154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



stable manure so largely contributes. Where the farmer is 

 able to keep cattle and make plenty of stable manure, consum- 

 ing his hay and bulky products on the land, and esportiug 

 only milk and concentrated products, potash accumulates in 

 the soil. 



If you will compare the composition of giain and milk, 

 with the composition of ordinary plants, you will find that 

 under that system you export nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 

 but send away very little potash. Potash constantly tends to 

 accumulate in the soil, being converted by the weathering 

 process, from the unavailabe state in which it exists in rocks 

 and earthy matters, into an available form, and under the 

 system of the application of stable manure, it is constantly 

 going round in a circle, from the land to the forage, thence 

 to the cattle and manure, and back again to the land, as long 

 as you feed your hay and straw, and simply export the milk 

 and other animal products. If, on the other hand, you raise 

 beets for the sugar manufacturer, or export bulky vegetable 

 products, then there will be a constant drain of potash from 

 the soil. The conditions which thus tend to alter the composi- 

 tion of your land, are all entirely within your means of un- 

 derstanding. 



It appears to me that the farmer who correctly apprehends 

 the principles of agricultural science ought to be able, after a 

 few years of observant experience, to take a fairly accurate 

 inventory of the available capital or crop-producing power of 

 his farm, field by field, should also be able to reckon to within 

 a few pounds the annual export of the several elements of his 

 crops ; should likewise follow with a close approach to accu- 

 racy the re-distribution of the stock of plant-food on the farm 

 caused by the removal of the green crop from the pastures 

 and meadows, the transfer of potash, lime, nitrogen, etc., to 

 the plow-land in the stable manure, and finally, to reckon 

 what kinds and quantities of plant-food must be imported to 

 make good the export, and what must be purchased in addi- 

 tion to increase the fertility of the several fields, and of the 

 farm, as a whole, to the highest point of profit. 



I should say that the intelligent farmer, after some experi- 



