180 AMERICAN MANURES. 



to the surface; and then by plowing the crop 

 under it soon decays, and the fertilizing elements 

 contained are stored up for future crops. In 

 practising green manuring, the farmer has to 

 sacrifice an immediate benefit for a greater future 

 good, which may sometimes be considered of 

 doubtful advantage. But when he has once 

 tried the experiment, and noted its effects on 

 future crops, he will find not only the value of the 

 crop plowed under returned to him, but a large 

 percentage in addition. Besides all this, the 

 previous plowing is paid for, in making subse- 

 quent cultivation easier, and in rendering the 

 soil in a more finely divided state, which is a 

 very important consideration in growing all 

 kinds of crops. 



To derive the most benefit from green manur- 

 ing, the plowing should be performed before the 

 formation of the blossom, or seed, as the blossoms 

 give off nitrogen, and the seeds may become a 

 subsequent source of trouble ; also, the plowing 

 should be shallow, so as to keep the vegetable 

 matter near the surface, and within easy access 

 of the oxygen of the atmosphere. But the 

 reader must not think for a moment that green 

 manuring alone is sufficient to keep his land in a 

 fertile condition. The benefits derived from this 

 treatment of the land can exist only for a lim- 

 ited period, and the subsoil must eventually be- 



