GRAYLING INSTITUTE. 325 



date to the soil, suhpcena duces tecum, bring the documents with you into 

 open court! It is difficult to place the limit on the productiveness of a soil 

 that will produce good crops of clover if the farming is intelligently con- 

 ducted. 



The use of plaster and salt when once these lands have been subdued and 

 brought into condition will probably give a new impetus to farming on the 

 plains. Early planting and sowing so that crops may be carried beyond 

 danger of injury from midsummer drought, the compacting of the surface 

 of meadows and sown crops by early use of the roller, and the constant 

 stirring of hoed crops to avoid drying up, are topics that demand attention. 



SCBDUE THE LAND. 



One of the first conditions of successful farming on the plains is to subdue 

 he land. Because there is no heavy forest to clear off, some seem to think 

 that to roughly plow up the soil is all the preparation required to fit for a 

 crop. This is only to declare hostilities, not to subdue the enemy. When 

 Adam was yet in paradise the first command he received from his Creator 

 was: ''Be faithful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it." 

 If the soil of Eden required to be subdued, the wild lands of Michigan will 

 have to stand the same treatment. Subdue your land or your land will sub- 

 due you. Plow up the land thoroughly, get out the roots and trash, cultivate 

 and compact your soil by drag and roller, and then yon may begin to think 

 about putting in a crop. But if you cannot do this, if you have no team or 

 farm implements, if you have no provision made for your support ami living 

 for a year ahead, and only depend upon choking in a crop and skinning the 

 land for your immediate living, then don't attempt farming on the plains. 



Dr. Manly Miles of Lansing opened the discussion on Dr. Kedzie's paper 

 in the following remarks: 



With this interested audience I need not dwell upon the importance of the 

 problem under discussion. 



A happy union of science and practice is necessary for its complete and 

 satisfactory solution, and attention must be given to every detail that can 

 possibly influence the results. 



In the able paper we have listened to with so much interest. Dr. Kedzie has 

 given a full discussion of the facts and principles of science relating to the 

 subject, and it remains for us as practical men to devise the ways and means 

 for their application in practice. 



Science affirms that the light lands of Crawford county contain all the ele- 

 ments of fertility required for their profitable cultivation, and practically we 

 have to consider the best methods of making them available. 



The comparison that has been made between the soils of the plains and the 

 light Campine sands of Belgium, in which the latter appear at a disadvantage, 

 is very suggestive. 



My first; acquaintance with the plain lands of Northern Michigan was made 

 in 1872 and I was then fully convinced of their agricultural value. A few 

 years later I visited the Campine sands, to which reference has been made, 

 and my observations lead me to believe that in the management of our own 

 light soils we may derive some valuable suggestions from a study of the meth- 

 ods of practice which have produced such wonderful results on these lighter 

 soils of Belgium. 



