GREEN CROPS AS MANURE. 



used other manures, which with gypsum, aiding in restoring his farm to good condition. 

 But this case, and and others I have heard of, do not affect the force of the injunction 

 against a persevering system of turning in grain crops as a substitute for manure. It may 

 be that this very land that Mr. More found so wretchedly impoverished, when he took 

 possession of it, owed much of its poverty to his predecessor having followed more closely 

 the appliances of clover, buckwheat, &c., by wa}'^ of manure than ^Ir. More did — one 

 thing at least is certain, and that is, the impoverishment was not owing to the former 

 owner or tenant having been too liberal in the application of barn yard manure. 



Now the best way to test the soundness of my views, as to the system I so deprecated, 

 would be, for some one having a farm in such good condition as Mr. More's is now found 

 to be in, to follow the green crop system thoroughl}^ for five 3'ears, discarding the vulgar 

 practice, if you please, of husbanding barn yard and stable manure. To note the seasons 

 consumed in raising the crops to be turned under, to produce the " carbon," " oxygen," 

 " nitrogen," &c. — the simon pure fertilizers required to grow the wheat, rye, corn, pota- 

 toes, &c. &c., for the barn — to keep an exact account of the value of the crops so housed, 

 together with the sum total of the expenses of the farm, and then to exhibit the net gain 

 in the "yellow boys" that are now jingled in " Mr. Gowen's" ears, to convince him 

 of the profits resulting from the turning in green crops instead of manure; and if such a 

 system, on such a farm, at the end of five years, leaves the purse w^ell filled and the land 

 in as high condition as at the beginning, I shall not only confess that I was wrong, but be 

 willing to pay a premium of half the value of the farm to the husbandman who had work- 

 ed such a miracle. 



Let it be rembered that it was such land, as this, not worn out land that I had in view, 

 as may easily be perceived by my remarks, for how could the land be brought " into a 

 state of poverty," that had not been rich, but in poverty already.^ If, Mr. Editor, you 

 will take the trouble to again glance at the address, from which you have predicted that 

 if I go on at the rate you infer I am going, I will, as you say, " demonstrate that there 

 is no warmth begotten by sunshine," you will be led to believe at least, that I am in but 

 little danger of dealing in moonshine. Your obedient servant, James Gowen. 



Mount Airy, Philadetpkia, July 19(/i, 1852. 



Remarks. — We like the straight-forward spirit of Mr. Gowen's remarks, and find by 

 them, that in the main point at issue we are entirely agreed' That is to say, if Mr. Gow- 

 EN simply wishes to affirm that there is no comparison in the value of barn-yard manure 

 for keeping a farm in heart, and green crops, we say Amen, with all our heart. No per- 

 son has a firmer faith in the value of barn-yard manure, than ourself, as we believe that 

 with plenty of it, ar.d the knowledge how to use it, one might smile, even at the bottom 

 lands of the west. But, as Mr. Gowen will not deny, that the said bottom lands are the 

 most fertile lands in America, will he do us the favor to ask himself how they became 

 such a store house of fertility.' By the deposit and decay of animal remains? No. By 

 the annual deposit for hundreds of years, of vegetable remains.' Assuredly. Nature has 

 been plowing in green crops every year, on those bottom lands, till they are most unde- 

 niably rich. 



So for w^c think Mr. Gowen will agree Avith us — that there is virtue in decaying and 

 decayed vegetation buried in the soil, whether in the shape of clover plowed in or other 

 wise. But we now suppose from reading his remarks, with which he has flivored us, in 

 the above communication, that we have probably misapprehended him in another way, 

 OWEN is not only a good practical farmer, but an excellent teacher of husba 

 Pennsylvania and the states south of it he notices that farmers neglect their 



