The Bulletin. 79 



structure onnhlos it to act as a sponge ami thus increases tlie soil capacity 

 for water; and tlie deconiiwsition of vegetaljje matter forms solvents which 

 act upon the mineral matter of the soil and render it availahle to the plants. 



Rotations involving the alteration of fihrous and tap-rooted plants, broad- 

 cast and rowed crops, winter and summer cover crops and the employment 

 of legumes at freciuent intervals will not only bring about diversification, soil 

 improvement, and enable the keeping of more live stock, but will enable a 

 better economic balance of the products of the farm and greater profit in 

 their utilization on the farm or their sale. The development of a high state 

 of soil fertility cannot be secured by one act, but must come from many acts 

 harmonizing, such as deeper fall and winter plowing followed by disking and 

 harrowing, the reduction of soil-wash to a minimum ; the employment of a 

 wise rotation and cover and catch crops ; increased numbers of live stock and 

 the economic use of their droppings ; and the proper use of the right kind of 

 commercial fertilizing elements. 



SOIL IMPROVEMENT WITH GREEN MANURE. 



By J. M. Gray. 



By green manure we mean any crop that is grown primarily for the pur- 

 pose of improvement of the soil, and not for the harvested product. 



In preparing a green manure crop for the future crop there are several im- 

 portant factors we must keep ever before us. We want the cover crop to 

 furnish direct plant food, indirect plant food, increase the moisture-holding 

 capacity of the soil, and to better the mechanical condition of the soil. And 

 we want these results at once. We cannot get these results without giving 

 some care and thought to the preparation of the land. If we want to obtain 

 the best results we must have the vegetation furnished by the crop thoroughly 

 mixed with the surface soil, and not in the bottom of the furrow, as many of 

 our farmers are wont to do. Many farmers believe that by turning this crop 

 under in any form they will get good results, while others have tried it' and 

 know that they do not get the best results from careless handling of these 

 crops. 



Let us consider for a few minutes the following factors: increasing the 

 water-holding capacity of the soil, direct plant food, indirect plant food, and 

 the mechanical condition of the soil, in the order in which they come. 



Just a word about the soil water, to make our next statements clear. In 

 the soil there are two movements of the water : the gravity water or that 

 water which falls on the land in the form of rain, etc., and flows downward 

 until it reaches the water-table or the underdrains, and the capillary water, 

 or the water which starts from this water-table and moves upward from soil 

 particle to soil particle (much as the oil flows upward through the lamp 

 wick), and, unless checked by a dust mulch or some other agency, escapes 

 from the surface in the form of a thin vapor. Before plant food \n the soil 

 can be utilized by the plants it must be in solution, and we are dependent 

 upon this capillary water to dissolve the plant food ; therefore you can see 

 the necessity of husbanding capillary water. 



The usual method of preparing the green manure crop for a future crop is 

 to go into the field with a heavy plow and to turn the vegetation completely 

 over, placing it in the bottom of the furrow and thus forming a cushion of 

 vegetation between the surface soil and the subsoil. This vegetation, no mat- 

 ter how firmly we thinlc we have packed it, cannot be close enough together 

 to allow the capillary movement of the water to continue from the subsoil 

 to the surface soil or seedbed. In this one operation we are cutting off from 

 the plant the most important factor in its growth. Of course, in a rainy 

 season we may not notice this injury so much, for possibly the water-table 

 has been raised up to or above the cushion of vegetation ; but in a dry season 

 we will see that our crops, where we have turned into the bottom of the fur- 



