For A Reclaimed Swamp

Categories: Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation

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.