88 



RKNNIE S AGRICULTURE. 



Cultivation 



Makes 



Vegetable 



Matter 



Soluble. 



Renewing 

 Worn-Out 

 Lands. 



Minerals, 

 Converted. 



during the summer season adds nothing to its fer- 

 tility, and is particularly destructive to the humus. 



Summer fallowing temporarily puts the soil in 

 better condition by improving the tilth, thus making 

 the plant food already in the soil soluble, so that 

 a crop of wheat or any other grain will grow luxur- 

 iantly, but a large portion of plant food is lost 

 through leaching and evaporation. In addition to 

 this there is the loss of one season's crop and also 

 much of the cost of labor spent in cultivating the 

 land while under summer fallow. 



Vegetable matter and nitrogen are the two most 

 essential elements in improving the fertility of the 

 soil, and both are easily supplied by adopting shallow 

 plowing and growing an abundance of alfalfa and 

 red clover, or other leguminous plants that are 

 adapted to collect free nitrogen from the air and 

 deposit it in the soil. 



The roots of alfalfa and red clover act upon the 

 crude mineral matter and convert it to available 

 plant food. 



