120 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUEE 



[hLts:.s.£ 



Fig. 64. The old way of spreading manure leaves the field unevenly 

 fertilized and the crop grows and ripens unevenly. 



Making the Soil Rich. The farmer prepares his 

 fields well before sowing. He adds to the soil by 

 spreading over it barn-yard manure, for manure 

 contains the most plant food of anything he can 

 put on his fields (Figs. 64 and 65). Instead of 

 spreading manure on the corn lot, the farmer may 

 choose fields to plant where he has the year before 

 raised a crop of clover or cowpeas, because he 

 knows that these two crops enrich the soil for corn 

 (Fig. 53). Sometimes he buys a fertilizer made of 

 certain foods which the plant needs, but this costs 

 a great deal of money. 



How to Plow. To prepare the ground the good 

 farmer plows rather deep to bring fresh soil up to 

 the air and sunshine. The air and sunshine help to 

 make the plant food ready for the little corn rootlets 



