32 AGRICUI^TURS OF MAINE. 



drained either naturally or artificially, for under all conditions 

 free water in the soil is hurtful and in the rpost cases it is impos- 

 sible to grow paying crops when it is present. We must follow 

 a proper rotation of crops. This again is nature's method. 

 ]\Iark the variety of plants growing together under natural con- 

 ditions. We have two great families of plants under our hand. 

 They may be called nitrogen gathering and nitrogen consuming 

 plants. Nitrogen is that element which gives the dark green 

 color and vigorous growth to the plant. It is the most expen- 

 sive to buy and the most easily lost of all plant foods in the soil, 

 but can be obtained from the atmosphere in unlimited quantities 

 by the introduction of some of the legumes, notably the clovers, 

 into our rotation. The value of red clover as a soil renovator 

 can hardly be over estimated. Its long tap root going down 

 deep into the subsoil brings up plant food that is below the 

 reach of shallow rooted plants. In their passage down the 

 roots loosen up the subsoil admitting air, and in their decay they 

 fill the soil with humus, or decaying vegetable matter which is 

 really the basis of fertility. It has been estimated that the roots 

 and crown of a good clover crop add from ten to fifteen tons 

 per acre of vegetable matter to the soil. Clover, then, should 

 be the foundation of the rotation and the narrower the rotation, 

 or the oftener the clover is introduced in a series of years, the 

 more rapid the upbuilding of the soil. 



Every rotation should have a deep rooted nitrogen gathering 

 crop, some of the clovers ; a cleaning crop, roots or corn, and 

 a shallow rooted crop such as one of the grains, with which 

 should be sown the clovers for the following crop. 



Perhaps there is more waste in manures than in any other item 

 of farm management. Straw that ought to be carefully saved 

 for feed or bedding is burnt or allowed to go to waste by the 

 wayside ; manure is thrown out under the eaves of a building, 

 there to leach its value away instead of being at once drawn to 

 the field and spread. There is no better way to dispose of 

 manure than to spread a light dressing on the clover, either 

 just before sowing the seed or just previous to winter. If this 

 is done we will seldom have a failure of catch or have the crop 

 winter killed. By the adoption of a suitable rotation of crops, 

 the saving of manure, thorough tillage and selling only the fin- 



