MANURE ON DAIRY-FARMS. 107 



100 Ibs. of nitrogen, we have 85 Ibs. left in the manure. We 

 want to develope 100 Ibs. of nitrogen in the soil, to enable us 

 to raise a good crop to start with, and when this is once done, an 

 annual development of 15 Ibs. per acre in addition to the manure, 

 would keep up the productiveness of the soil. Is it not worth 

 while, therefore, to make an earnest effort to get started ? to get 

 100 Ibs. of nitrogen in the most available condition in the soil ? 



As I said before, this is practically all that is needed to give us 

 large crops. This amount of nitrogen represents about twelve tons 

 of average barn-yard manure that is to say, twelve tons contains 

 100 Ibs. of nitrogen. But in point of fact it is not in an imme- 

 diately available condition. It would probably take at least two 

 years before all the nitrogen it contains would be givc-n up to the 

 plants. We want, therefore, in order to give us a good start, 

 24 tons of barn-yard manure on every acre of land. How to 

 get this is the great problem which our young dairy farmer has to 

 solve. In the grain-growing districts we get it in part by summer- 

 fallowing, and I believe the dairyman might often do the same 

 thing with advantage. A thorough summer-fallow would not 

 only clean the land, but would render some of the latent plant- 

 food available. This will be organized in the next crop, and when 

 the dairyman has once got the plant-food, he has decidedly the 

 advantage over the grain-growing farmer in his ability to retain it. 

 He need not lose over 15 per cent a year of nitrogen, and not one 

 per cent of the other elements of plant-food. 



The land lying on the borders of the creek could be greatly 

 benefited by cutting surface ditches to let off the water; and later, 

 probably it will be found that a few underdrains can be put in to 

 advantage. These alluvial soils on the borders of creeks and rivers 

 arc grand sources of nitrogen and other plant-food. I do not know 

 the fact, but it is quite probable that the meadows which Harris 

 Lewis mows twice a year, are on the banks of the river, and are 

 perhaps flooded in the spring. But, be this as it may, there is a 

 field on the farm I am alluding to, lying on the creek, which now 

 produces a bountiful growth of weeds, rushes, and coarse grasses, 

 which I am sure could easily be made to produce great crops of 

 hay. The creek overflows in the spring, and the water lies on 

 some of the lower parts of the field until it is evaporated. A few 

 ditches would allow all the water to pass off, and this alone would 

 be a great improvement. If the field was flooded in May or June, 

 and thoroughly cultivated and harrowed, the sod would be suffi- 

 ciently rotted to plow again in August. Then a thorough harrow- 

 ing, rolling, and cultivating, would make it as mellow as a garden, 



