490 WISCONSIN AGRICULTDEE. 



ing we may cultivate tlie grasses. They will take up very dif- 

 ferent proportions of the inorganic elements, from the cereals 

 and in the operation they will be depositing near the surface 

 other elements which we shall want when we raise corn and 

 wheat again. Our excellent soil will stand a great deal of hard 

 usage. We may sell our corn, our barley, our oats and our 

 wheat, but we must not sell off our hay, crop after crop, or we 

 may have the experience of him who has learned practically, 

 that it is the last ounce which breaks " the camel's back." By 

 the judicious cultivation of the grasses, and the proper use of 

 hay, the farmer will surely pave his way to prosperity, but by 

 their injudicious cultivation and the improper use of hay, he will 

 realize positive evil. 



Land which has been cropped for a series of years, and on 

 which grass seed will not catch, may be readily brought to by 

 the application of ashes at the time of seeding, or if convenient, 

 in the spring or autumn before seeding, is better. On our soil 

 there is no better manure for grass lands. Farmers, don't sell 

 or trade your ashes for soap. It don't pay. It will take as long 

 to put up a load of ashes and take to town to buy a barrel of 

 soap, as it will to make one ; besides the value of your ashes to 

 produce grass is five times as great as it is for soap. 



Those living within hauling distance of asheries cannot 

 employ the leisure time of a team better than in hauling 

 leached ashes and spreading upon their meadows. Recollect 

 that when ashes are used as a manure, it should be as a top 

 dressing ; and don't forget, farmers, to spread your ashes upon 

 your grass lands. 



Should any one make so great a mistake as to deem me as wise 

 as a Nestor, and a-k me the best way of recruiting lands distant 

 from the farm building, I should answer him, it is with clover. 

 This is one of the very cheapest ways we have of manuring. 

 While its roots are digging deep into the ground after potash, 

 lime, and the phosphates, its leaves are extracting from the air 

 ammonia and carbonic acid, and when the plant is through using 

 them, it deposits all these rich ingredients at or near the surface, 

 ready for the use of other plants. The time is close at hand 



