124: INDIAN COEN. 



intermingled, are yet frequently carted upon the land 

 in rude lumps and unbroken masses that strangely 

 contrast with the fine roots and fibres through whose 

 minute mouths they have yet to enter before they can 

 nourish the growing corn. 



" Few farmers," says the editor of the Agricul- 

 turist, " comprehend the importance of attending to 

 this item in the preparation of their stock of fertilizers. 

 They are often carried to the field in the spring, in 

 the coarsest form possible, the hay and straw not fer- 

 mented at all, and the coarse clods carried in to the 

 yard last summer, not broken. They are spread in 

 this state, and the large lumps are ploughed under so 

 that they are not immediately available for the suste- 

 nance of plants. Plants feed mainly at the extremi- 

 ties of the rootlets, through mouths too small to be 

 seen by the naked eye. The finer the manure is made, 

 the more easily it is dissolved in water, and the sooner 

 it passes into the circulation." 



The cultivator who intends to secure a maximum 

 crop, or even a tolerably liberal and paying yield, will 

 find it necessary to attend to his fertilizers, whatever 

 may be the kinds employed, and to reduce them to a 

 suitable degree of fineness before applying them to 

 his soil. 



But, in order to secure to the growing plant the 

 full and legitimate effect of the manure applied, there 

 is still another condition remaining to be complied 

 with. The fertilizer and the soil require to be intimately 

 blended. It is not enough that they are, each of them, 

 completely and thoroughly pulverized ; they must 



