186 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



keep iu mind that green manuring is not enriching the soil, ex- 

 cept in nitrogen. It may sometimes do well once when it would 

 not succeed a second time. It gives nature a better opportunity 

 to prepare the inherent resources of the soil. The use of clover as 

 a green manure has given relief at first, when afterwards its 

 effect has disappeared. The deep rooting plants like clover and 

 lucerne should alternate with grain crops in a good rotation. 



Such legumes as horse beans, lucerne, red clover, and lupines, 

 which draw fertility from the subsoil and bring it to the surface, 

 have been aptly called vegetable subsoil ploughs. At the Agri- 

 cultural College Farm the speaker planted horse beans and lupines 

 on land which had not produced above half a ton of hay to the 

 acre; the crops grew as finely as any ever seen, and they weie 

 turned under and grass was sown and there was not a finer catch 

 in the town. The horse beau needs far less potash and phosphoric 

 acid than grass. The aim of the farmer should be to supplement 

 the natural resources of the soil. It is impossible to decide by 

 chemical analj'sis of a soil what it is capable of producing. Most 

 experiments are mainly of educational interest ; they are not 

 intended to show farmers how to work, but to illustrate the 

 principle involved. We should aim to grow crops of good quality 

 and should select for seed only the best and most mature speci- 

 mens. 



Mr. Hersey said he had drawn the conclusion from his experi- 

 ments that corn needs a good deal of phosphoric acid to carry it 

 out. 



Dr. Goessmann said that the seed of corn has about four times 

 as much nitrogen as the stalk. When the seed is formed the 

 nitrogen and phosphate are not just taken from the soil, but have 

 been lor some time moving to the centre of growth. He had not 

 been able to raise a potato with twenty-five per cent of solid 

 matter ; one which contains onl}' twenty per cent is imperfect. 

 We have not yet settled on what is the requirement of a perfect 

 seed for cultivation ; this can be best ascertained by scientific in- 

 vestigation. The heaviest potato is the one to be selected for 

 propagation. 



William D. Philbrick said that he was engaged in market gar- 

 dening and had never been troubled by over-dosing. 



Dr. Goessmann said that undecomposed vegetable matter in the 

 soil might encourage parasitic growth. We put iu as much 



