640 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



ictained. Stable niauuic should always be applied whenever the 

 j;iound is plowed to keep up the fertility of the soil, as stable manure 

 contains in the best possible shajx' all the elements necessary for 

 the growth of plants. Where soils are worn out, or deprived of fer- 

 tility by constant tillage, and stable manure cannot be obtained, 

 commercial fertilizers may be applied to get a catch or growth of 

 some leguminous or other plants to plow under in order to enrich 

 the soil which man has robbed of its natural fertility. 



Experiments have shown that plants take from the soil ai least 

 ten chemical elements which are required for their normal growth, 

 viz: Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulphur, sodium, 

 iron, chlorin, silicon and calcium, and by constant cropping are all 

 more or less liable to be exhausted. But the number liable to be 

 rapidly exhausted are four, which are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, pot- 

 ash and lime. These are liable to be exhausted because they exist 

 in larger amounts than the others in plants which are growing and 

 in smaller amounts than the others, even in the most fertile soiis. 

 The operations of nature are more subtle than chemical art, and 

 things that seem to be chemical may not always be practically 

 correct; therefore, the chemists' conclusions are not always safe to 

 draw from in agricultural matters. 



When we first receive the soil from the hands of nature, it is stored 

 with every element necessary for the growth of plants, and the prac- 

 tical farmer tries to keep it in that condition; but, unfortunately, 

 all over our Middle, Southern and Eastern states a great number of 

 farms have been run out by false and dishonest methods, such as 

 continual cropping, selling everything from the farm and return- 

 ing nothing to the soil ; w^hile in the Western states and territories 

 at present a vast amount of land is being exhausted of all the ele- 

 ments of fertility, utterly regardless of the consequences to future 

 generations. 



Plowing should be done in the most perfect manner, turning each 

 furrow, together with manure or whatever may be on the surface, 

 perfectly over in the place from which the previous furrow had been 

 raised. When fields have a straight boundary the furrows should be 

 perfectly straight and should always be an even width and depth. 

 The ground should be rolled before harrowii'g and afterward har- 

 row^ed, rolled and worked until perfectly pulverized. For most grain 

 crops a solid seed bed is best. For corn the ground should be per- 

 fectly pulverized three inches or more in depth; for potatoes a 

 greater depth is required, say four or five inches. In order to work 

 properly with modern machinery the rows should be marked per- 

 fectly straight. When corn or potatoes are coming up they should 

 be gone over with a light harrow or weeder to destroy all the weeds 

 that may have started. This should be done, if possible, when the 

 soil is quite dry on the surface. Afterward they should be thor- 

 oughly cultivated and kept free from weeds. On gravelly or sandy 

 ground or soil, flat culture is the best, while on clay or loam soils 

 tiiere seems to be some advantage in hilling up. 



In this country at the present time there is no lack of farm imple- 

 ments or machinery to carry on the work, but skilful, practical men, 

 w^ho are willing to devote their time and energy as well as physical 

 strength in operating the implements and machinery and who under- 

 stand the proper methods of farming, the proper rotation of croi)s, 



