POTATO CULTUKE. 25 



land, have come to his side. I certainly believe I am exactly 

 right on this point, for my rotation. I was at an institute 

 at Franklin, Pa., the other day, and Secretary Edge remark- 

 ed : " The man who can get a big clover crop can do just any 

 thing he has a mind to." That is a good deal the way I feel. 

 Let me now give you the plan we are at present following. 

 Manure is saved with care, on cement floors and in a covered 

 yard. It is put on the young clover right after we get our 

 wheat in the barn. It is put on with as much care to have it 

 fine as I have advised above. It is put on the parts of the 

 field where it is most needed ; and much care is taken to do 

 this, as we never have enough to go all over. I notice 

 particularly, when cutting the wheat, where the manure 

 is wanted. Small clover may not need manure. It may be 

 small because the wheat was very heavy and kept it back, 

 and the land be rich enough. Where the wheat was thin 

 and the clover small too, a double dose is needed. You see 

 the point we use our manure with the utmost care to help 

 us get a heavy growth of clover all over the field, on every 

 square rod, and then we are all right for our future money 

 crops. Some reader may think that manure put on the sur- 

 face in midsummer will lose much of its value by evapora- 

 tion. This is a common opinion, but not founded on fact. 

 I have often seen farmers draw manure out and put it in 

 piles, and not spread it until just as they were ready to plow 

 it under, so as to prevent any loss. Did they ever stop to 

 think that, if this world had been made that way, fertility 

 could not have been built up on the surface V There was no 

 one here for ages to plow under the manure of animals or 

 the growing vegetation ; no, they remained on the surface, 

 and eventually the soil became rich. You can not practi- 

 cally evaporate nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash, and 

 these are the three ingredients that we need in the manure. 

 Did you ever boil down any lye in a kettle ? Did the potash 

 evaporate? No; it remained in the bottom, and water 

 only went up into the air. Just so if you set a pan of water 



