XII TALKS ON MANURES. 



it into plants, with as little delay as possible, which will, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, bring in some money. 



Our climate is very different from that of England. As a 

 rule, we seldom have enough rain, from the time corn is planted 

 until it is harvested, to more than saturate the ground on our 

 upland soils. This year is an exception. On Sunday night, 

 May 20, 1883, we had a northeast storm which continued three 

 days. During these three days, from three to five inches of 

 rain fell, and for tne first time in many years, at this season, my 

 underdrains discharged water to their full capacity. Had 

 nitrate of soda been sown on bare land previous to this rain, 

 much of it would, doubtless, have been lost by leaching. This, 

 however, is an exceptional case. My underdrains usually do 

 not commence to discnarga water before the rirst of December, 

 or continue later than the first of May. To guard against loss 

 of nitrogsii by leaching, therefore, we should aim to keep rich 

 land occupied by some crop, during the winter and early 

 spring, and the earlier the crop is sown in the autumn or late 

 summer, the bettar, so that the roots will the more completely 

 fill the ground and take up all the available nitrogen within 

 their reach. I havo said that this idea had modified my own 

 practice. I grow a considerable quantity of garden vegetables, 

 principally for s-esd. It is necessary to make the land very 

 rich. The plan I have adopted to guard against the loss of 

 nitrogen is this : As soon as the land is cleared of any crop, 

 after it is too late to sow turnips, I sow it with rye at the rate 

 of one and a half to two bushels per acre. On this rich land, 

 especially on the moist low land, the rye makes a great 

 growth during our warm autumn weather. The rye checks 

 the growth of weeds, and furnishes a considerable amount of 

 succulent food for sheep, during the autumn or in the spring. 

 If not needed for food, it can be turned under in the spring for 

 manure. It unquestionably prevents the loss of considerable 

 nitric acid from leaching during the winter and early spring. 



Buckwheat, or millet, is sometimes sown on such land for 

 plowing under as manure, but as these crops are killed out by 

 the winter, they cannot prevent the loss of nitric acid during 

 the winter and spring months. It is only on unusually rich 

 land that such precautions are particularly necessary. It has 

 been thought that these experiments of Lawes and Gilbert 

 afford a strong argument against the use of summer-fallows. 

 I do not think so. A summer-fallow, in this country, is usu- 

 ally a piece of land which has been seeded down one, two, and 



