GRAYLING INSTITUTE. 333 



valuable fertilizing constituents of barn-yard manure, under ordinary systems 

 of management, is enormous, and there is no department of farm economy in 

 greater need of improvement. 



(The annual loss from this source in Michigan alone is not less than $15,- 

 000.000.00.) 



The liquid and solid excreta, with an abundant supply of litter to absorb 

 all moisture, should be carefully collected and applied to the land before fer- 

 mentation takes place. When drawn to the field the manure should be spread 

 at once to secure an even distribution over the surface, and it should never be 

 deposited in small piles in the field for several weeks before it is spread, which 

 is a common practice. 



On the plains especial attention should be given to the care and applica- 

 tion of manure to insure the complete utilization of every element of 

 fertility. 



Summer fallows must be avoided, as they are the cause of waste in many 

 directions. The loss of labor, and of the crop which might be grown ; the 

 delay in the accumulation of root residues, which is a matter of the first 

 importance, and the leaching of available plant food to the lower strata of 

 the soil, from lack of growing roots to appropriate it as fast as it is liberated, 

 may be enumerated as some of the objections to the practice, without any 

 compensating advantages to recommend it. 



The only reasonable excuse for a summer fallow on heavy land is the 

 destruction of weeds, which have been allowed to gain the ascendancy from 

 a lack of thorough tillage and a defective system in cropping. 



Weeds should not be allowed to grow on light soils, as they are readily 

 destroyed by cultivation and a system of rotation with catch crops that pro- 

 vide for the continuous occupation of the soil by useful plants. In the 

 struggle for existence the weeds must be crowded out by the dominant vigor 

 of useful plants, and the system of cropping and cultivation must aid nature 

 in providing for the survival of the fittest. 



The roller should be freqnently used to keep the soil as compact as possible 

 and improve its physical condition, particularly in its relations to moisture 

 and root development. 



Under a judicious system of management, which takes into account pro- 

 visions for future productiveness, as well as immediate profit, there are good 

 reasons for the belief that the plain lands may not only be successfully cul- 

 tivated, but made to add to the well deserved reputation of Michigan farms 

 and farming. 



RECAPITULATION. 



The essential elements of success in the farming of the plains may be sum- 

 marized as follows : 



The leading principle of practice must be to conserve and utilize the ele- 

 ments of fertility in the soil by a succession of crops of different habits of 

 growth and root development, so that the land may be occupied throughout 

 the season with plants of economic value, to prevent any possible waste of 

 available plant food. Catch or stolen crops have an important place in the 

 plan of operations, to fill up the interval between the leading crops of the 

 rotations. 



Especial attention should be given to the feeding and manurial value of 

 the crops grown, with reference to their influence on future productiveness. 



