1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 159 



Professor Roberts. I would not compost ; I would get 

 it from the stable to the field and to the plant the first 

 opportunity. 



Mr. Bowker. If you were a market gardener ? 



Professor Roberts. I cannot speak of market gardening ; 

 I know nothing about the business. 



Mr. Shaw. I would like to ask if clover sown at the 

 second hilling of corn or a little later will attain sufficient 

 growth to be of any benefit to the next crop ? 



Professor Roberts. Yes, sir ; it will be of some benefit, 

 but it is pretty expensive seed, you know, and the clover 

 plant does not do its best until it is about a year old, and 

 you would only get about five, six or seven months. The 

 soil seems to be much richer in nitrogen after a clover crop. 

 That is the work of the microbes, the living organisms in 

 the soil. I thought I made that clear, — that recent dis- 

 coveries have proved beyond a doubt that even without 

 clover, if we have vegetable matter in the soil, by careful 

 culture in hot weather we may add materially to the nitrogen 

 in the soil. 



Mr. J. H. Hale of Connecticut. I am particularly inter- 

 ested in this subject, and have been greatly interc sted in 

 what Professor Roberts has said. I have always had to 

 study the question of fertilizers ; it is a matter of life and 

 death with me and with a good many New England farmers. 

 In my observations when visiting other farms and learning 

 what I could about agricultural and horticultural matters, I 

 have never found an unsuccessful farmer who practices 

 Professor Robert's method of hauling out manure in the fall 

 or in the winter, or at any time except mid-summer, and 

 spreading right on the field. Wherever I have found a man 

 doing that, I have found a successful farmer every time. 

 This is the practical side of the question which has always 

 interested me. 



Now, as to the matter of commercial fertilizers and the 

 purchase of nitrogen. Our farm is a small one, but we 

 need to cultivate pretty thoroughly, and, as the professor 

 says, we are continually stirring the soil. We keep the 

 horse harrows moving all the time from early spring until 

 late fall, and while we have bought a great deal of manure and 



