FOR lurrTEi: cuors 93 



Fertilizers — Many farmers believe that there is no fertihzer 

 so valuable as stable manure. The Ohio experiment station iias 

 taken up this question as applied to the wheat crop. They have 

 found that a ton of averajje farm manure taken from the open 

 barn-yard, contains nine pounds of nitrogen, ten pounds of po- 

 tassium and from three to four of phosphorus, a less proportion 

 of phosphorus than is usually needed on wheat land. Ac*cordin{,^ly 

 tlie experiment was tried of reinforcing the stable manure with 

 pliosphorus, the material used being finely ground phosphate 

 rock, known as "floats,'' and acid phosphates, using forty pounds 

 of either to a ton of stable manure. This manure was spread on 

 clover sod and plowed under for corn, w^heat following the corn, 

 and clover following the wheat in a three year rotation, no other 

 fertilizer being used for tlie three crops. The results fully jus- 

 tified tlie use of the phosphorus. Lands already brought to a 

 state of average fertility, yielding fifty-seven bushels of corn per 

 acre and eighteen of wheat, were still further improved by this 

 addition of "floats,"' or acid phosphate to the stable manure, 

 producing sixty-two bushels of corn and twenty-four bushels of 

 wheat to the acre. Stable manure that has not been exposed to 

 the weather gives still better results when combined with these 

 fertilizers— and applying it with a manure spreader will insure 

 maximum results. 



Compacting the Soil — When cutting the grain, the sickle 

 should be set high in order that the stubble may protect the 

 clover plants. Care must be taken in giving back to the land 

 any growth of green manure. A heavy growth plowed under 

 just before seeding time will almost certainly insure a failure of 

 the succeeding crop. This is because a heavy growth of any 

 kind when first plowed under produces a loose soil which will 

 hold water and freeze and thaw to a greater depth than well 

 compacted soil. To prepare an ideal seed bed for fall sowing of 

 wheat the ground should be plowed as soon as the hay crop is 

 cut. The depth to plow will be determined by the character of 

 the soil. To obtain the best results from green manuring, the 

 soil should be compacted as soon after plowing as possible. If 

 but one team can be used in preparing the land, the plow and 

 roller should be used alternately, leaving the land both plowed 

 and rolled at the end of each day. If, however, weather condi- 

 tions are favorable and the ground moist, the roller need not be 

 used at once, but where the land is dry and the sun hot, prompt 

 rolling is important. It is wonderful what power fine soil has 

 to retain moisture. A field that has been thoroughly compacted 

 and mellowed on the surface can be seeded after a shower that 

 would have little or no effect on a cloddy surface. The lack of 

 available moisture in the soil robs the plant of much fertility, 

 and will cause poor crops where heavy ones might be produced 

 by attention to this one point. 



