684 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



of glass grow where only one grew before is universally looked upon 

 as a benefactor to bis kind, but that the claims of him \yho can 

 make one grow where none at all existed before is even greater 

 because the dilliculties to be overcome are more formidable." 



How is this to be accomplicshed successfully and economically? 

 The first consideration is the physical condition of the soil, and the 

 next its chemical constituents, for the physical condition must be 

 good before the chemical constituents can become effective, for 

 even though there may be an abundance of the fertilizing elements 

 present they may not be in an available condition to be taken up by 

 the roots of the plants and, therefore, must be made so. Most soils 

 are improved by the addition of humus or vegetable matter which 

 is generally accomplished by the application of stable manure, one 

 of the effects of which is to increase the ability of the soil to absorb 

 and retain moisture, which is of the utmost importance. 



The influence that humus exerts which in the process of fermen- 

 tation is also very great, especially in close, clayey soils. It makes 

 them more porous and hence more friable, and on this kind of soil 

 the best results are obtained from the application of fresh stable 

 manure; while on loose, sandy soils, already too open, best results 

 are obtained from rotton stable manure. The influence that fresh 

 manure exerts on the fertilizing ingredients already present in the 

 soil is considerable as the process of fermentation generates car- 

 bonic acid gas, which by acting on the insoluble mineral substances, 

 liberates the plant food that they contain and renders it available; 

 the carbonic acid also assists in retaining some of the nitrogen in 

 the soil by preventing its too rapid conversion into nitrates that are 

 soluble and might be too easily carried off by rains. 



Stable manure, considered chemically, is not entitled to the con- 

 sideration that is frequently given it. It contains but a small 

 amount of the three important fertilizing ingredients — nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid and potash — and estimated according to the com- 

 mercial value of these ingredients it is not worth at most over |2.o0 

 per ton and often less; moreover, the proportion of these fertilizing 

 elements, one to another, is very incorrect and should be rectified by 

 the addition of the lacking elements. Nitrogen, the most important 

 in this case and the most expensive one that we have to buy, can be 

 procured to advantage by growing cow peas which at the same time 

 will also increase the available supply of phosphoric acid, potash 

 and humus. The cow pea possesses the faculty of withdrawing the 

 nitrogen from the atmosphere, where it exists in unlimited quanti- 

 ties, through its leaves, while at the same time by its long tap roots 

 it draws from the sub-soil the potash and phosphoric acid and when 

 they are plowed under these fertilizing elements are deposited 

 where they are needed for future crops, and when decay and fer- 

 mentation set in the mechanical effects on the soil is similar to that 

 of stable manure. 



Lime acts on the soil both mechanically and chemically; it alters 

 the texture of the soil and increases its power to absorb and retain 

 moisture and also increases its fertility by assisting in the decompo- 

 sition of its mineral substances and the organic matter contained in 

 it. Lime has a tendency to make a clayey soil more friable and a 

 light, sandy soil more compact, but fifteen or twenty bushels to the 



