86 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



crops may be grown, which will ultimately exhaust the soil of 

 the elements wanting in the fertilizer. The remedy is to change 

 the fertilizer, or use it in connection with stable manures. 



These manures are not a substitute for stable manure, but 

 should be used to supplement it, and the farmer should carefully 

 save and apply every manurial substance produced on the farm 

 before he invests in commercial manures. I would not advise 

 any one to invest largely in any commercial fertilizers till by 

 careful experiment on his own farm he has tested their value, 

 for they are not uniform and certain in their effect like barn- 

 yard manure. It is wise, therefore, for all farmers, even though 

 they do not now need them, to experiment each year with small 

 amounts of commercial fertilizers of different kinds, so that if 

 at some future time they should wish to use them, they will be 

 able to make an intelligent selection. 



Three questions should be carefully considered in deciding 

 whether or not to invest in any commercial fertilizer. First. Is 

 it what your soil needs? Second. Is it adapted to the crop to 

 which you wish to apply it? Third. Is it worth the price 

 charged for it? This question of commercial fertilizers will be 

 treated more fully in another chapter. 



Green Manuring. Under this head I include any and all 

 crops that help to enrich the soil or improve it mechanically, 

 whether grown especially for the purpose or utilized for other 

 purposes, and the fertilizing merely incidental. I have already 

 in this chapter intimated that, as far as possible, we should use 

 our manure with reference to its producing, in addition to a grain 

 crop, something that we can return to the soil. Probably the 

 best manure we can have, especially for corn, is an old blue- 

 grass sod; but it takes years to produce this, and we can not 

 afford to depend on it. All things considered, clover should be 

 placed at the head of the list of plants valuable for green manur- 

 ing; and one reason why I give it this preference is, that the 

 crop may be utilized for stock food, and yet excellent effects 

 produced on the soil. This is largely due to the network of 

 roots, which penetrate the soil far below the reach of the plow, 

 and which constitute more than half the weight of the plant, 



