248 PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



gate amouut of field, vegetable and flower seeds which we annually 

 use iu this country. Depend upon it, in the near future we shall 

 grow our own seeds. 



As I have said before, the agricultural outlook in America is an 

 inviting and prosperous one. There is plenty of work to be done. 

 We own our own farms. We are surrounded by an active, ener- 

 getic and intelligent business, commercial, and manufacturing 

 people. And our own prosperity will be in proportion to the 

 energy, skill and intelligence we put into our work. We shall not 

 confine ourselves to raising wheat and corn, pork and beef. Many 

 will do this. But others will raise products which require more 

 capital and skill, and afford larger profits. 



Our first object must be to make our farms cleaner and richer. 

 Draining when necessary, and thorough cultivation, especially on 

 the heavier soils, are the first steps. The real source of fertilizing 

 matter is the soil. Draining and cultivation render a portion of 

 the plant-food, which lies dormant in the soil, available. Mr. 

 Lawes has raised 15 bushels of wheat every year for over thirty 

 years, without manure, the grain and straw being all removed. 

 In other words, on his heavy lands, cultivation renders enough 

 plant-food available every year for 15 bushels of wheat and straw. 

 This is the normal yield of his soil. On lighter and poorer soils, 

 the normal, annual supply of plant-food would not be so much, 

 and on richer alluvial soils it is often much greater. But what- 

 ever the exact amount, it is evident that this annual supply is the 

 real manurial income of the farm. Our object must be to use this 

 annual income to the best advantage. If we sell all our crops we 

 live up to our income, and the farm gets no richer. And if we 

 lose any by leaching or evaporation the soil becomes to that extent 

 poorer. If we retain half the crop at home on the farm, and use 

 it judiciously, we add so much to our manurial capital. 



Many of our farmers sow land to wheat and seed it down with 

 clover. They then plow under the clover and sow wheat again. 

 In this way they raise a crop of wheat every other year, and, 

 theoretically, if the normal yield or the annual supply of plant- 

 food is equal to 15 bushels of wheat per acre, the yield in such a 

 case every other year should be 30 bushels per acre. You get no 

 more wheat in one case than in the other, and the only advantage 

 is the saving in seed and in the labor of preparing for and har- 

 vesting the crop. I admit that these are very great advantages. 

 Summer fallowing on some soils would have equal advantages. 



