16 TALKS ON MANUUKS. 



the barley and oats wore off, he plowed the laud once, harrowed iL 

 and sowf;d Med.terranean wheat. On the summtT-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 liiui f :?0 i)er acre 

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

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

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

 George Geddes remarked to me, when 1 told him I was trying to 

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

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

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

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

 ■watcii 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 tlian 

 the part not snnimcr-fallowe.l. 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 otlur part, and this extra quantity of clover 

 will make an extra quantity of good manure, and thus we have the 

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



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

 roots in the soil." 



" But I can not afford to wait for clover, and summer- fa How ing," 

 writes an intelligent New York gentleman, a dear lover (jf good 

 stock, who h.;s bought an exhausted New Enirland farm, " 1 nuist 

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

 A farmer with plenty of money can do womlers 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 oOO lbs. of Peruvim 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 vith a forty-toothed harrow, and roll 

 again, 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 strai<rht as an arrow, and plant com. Cultivate thoroughly, 

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

 is too late to plant corn, drill in beans on the last drained part ot 

 the field. 



Ano«her good crop to raise on a stock farm is corn-fodder. 

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



