10() Food for Plants. 



For similar reasons stable manure should be applied to 

 those soils most deficient in humus and iu)t to the muck 

 lands and those that are naturally moist. 



Preparing Land. 



The river-bottom lands, because of their silt forma- 

 tion and the added fertility which they receive in their 

 annual overflow, together with their abundant supply of 

 moisture during the entire season, are able to produce 

 the largest crops of timothy, at the lowest cost per ton, 

 but these soils are usually very foul with quack, sedges 

 and wild grasses, which must be largely eradicated, in 

 order to get a stand of clean timothy. 



Where there are stumps or rocks that would interfere 

 with the operations of haying machinery, it is advisable 

 to remove them wherever possible, and it was found that 

 the judicious use of dynamite effected a great saving in 

 the time and expense of this operation. 



After plowing, the land should be rolled and then thor- 

 oughly worked every week or ten days up to seeding 

 time. The field should be worked in small lands, going 

 around each land, and always lapping the harrow one- 

 half, so that the surface may be kept level. 



If there are any deep holes in the field, resulting from 

 the removal of boulders or other cause, they should be 

 filled in at the time of the first harrowing, and if there 

 are any surface ditches they should be made shallow Avith 

 gradually sloping sides, wherever possible, so that the 

 entire surface of the field can be gone over with a mowing 

 machine in any direction when the hay crop is to be 

 harvested. 



The difference in the expense of preparing a field right, 

 or only partially so, is slight, Avhen considering possible 

 breakage of machinery when harvesting the crops of sev- 

 eral years, figured on the basis of low cost per ton of 

 product, and this factor is of double importance in the 

 ])reparation of land on which it is possible to harvest 

 two crops each season. 



