140 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



charged with the fertilizing properties of the atmosphere, is 

 absolutely, to a certain extent, liquid manure. Now I wish 

 the farmers of Plymouth County to remember, those of you 

 at least who own light land, that a good coat of clay, say one 

 inch in depth, will give it a strength or body, and power for 

 crops that nothing else will. It is stated — and doubtless 

 with truth — that in one ton of good manure all the fertilizing 

 elements are contained in less than one hundred pounds. 

 Consequently, it has been assumed that the other nineteen 

 hundred pounds are comparatively useless, and are a burden 

 to be lifted and carted over the farm, using time and labor to no 

 purpose. The answer may be to this, that while the theory 

 may be correct, with our present knowledge, one hundred 

 pounds of concentrated fertilizer will not do the work of crop 

 stimulation and encourage plant-growth to the same extent that 

 one ton of the best manure will. Hence, all available sources 

 of supply must be sought out, and then, and not until then, put 

 out your money for special manures. But do not forget the 

 clay for your kitchen-garden, and then if you are satisfied that 

 it pays, the same application can be made to your fields. It 

 is not an extravagant statement to say that a garden, in the 

 best condition, will produce three times as much per square 

 rod as one in the average condition. Is it not a remarkable 

 fact that farmers, while recognizing, to some extent, this fact, 

 by the more liberal care and manuring given the garden, 

 should have in so few instances carried the principle into field 

 culture? A kitchen-garden, well kept, is a blessing to the 

 whole family, physically and sesthetically, and I might also 

 add, pecuniarily. 



To be well, we must eat vegetables to some extent, and 

 tender, succulent ones are always to be preferred to those 

 stringy and woody fibered often raised as well as purchased. 

 If farmers wish the same results that market-gardeners expect 

 and get, they must imitate them by deep culture and liberal 

 manuring ; and then — and I fear not till then — will our exhi- 

 bition in this department be what it ought. A kitchen-garden 

 is better with a southern exposure, and if it is just a little 

 sloping it improves it. No trees or shrubs should be tolerated 

 in the vicinity. It should be spaded or ploughed to the 

 depth of not less than twelve or fifteen inches, two feet would 



