238 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



plants best adapted for the purpose are treated upon, and the 

 testimony of distinguished gentlemen is given in favor of this 

 mode of fertilization, as also some of the objections to green 

 manuring are stated, such as the expense of seed for the growth, 

 and the disadvantage arising from the acidity which green plants 

 give to the land. 



With this, as with everything else, circumstances must govern 

 the practices we adopt. If lands be situated at a long distance 

 from our barns, so as to make the expense of cartage to and 

 from considerable, it may be well to adopt some plan of this 

 kind ; but with hay at from twenty to thirty dollars per ton, it 

 seems to me that there would be more profit if the crop grown 

 were clover, to make it into hay, feed it to stock, and apply the 

 manure to the soil. 



Clover is a valuable crop to raise for feed and manure. Prof. 

 Lawes tells us that one ton is worth $9.64 for manure ; but one 

 of the greatest advantages in ploughing in a crop of clover, in 

 my opinion, lies in the value of the roots of the plant. 



IS LIME MANURE ? 



This question can be easily answered in the affirmative, if it 

 can be proT^ed that it tends to increase the fertility of the soil or 

 furnish food for plants. There is a wide difference of opinion 

 among farmers as to the benefits to be derived from the use of 

 lime as a fertilizer. For while one man who makes an applica- 

 tion of lime to his land finds his crop nearly doubled, another, 

 with a similar application, finds the produce of his field not at 

 all increased. Although a large number of instances might be 

 cited where individuals had found an application of lime bene- 

 ficial, I will mention only one, which is the one alluded to by 

 Mr. Huntington, in his " Agriciiltural Survey" of Hampshire 

 County, which may be found in Flint's Report of 1865-6, p. 301. 

 The case is that of Mr. Green, of Hadley, who used lime with 

 marked success, bringing his mowing fields from beds of moss 

 to fertility, and to yielding good crops of hay. 



Lime of itself will not give fertility to the soil, but acts as an 

 indirect rather than as a direct nutrient matter to crops. 

 Neither does it bring plant-food into the soil, but prepares that 

 which is there for plant-food. 



