worth 38, that possessed of 5 inches of mould will be worth 50; that of 8, 62; and that of 11, 74;" and this entirely agrees with my experience at Flottbeck. Should we ther. hesitate to spend a few years and some manure thus permanently to enhance the value of our field?"

« ПредишнаНапред »