Shifting cultivation

“ We are trained and raised in the European tradition, which considered shifting cultivation as a simple, primitive form of life without significant cultural organization. This attitude is probably the reason why researchers have thoroughly investigated shifting cultivation. ”

“ The demonstration to natives of the fact, that, by the proper employment of manuring and crop rotation, they would be able to farm the same piece of land for an indefinite number of years, during which time it should increase rather than diminish in fertility. By such demonstration it should be possible to put an end to the wasteful and permanently destructive methods at present employed of shifting cultivation. ”

“ Its endless varieties, fitted for widely diverse conditions of soil and climate, also point to a long period of cultivation in dissimilar culture-areas, which enabled them to adapt themselves to conditions very different from those of the original stock from which they sprang. ”

“ The result is that unless we disturb the balance too much by cultivating great orchards of a thing that has been grown as scattered individuals, or overforcing it or selecting and breeding towards larger fruit without any regard to foliage and other characters we can go ahead with our breeding and selection and cultivation and trust nature to keep the balance to some extent. We have this natural balance in our favor in dealing with the problem of cultivating native plants. As an example take the pear and apple blight. ”

“ Let this be attended to artificially, by covering branches with gauze, to prevent the fertilization by bees and winds, and make the cross between any two varieties you choose, and the results may prove highly beneficial. The amateur cultivator may render essential service to pomology by this practice. We know that all our choice fruits have come from those not fit for use. It is not improved cultivation of the old, barely, but the production of new varieties. ”

“ We must now consider how the different requirements of the plant in regard to the elements necessary to maintain its life and to build up its structure affect the question of manuring.
Under conditions of natural growth and decay, when no crops are gathered in, or consumed on the land by live stock, the herbage, on dying down and decaying, returns to the atmosphere and the soil the elements taken from them during life; but, under cultivation, a succession of crops deprives the land of the constituents which are essential to healthy and luxuriant growth. ”

“ I think cultivation is the thing that ought [Pg 369] to be done until the trees get well to bearing, anyway, and then it furnishes nitrogen to the soil to seed it down to clover. If we don't do that we are very liable to neglect that element in the soil. The better way to my mind is to cultivate for eight or ten years, and then I do think it is all right perhaps, for farmers, I mean, who will neglect the cultivation if they depend on it. That is, if they make up their minds it is better to cultivate than it is to seed down, their trees are more apt to be neglected. ”

“ One crop of wheat or barley will make no particular difference with the cleared land which you expect to plant to fruit later. It would be better to grow a cultivated crop like corn, potatoes, beets, squashes, etc., because this crop would require summer cultivation which would kill out many weeds or sprouts and leave your land in better shape for planting. ”

“ This derived nature (the propensity, as it were, for fattening) can only be maintained by a continuance from one generation to another of those luxuries to which the cultivated family has been accustomed; hence, then, if seed be brought from a richer soil to a poorer, or from a warmer to a colder climate, we may expect that its plants grown amid barley and drawn up during the summer would have but a poor constitution to withstand the rigours of winter; but can we in such a case say that the land is clover-sick, that is, sick of growing clover? ”

“ When the tiny seedlings first appear above the fragrant mellow soil, the planter’s work is well begun, but it is only begun, for then comes the season of cultivating and thinning out. As soon as there are two or three inches of growth, the first cultivation takes place. How many times the field is cultivated depends on the planter, the nature of the soil, the availability of labor and other factors. But the general rule is, the more cultivations, the more cotton. ”

“ Rotation of crops follows the two-field system, in which the main crop of wheat or barley is sown in alternate years only, the land, in the intermediate years, being either left fallow or put under a crop of different type, such as sesame, durra, leguminous plants or roots. Such rotation, though not providing for winter fodder, is adapted to the natural requirements of the soil, but needs to be supplemented by adequate manuring, the absence of which is the chief defect in native cultivation. ”

“ Every farmer should have a V drag also.
Corn, potatoes, peas, and other crops that are planted in straight rows, should be harrowed just after coming up, with a V drag, drawn by two horses. The front teeth should be taken out that the row may pass between the teeth, as well as between the horses.
Such a cultivation will do more good than any other single subsequent one. It stirs the whole surface, pulverizing the soil, keeps it mellow and moist, and destroys the weeds, and all at the best possible time, for the benefit of the crop. No other form of cultivation is so good for a young crop. ”

“ This variety has been growing next to Progressive, on the same soil, with the same cultivation, and I think that persons who have seen it this summer will agree with me that it is far ahead of Progressive in size and productiveness. I will say right here, if you expect to have a good crop of fruit in the fall, keep the most of the runners off. If you encourage them to make runners, or plants, you will have less fruit. ”

“ Centuries of cultivation have converted much of the land into rich, productive soil, but a glance at a recently reclaimed field shows one the difficulties with which the original cultivator has to contend, difficulties that would surely daunt a less stout-hearted race. ”

“ He will learn that in time the entire superficies of his orchard will be required by the wide-spreading, surface-feeding roots of the trees, and that pasture crops of any kind, grown for any purpose other than soiling or for green manuring, are prejudicial to future success. He will know that the initial preparation of all of his orchard and its continuous maintenance in good cultivation are essential not only to the future welfare of his trees but as a necessary means in connection with a judicious intermediate crop rotation. ”

“ A little brush burned on each stump will effectually check new growth, and, in two or three years, these unsightly objects will be so rotten that they can be pried out, and easily turned into ashes, one of the best of fertilizers. In the meantime, the native strength of the land will cause a growth which will compensate for the partial lack of deep and thorough cultivation which the stumps and roots prevent. Those who have travelled West and South have seen fine crops of corn growing among the half-burned stumps, and strawberries will do as well. ”

“ Why should they, when learned pomologists are content to know as little as they? The trees are highly cultivated and closely side-pruned. The vigor of a tree, i. e. the rapidity with which it will grow, determines its favor. Sorts which take time, and require a longer treatment, are regarded with disfavor. Everything is sacrificed to rapid growth and early maturity.
Next, and proceeding in the same evil direction, comes the orchard cultivation. From what quarter have we, mostly, derived our opinions and practices in fruit cultivation? From French, English, and New England writers. ”

“ There can be no reasonable doubt that Van Mons held the truth, and as little, that Knight’s speculations were fallacious. Bad cultivation will cause anything to run out; no plant will perfect its tissues or fruit without the soil affords it elementary materials. The so-called exhausted varieties renew their youth when transplanted into soils suitable for them. ”

“ Each class requires its own special forms of packing to conform to market peculiarities fixed by the taste of consumers.
For the cultivation of all specialties, many items of preparation are identical. Land must be well drained, it must contain a sufficient amount of humus, or decaying vegetable matter, to make it loose and porous; it must be free from sticks and stones or any foreign matter likely to impede cultivation or obstruct growth. The proper formation of a seed bed is a prime prerequisite to successful cropping. ”

“ Dung containing as it does fertilizing properties, may do well to renew the fertility of exhausted soils, which may have been under a long course of cultivation; but it is questionable, whether it ought to be admissable to any extent in pot culture, or in the growth of forced plants, in preference to a supply of wholesome unexhausted natural soil. ”

“ In the days to come, perhaps a thousand years from now, there may be four or five people to the acre living under conditions of intensive cultivation. This is just the sort of land that will support a population to the best advantage, and you have here conditions suitable for the crop that is to be the crop of the future. People do not fully utilize nature's resources until there is need for doing so. ”

“ From this fact we should take our start in every process of orchard, nursery, and garden cultivation of fruit-trees; and if philosophically employed it will, we will not say revolutionize, but materially modify the processes of cultivation peculiar to colder climates and poorer soils. In respect to esculent vegetables—cabbages, radishes, celery, rhubarb, lettuce, etc., this rank and rapid growth is beneficial, since it is not the fruit but the plant which we eat. ”

“ If the bed has been neglected till that time, the SURFACE MERELY can be cultivated with a hoe. When the plants have approached so near to the fruiting, the roots must not be disturbed at all. EARLY cultivation gives time for new roots to grow, and stimulates such growth. Where the rows are sufficiently long, and the ground permits it, this early loosening of the soil is accomplished with a horse-cultivator better than with a fork, the hoe following and levelling the soil and taking out all weeds.
My next step during the second season is to mulch the plants, in order to keep the fruit clean. ”

“ If the soil is moist and the temperature not too high the young plants are removed from the seed bed and set on top of the apexes in the formed rows. The cultivation of the field during the growth of the crop is sufficient to keep the surface in good tilth and prevent the growth of weeds, grass, etc. Care must be exercised in the cultivation not to draw the earth away from the ridges which have been formed, but to increase their size by drawing the earth more and more toward the apex of the ridge. ”

“ You should also cultivate less and slow down the growth. If they then take to bearing, you can resume moderate pruning and better cultivation. This is on the assumption that your trees are in too rich or too moist a place. But you should satisfy yourself by inquiry and observation as to whether the same varieties do bear well in your vicinity when conditions are such that slower growth is made. If the variety is naturally shy in bearing, or if it requires cross-pollination, the proposed repressive treatment might not avail anything. ”

“ While apple trees will grow on a thin soil, so much care and fertilizing is required that the crop will be of little or no profit upon such land. Lastly, we must protect our fruit from insect and fungous pests.
On land that is free from stones and not too steep, thorough and frequent cultivation will give the quickest and largest returns. On such land, hoed garden or farm crops may be profitable while the trees are small, but after five or six years it will generally be found best to cultivate it entirely for the growth of trees. ”

“ But where the extensive methods of cultivation are practised, it is usually possible to drift along on half crops or third crops, and still keep matters going on a gradual decline until conditions are so bad that the land is abandoned as barren, and pastures new are sought elsewhere. ”

“ Failing this source, commercial fertiliser specially prepared for potatoes must be bought. Thorough cultivation is necessary to insure a good crop. Soon—say seven or eight days after planting—run the harrow over the field, to kill the embryo weeds and level the surface. As soon as the plants show, cultivate again, but of course only between the rows, and with an ordinary cultivator. ”

“ In the progress of civilization the beginnings are usually feeble, obscure, and limited. There are reasons why this should be the case with the first attempts at agriculture or horticulture. Between the custom of gathering wild fruits, grain, and roots, and that of the regular cultivation of the plants which produce them, there are several steps. A family may scatter seeds around its dwelling, and provide itself the next year with the same product in the forest. ”

“ Practically no soils in long- inhabited communities remain naturally rich enough to produce big crops. They are made rich, or kept rich, in two ways; first, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food stored in the soil into available forms; and second, by manuring or adding plant food to the soil from outside sources. ”

“ It shouldn't take you long to clear up the fields and get them under cultivation. All you'll have to do there is pick the loose stones off of them and plow the land up, and harrow it and grade it in places, and spread a few hundred wagonloads of fertilizer ”

“ The number of plants gives the average measure of resistance to frost, this being the only important cause of loss. Then the yield in grain and straw is determined and calculated, and other qualities are taken into consideration. Finally one or more groups stand prominent above all others and are chosen for the continuation of the race. All other groups are wholly excluded from the "elite," but among them the best groups and the very best individuals from lesser groups are considered adequate for further cultivation, in order to produce the commercial product of the race. ”