Our Plants. 9 



the principal thing in carrying on a successful war- 

 fare in India or any other country. If we have the 

 forage, we shall have the bullocks ; if we have the 

 bullocks, we shall be able to support the men, and 

 if our men are well supported, we shall have no 

 trouble to conquer the enemy." That's the whole 

 story. If we will give our greatest concern to our 

 growing plants, we need not worry ourselves about 

 the rest. The animals to eat it will come along 

 easily enough. If you see it in that light, you will 

 find, by the adoption of the soiling system, that you 

 are able to provide an abundance of food for your 

 growing plants in a sure and economical way, i.e., 

 by the greater production of barnyard manure, 

 plowing under green crops for manure, soiling your 

 plants as well as your animals. But before we pro- 

 ceed to discuss the value of barnyard, liquid and 

 green manuring as compared with commercial fer- 

 tilizer, let us first consider the comparative value of 

 the ordinary grain and forage crops, both as a for- 

 age (manure) for our plants and as feed for our ani- 

 mals. This will help to explain some important 

 questions in regard to producing the most economi- 

 cal plant food and clinch several strong arguments 

 in favor of soiling. 



"Good farming," says Lockhardt, "consists in 

 taking large crops from the soil, while at the same 

 time you leave the soil in better condition for suc- 

 ceeding crops. " This strikes me as being the best 

 definition of what constitutes good farming I have 

 ever seen. It is the very science of farming. 



