appreciation of the extent and the character of his resources of plant- 

 food and on a liberal and intelligent use of tiie latter. 



An insufficient supply of suitable mannrial matter, required for the 

 successful and liberal production of the crops to be raised is at pres- 

 ent universall}' recognized as being the most fatal circumstance in 

 any system of farming for profit. Adopting this conclusion as the 

 correct verdict of past and present experience in agricultural indus- 

 tries, it becomes most desirable in the interest of satisfactory pecun- 

 iary returns, that every available manurial resource of the farm should 

 be turned to account to its full extent. To sectire this end we are 

 advised to begin the work with a timely thorough mechanical ^:)re29ara- 

 tion of the soil under cultivation; to select the crops to be raised, as far 

 as practiccd)le with reference ro their tendency of economizing existing 

 natural resources of plant-food; to increase the latter to thejidl extent 

 of suitable home-made manure on hand and to supplement the 

 •datter liberally by buying commercial concentrated fodder articles 

 and commercial fertilizer, as far as circumstances advise. To 

 discuss briefly some of the means of developing and economizing 

 manurial sources of the farm is one of the objects of this publication. 

 On the present occasion only two of those means will be discussed, 

 whicli, although more or less at the disposition of every farmer 

 engaged in mixed farm management, quite frequently do not receive 

 that degree of consideration which they deserve — namely : 



1. A judicious selection and a liberal pioduction of fodder crops ; 



2. An economical system of feeding farm livestock. 



1 . Production and Sklkction of Foddkr Crops. 



A careful inquiry into the history of agricuUure, down to the mid- 

 dle of the present century, has shown that the original jtroductiveness 

 of faim lauds in all civilized countries, even in the most favored 

 localities, has suffered in the course of time a gradual decline. This 

 general decline in the fertility of the soil under cultivation has been 

 ascribed, with much propriety in the majority of instances, mainly to 

 two causes, namely : a gradual but serious reduction in the area occu- 

 pied l)y forage crops, natural pastures and meadows ; and a marked 

 decline in the annual yield of fodder upon large tracts of lands but 

 ill suited for a permanent cultivation of grasses — the main reliance 

 of fodder production at the time. A serious falling off in the annual 

 yield of pastures and meadows was followed usually by a reduction 

 in farm live stock, which in turn, caused a falling off in the principal 

 home resource of manurial matter. This chapter in the history of 



