EFFECT OF MANURE AND DRAINAGE. 281 



Concerning the value of red clover as a manure, the reader is 

 referred to another chapter which treats of that plant. 



Eye is our hardiest cereal and grows better than any other on 

 the poorest sandy land. It is not as valuable for plowing under 

 as some leguminous crop, as its roots are smaller and much less 

 in amount and the plant returns less to the soil. As it will 

 grow rapidly in autumn and spring, and makes a large bulk 

 of vegetation, it is not unf requently sown for plowing under. It 

 often happens that such a practice may be adopted without the 

 loss of another crop. 



In plowing under any crop to fertilize the soil, the reader 

 should not forget that animals can appropriate only a small per 

 cent of what they eat. The rest may be saved and go back to 

 the soil. 



"In estimating the value of the manure made by animals, 

 only the nitrogenous and ash constituents of the food are con- 

 sidered, as the carbonaceous elements are supplied by the 

 atmosphere. Over 95 per cent of the nitrogen and ash constitu- 

 ents are voided in the excrement in the cases of sheep and oxen. 

 This shows a very small waste of the fertilizing matter of food in 

 fattening sheep. If 90 to 95 per cent of these fertilizing con- 

 stituents of food could be actually saved by farmers and returned 

 to the soil, then it is easy to see the effect that must be pro- 

 duced by judicious stock-feeding upon the depleted soils of the 

 New England and Middle States. The farmer should also 

 remember that considerably more than half of the fertilizing of 

 manure is to be found in the urine, and this is much the more 

 valuable, according to the quantity, as it is all soluble and 

 becomes immediate and active plant food." (Feeding Animals, 

 by E. W. Stewart.) 



Manure and Drainage Improve the Quality of Grasses. 

 We have nothing better to offer in this connection than the 

 36 



