MANURES. 203 



who uses these merely as a substitute for manure, will, in a few 

 years, fuid his farm barren and unproductive, and reduced to a 

 low state of exhaustion, although at first he may seem to realize 

 very desirable results. Hence we are led to say they are not 

 to be classed among the fertilizers. 



Plaster is used with good success in connection with other 

 manures. The effect is to hasten the crop and give it a start 

 in the spring which it does not lose for the whole summer. It 

 also imparts color and strength which it would not otherwise 

 possess, and this, be it remembered is not realized, without mak- 

 ing the properties of the manure active in their effects. It is 

 also used with good success and great benefit with any kind of 

 manure that is only partially decomposed. The tendency is to 

 hasten decomposition, and mature and bring into active service 

 certain qualities of manure which would otherwise lie over till 

 the succeeding year, and even then perhaps be of little value. 

 On the whole, we feel that plaster judiciously applied is in most 

 cases of good service. But its province is not to enrich. 



The effect of lime, on the other hand, is somewhat different. 

 Upon cold clay land, one bushel to the square rod, has been 

 used to great advantage. Its tendency seems to be to warm the 

 soil and render it loose and active after it has become cold, 

 hard and unproductive. Upon certain farms we may safely say 

 lime, when rightly applied, would not merely prove a safe 

 investment, but furnish to the soil an indispensable ingredient. 



Again, ashes are often applied with good results ; but whether 

 they operate otherwise than as stimulant, like plaster, is in some 

 minds still a matter of doubt. We are led to believe that 

 ashes, aside from their tendency to loosen the soil and stimulate 

 the latent properties of fertility which the soil already contains, 

 are of little service. But even this will ever make ashes a valua- 

 ble article with the farmers. 



Again, another department of fertilizing the soil lies in a 

 judicious rotation of crops, and in turning tillage ground to 

 green sward and vice versa. It is supposed by some that dif- 

 ferent productions require different qualities of soil, explain it 

 in whatever way you will. Yet it is a well known fact that one 

 field to the same crop year after year will gradually run out, 

 and no amount of enriching will redeem it ; but a judicious 

 rotation or change of crops, such as each farmer must deter- 



