276 TALKS ON MANUEES. 



As we have shown, clover can get more nitrogen out of the soil, 

 than wheat, barley, and oats. And the same is true of beans and 

 peas, though probably not to so great an extent. 



Now, it would seem that Indian corn can get more nitrogen out 

 of a soil, than wheat, barley, or oats and to this extent, at 

 least, we may consider Indian corn as a renovating crop. In other 

 words, the Indian corn can get more nitrogen out of the soil, than 

 wheat, barley, and oats and when we feed out the corn and 

 stalks on the farm, we have more food and more manure than if 

 we raised and fed out a crop of oats, barley, or wheat. If this 

 idea is correct, then Indian corn, when consumed on the farm, 

 should not be classed with what the English farmers term " white 

 crops," but rather with the " green crops." In other words, In Man 

 corn is what old writers used to call a " fallow crop " or what 

 we call a renovating crop. 



If this is so, then the growth and consumption of Indian corn on 

 the farm, as is the case with clover, should leave the farm richer 

 for wheat, rather than poorer. I do not mean richer absolutely, 

 but richer so far as the available supply of plant-food is concerned. 



" It may be that you are right," said the Doctor, " when corn is 

 grown for fodder, but not when grown for the grain. It is the for- 

 mation of the seed which exhausts the soil." 



If I could -be sure that it was true of corn-fodder, I should have 

 little doubt that it is true also of corn as ordinarily grown for 

 grain and stalks. For, I think, it is clear that the grain is formed 

 at the expense of the stalks, and not directly from the soil. The 

 corn-fodder will take from the soil as much nitrogen and phos- 

 phoric acid as the crop of corn, and the more it will take, the more 

 it approximates in character to clover and other renovating crops. 

 If corn-fodder is a renovating crop, so is the ordinary corn-crop, 

 also, provided it is consumed on the farm. 



" But what makes you think," said the Deacon, " that corn can 

 get more nitrogen from the soil, than wheat ? " 



" That is the real point, Deacon," said I, " and I will ask you this 

 question. Suppose you had a field of wheat seeded down to clover, 

 and the clover failed. After harvest, you plow up half of the field 

 and sow it to wheat again, the other half of the field you plow in 

 the spring, and plant with Indian corn. Now, suppose you get 15 

 bushels of wheat to the acre, how much corn do you think you 

 would be likely to get ? " 



" Well, that depends," said the Deacon, "but I should expect at 

 least 30 bushels of shelled corn per acre." 



" Exactly, and I think most farmers would tell you tho same : 



