16 TALKS OX MANUliES. 



the barley and oats were off, be plowed the land once, harrowed it, 

 and sowed Mediterranean wheat. On the summer-fallow he 

 drilled in Diehl wheat. He has just threshed, and got 22 bushels 

 per acre of Mediterranean wheat after the spring crop, at one 

 plowing, and 26 bushels per acre of Diehl wheat on the summer- 

 fallow. This, he said, would not pay, as it cost him $20 per acre 

 to summer- fallow, and he lost the use of the land for one season. 

 Now this may be all true, and yet it is no argument against sum- 

 mer-fallowing. Wait a few years. Farming is slow work. .Mr. 

 George Geddes remarked to me, when I told him I was trying to 

 renovate a run-down farm, "you will find it the work of your 

 life." We ought not to expect a big crop on poor, run-down land, 

 simply by plowing it three or four times in as many mouths. Time 

 is required for the chemical changes to take place in the soil. But 

 watch the effect on the clover for the next two years, and when 

 the land is plowed again, see if it is not in far better condition than 

 the part not summer-fallowed. I should expect the clover on the 

 summer-fallow to be fully one-third better in quantity, and of bet- 

 ter quality than on the other part, and this extra quantity of clover 

 will make an extra quantity of good manure, and thus we h:ive the 

 means of going on with the work of improving the farm. 



" Yes," said the Doctor, " and there will also be more clover- 

 roots in the soil."/ 



" But I can not afford to wait for clover, and summer-fallowing," 

 writes an intelligent New York gentleman, a dear lover of good 

 stock, who has bought an exhausted New England farm, " I must 

 have a portion of it producing good crops right off." Very well. 

 A farmer with plenty of money can do wonders in a short time. 

 Set a gang of ditchers to work, and put in underdrains where most 

 needed. Have teams and plows enough to do the work rapidly. 

 As soon as the land is drained and plowed, put on a heavy roller. 

 Then sow 500 Ibs. of Peruvian guano per acre broadcast, or its 

 equivalent in some other fertilizer. Follow with a Shares' harrow. 

 This will mellow the surface and cover the guano without dis- 

 turbing the sod. Follow with a forty-toothed barrow, and roll 

 ngain, if needed, working the land until there is three or four 

 inches of fine, mellow surface soil. Then mark off the land in 

 rows as straight as an arrow, and plant corn. Cultivate thoroughly, 

 and kill every weed. If the ditchers can not get through until it 

 is too late to plant com, drill in beans on the last drained part of 

 the field. 



Another good crop to rais3 on a stock farm is corn-fodder. 

 This can be drilled in from time to time as the land can be got 



