274 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



hire's results in fertility-building. Nature builds soils by 

 long accretions of fertility and by slowly accumulating 

 organic matter, humus. We can not put mere chemicals 

 into a poor soil and get the same results that nature gives 

 in her slower way. Vegetable matter is needed. The 

 slow decay of organic matter in the soil is needed to 

 promote nature's wondrous soil chemistry. The soil is 

 a true laboratory. There are little bacteria living on 

 decaying vegetable matter that do miracles there, gath- 

 ering nitrogen of their own accord, and other bacteria 

 in that very mysterious place, the soil, are at work too. 

 Make the soil sweet, feed it phosphorus, and potassium 

 if need be, but after all this is done add all the organic 

 matter you can. Manure makes land rich now as it did 

 in the days of our fathers. Chemicals help, are essential, 

 indeed; but after them one must conserve organic mat- 

 ter and increase it all one can. 



Two Lessons in Meadow-Building. Some years ago 

 we bought a very poor field and began work at reclaim- 

 ing it. One corner was especially unfertile, a cold, wet 

 clay. We drained this corner, then enriched it well, 

 spreading over it a good deal of stable manure. The 

 rest of the field was, some of it, very fertile land and had 

 naturally less manure, though all the field had more or 

 less manure and all alike was treated with phosphorus. 

 The land was sown to alfalfa. At the outset the alfalfa 

 on this poor corner was lighter than elsewhere, but after 

 two years the heaviest growth came from this part; the 

 field was reversed and what was originally the poor cor- 

 ner became the most productive. There would seem now 

 no reason why this condition may not be maintained. 



