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Liebig says : <4 The influence of the mechanical 

 operations of agriculture upon the fertility of a soil, 

 however, imperfectly the earthy particles may be 

 mixed by the process, is remarkable and often borders 

 upon the marvellous/' 



The truth of this declaration has oi'ten been estab- 

 lished by the experience of many observing farmers. 

 Here is one case. 



" I knew a farmer," says Mechi, " who took a good 

 farm wretchedly out of condition and full of weeds. 

 He fallowed every acre of it, taking care to allow time 

 between each plowing for the vegetation of the seeds. 

 The result was a crop of wheat, averaging 5i quar- 

 t<T< (44 bushels) per acre, and other crops in pro- 

 portion. He was a wise man/' 



Now in connection with this good tillage had he 

 put on the field somebody's " nitrogenized super- 

 phosphate of lime," it is very likely all -the credit 

 would have been given to it, and we might have had 

 his certificate that 44 bushels of wheat per acre were 

 actually obtained by using only 300 pounds on each 

 acre of this wonderful fertilizer. 



With such facts before him we are not surprised 

 that Mechi says : k< Frequent tillage is our best and 

 cheapest manure/' 



The farm of Joseph Harris has enough of clay in 

 the soil to require frequent plowing and harrowing 

 to bring out and unlock its highest productive capa- 

 city, hence he has discovered the great benefit of 

 thorough pulverization. He says: "That tillage 

 and manure are one and the same thing, is a great 

 truth/' 



