350 STATE BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. 



DISCUSSION^. 



M. Miles. — There is no other breed that approaches tlie Shorthorns in popu- 

 larity, or in "which so much money is invested. A pedigree is simply a means 

 of tracing the qualities in the ancestors of an animal. The value of a pedigree 

 depends: 1st, on its authenticity; 2d, on its completeness, i. e., all the ances- 

 tors must trace back to pure bred stock ; 3d, on the character of the ancestry. 

 If the ancestors have been well and favorably known the animal is desirable. 

 This was what caused the high prices at the New York Mills sale. If you know 

 nothing about pedigrees, go to one skilled in them and trust to his judgment. 



Dr. K. C. Kedzie read a lecture on "Green Manuring" (see lectures and 

 addresses as above.) 



After a vote of thanks to the State Board of Agriculture, and also to the pro- 

 fessors of the Agricultural College, this Institute was declared adjourned. 



[In closing this record of the Institutes, I desire to acknowledge my obligations to 

 the newspapers published in the various localities where the Institutes were held, 

 particularly to the Greenville Independent, the Jonesville Independent, the Owosso 

 JPress, and the Lansing Republican; also to Mr. W. A. Rowe, of Mason, for his excel- 

 lent report of the discussions of the Lansing Institute. — R. G-. Baikd, Sec.'] 



LECTURES AND ADDRESSES GIVEN AT MORE THAN ONE 



INSTITUTE. 



GREEN MANURING. 



BY PJIOF. R. C. KEDZIE. 

 [Read at Traverse City and Lansing Institutes.] 



By green manuring I mean plowing in green vegetable matter for the purpose 

 of improving the physical condition of the soil, or for increasing the growth of 

 subsequent crops by storing up in the soil plant food in available form. Green 

 manuring is secured by plowing under fresh or green vegetable matter, whether 

 grown upon that particular soil, or grown upon other lands and then removed 

 to be plowed under in any given field. It is most usual to plow under the green 

 crop grown upon the land to be manured, and thus the labor of cutting and 

 hauling the manural crop is saved. Cases may arise where it will pay to cut 

 and haul material upon land to be manured, for example, where a farmer has 

 a swamp yielding only coarse grass, flags, and reeds, which will make excellent 

 manure if plowed under in the green state, but are of little value when allowed 

 to ripen and harden, on account of the slowness of their decay. 



In this essay I shall confine my attention to the most usual kind of green 

 manuring, viz. : where the crop is buried under the soil on which it grew. 



Green manuring has been practiced from time immemorial. It was in high 



