MANURE OX DAIRY-FARMS. 105 



pastures once in three years, and the same quantity every year on 

 his field of mangel-wurzel." 



" That is precisely what I have been contending for," I replied ; 

 " the dairymen can make large quantities of manure if they make an 

 effort to do it, and their farms ought to be constantly improving. 

 Two crops of hay on the same meadow, each year, will enable a 

 farmer to keep a large herd of cows, and make a great quantity of 

 manure and when you have once got the manure, there is no dif- 

 ficulty in keeping up and increasing the productiveness of the land." 



HOW TO MAKE MORE AND BETTER MANURE ON DAIRY 

 FARMS. 



" You are right," said the Doctor, " in saying that there is no dif- 

 ficulty in keeping up and increasing the productiveness of our dairy 

 farms, when you have once got plenty of manure but the difficulty 

 is to get a good supply of manure to start with." 



This is true, and it is comparatively slow work to bring up a 

 farm, unless you have plenty of capital and can buy all the artificial 

 manure you want. By the free use of artificial manures, you could 

 make a farm very productive in one or two years. But the slower 

 and cheaper method will be the one adopted by most of our young 

 and intelligent dairymen. Few of us arc born with silver spoons 

 in our mouths. We have to earn our money before we can spend it, 

 and we are none the worse for the discipline. 



Suppose a young man has a farm of 100 acres, devoted principally 

 to dairying. Some of the land lies on a creek or river, while other 

 portions are higher and drier. In the spring of the year, a stream 

 of water runs through a part of the farm from the adjoining hills 

 down to the creek or river. The farm now supports ten head of 

 cows, three horses, half a dozen sbesp, and a few pigs. The land is 

 worth $75 per acre, but does not pay the interest on half that sum. 

 It is getting worse instead of better. Weeds are multiplying, and 

 the more valuable grasses are dying out. What is to be done ? 



In the first place, let it be distinctly understood that the land is 

 not exhausted. As I have before said, the productiveness of a farm 

 does not depend so much on the absolute amount of plant-food 

 which the soil contains, as on the amount of plant-food which is 

 immediately available for the use of the plants. An acre of land 

 that produces half a ton of hay, may contain as much plant-food 

 as an acre that produces three tons of hay. In the one case the 

 plant-food is locked up in such a form that the crops cannot absorb 

 it, while in the other it is in an available condition. I have no 

 doubt there are fields on the farm I am alluding to, that contain 



