140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that stock husbandly lies at the foundation of all successful farming. 

 Well, gentlemen, there is such a thing as the judicious application 

 of manures, and thei'e is such a thing as applying them in an 

 injudicious manner. That is a (question of importance which we 

 haven't time to discuss fully here. I will say that the most judicious 

 way that I can apply l)urn manure to m}' land is to thoroughly 

 incorporate it with the surface soil. I don't exactly agree with 

 some of the propositions. So far as my experience goes, I prefer 

 bulky manure to that in a concentrated form. We are told that in 

 a cord of barn manure there is so much plant food ; but with me I 

 find a benefit beyond that, in the mechanical effect of it. Perhaps 

 on light soil it would not be so ; but when I apply barn manure to 

 m}' heavy soil I think I get great benefit from its mechanical effect. 

 It lightens up the soil and brings out the properties of the soil. 



Another way in which we can improve our soil is hy drainage. 

 The amount of water in our soil may make the difference between 

 success or failure : and happily we have this within our control to a 

 great extent. 



Then we have tillage. The old definition of that was manuring. 

 It was iraperfectl}' understood once. An old Indian once, being 

 asked how he manured his land, said, " I plow and plow and plow 

 seven times';" and the secret was, he said, that he plowed when the 

 dew was on, supposing there was gi-eat richness in the dew. He 

 did not understand that b}- cultivating the soil he rendered certain 

 plant food which was in the soil available to the plant. 



I have canvassed the town of Brunswick, containing 28,000 square 

 acres of land and some very good farmers, 3-et not one fifth of the 

 farmers protect their manures. The fertilit}' of their farms is 

 running to waste, carried down our streams to the ocean. 



