FERTILITY OF SOIL. 121 



not utilized which contain the very best fertilizing properties, 

 and Avhich would add permanent strength to the soil. For 

 lack of suitable absorbents much of the liquid manure is 

 wasted, and the heaps of solid excrement mingled with straw 

 are left to a slow combustion, most of the valuable properties 

 escaping into the air. When all the resources of home pro- 

 duction are employed, and the manure is carefully preserved 

 from washing rains that leach out its valuable properties, and 

 from the waste by evaporation, if then there is need of still 

 further supply of plant food, the farmer must have recourse 

 to commercial fertilizers. Even then I am inclined to think 

 it will be a better investment to purchase the materials in 

 the cheapest and most available forms, and compost them for 

 himself, rather than to buy tons of material that are not worth 

 the cost of cartage, which are sometimes found in commercial 

 fertilizers, as an absorbent to retain their valuable properties. 

 Of the best methods of applying manures in order to secure 

 the greatest crops and still retain the fertility of the land, I 

 have but little to say. To a great extent this is a subject 

 that must be left to individual judgment. A proper decision 

 must depend on the nature of dillerent soils, on the crops 

 that are to be produced, and on the circumstances that are so 

 diflerent in the different localities. We may venture one 

 suggestion, that it will generally be found the nearer the 

 surface the dressing is placed, the more efficient will be its 

 action ; and that the more thoroughly it is incorporated with 

 the soil, the quicker the returns. There need, be but little 

 fear in top-dressing that the ammonia will escape. T^iere is 

 such an affinity between the volatile alkali and the soil when 

 it is spread on the surface, that but little loss is experienced. 

 When piled in heaps there is the danger of loss of ammonia. 

 Top-dressing is nature's method of keeping up the fertility of 

 soils. Practical sagacity is necessary in the application of 

 the principles unfolded by science, that success may crown 

 the laborer. Agricultural science has unfolded great laws of 

 nature in the development and growth of plants, and in the 

 preparation of soils. There are still principles but half 



