T4 ON tlRMNU IN CROPS AS A MANURE. 



state, almost exclusively by ploughing in crops, which, when he com-- 

 menced, was about as thoroughly exhausted by continual cropping, 

 as one can well conceive. The method pursued has been to cultivate 

 two crops — one to be taken off, the other covered in. Rye, oats and 

 buckwheat have been the grains mostly used. One part of the field 

 is now improved as a nursery, and lately the other has been filled out 

 with peach and plum trees, designed for an orchard. These are in a 

 flourishing condition. On the orchard part, corn was planted this 

 year, with no other manure than a very small quantity put in the hill. 

 From the appearance of the stalks and the setting of the ears, a 

 good judge of such things thought there would be a yield of from 

 forty to fifty bushels to the acre, and though from the dryness of the 

 seasdn, the ears did not fill out entirely, there was still what should 

 be regarded as an encouraging harvest. Less than half the manure 

 has been used in producing the change, than would have been neces- 

 sary, had no other compensating process been adopted. 



From these extracts, taken from various sources and from sources 

 entitled to credit, there appears to be a pretty general impression 

 that the use of crops as a manure, is a measure which may be re- 



in the same neighborhood on land of better quality, was seen and remarked by several 

 persons, and some who have known the estate for more than forty years, say that they 

 never before saw such heavy rye on that part. — John Keely. 



Among the many economical modes of producing geine, the ploughing in of vegeta- 

 ble matter has held a high rank. Nature teaches us to turn in the dried plant. Dried 

 leaves are her favorite morsels, and the very fact that nature takes the dried plant from 

 which to prepare the food of growing vegetables, should Have taught us, long ago, the 

 wisdom of ploughing in dry crops. The careful collecting and husbanding of dried 

 leaves, their superior efficacy in forming compost, bear witness to the facts stated in 

 your letter. — Samuel L. Dana. 



Ploughing in of green crops as practised in the state of New York, is so economical 

 a mode of enriching the soil that I have often marveled that it is not practised to a much 

 greater extent in other places. Allow me to recommend the spreading of a coat of 

 lime previous to ploughing in. If the slovenly farmer who allows his weeds to grow 

 up unmolested and to cover his fields, would, instead of this, plough them under, after 

 a few repetitions of this, he would be surprised at the increased fertility of the soil, 

 and save the labor of carting manure from a distance. — Jxmius in the JV. Y. Farmer. 



Powerful as are the effects of green crops ploughed in, it is the experience of some 

 practical men that one crop allowed to perfect itself and die where it grew, and then 

 turned in dry, is superior to three turned in green. The whole result is explained by 

 the fact that dry plants give more geine than green. Green plants ferment; dry plants 

 decay: a large portion escapes in fermentation, as gas and more volatile products are 

 formed than during decay. — Dana's Muck Manual. 



