Friability
is also promoted by the use of lime and by good tillage. The particular
soil to which you refer is a black clay loam which can be improved in
all the ways stated. It is a good soil for most flowers and vegetables
if handled as suggested. You can get hints of what does best by studying
your neighbors' earlier plantings.
For a Reclaimed Swamp.
I have land, formerly a pond which dried up in the summer months. It has
been thoroughly drained now for several years. The land surrounding it
is good fertile soil and produces good crops. On this piece, however,
crops come up and look fairly well until about two inches high when they
turn yellow and die. Mesquite grass and strawberries seem to be the only
crops that will live, and they do not do at all well. Sorrel grows
abundantly in the natural state.
Apparently the reclaimed land which you speak of needs liming to
overcome the acidity in the soil. Common builders' lime applied at the
rate of 1000 pounds to the acre at the beginning of the rainy season
ought to make the land much more productive and the soil, at the same
time, more friable. Deep plowing with aeration will also help the land,
and this treatment can begin at once if the soil is workable. Other
additions of lime can be made later as they may be required to make the
improvement permanent.
Improving Uncovered Subsoil.
What is the best treatment for spots that have been scraped in leveling
for irrigation?
The land can be improved by plowing deeply and turning in stable manure
or green alfalfa or any other vegetable matter which may decay,
rendering the soil rich in humus and more friable.
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