INTUODUCTIOX T<) NEW KDITION. XV 



of England, to asccrtaiii, riinon;^ dtlicr thiiiL^s, wlnthi r manure 

 from slu'ip rtiriviii)^ an allowance of cotton-sted cake is any 

 richt r than that from sheep, otherwise fed alike, but liaviug, 

 instead »,f cotton-seed cake, tlie same amount of corn meal. We 

 know that such manure contains more nitrogen, and oilier 

 plant fcMMl, than that from the corn meal. But the exjH-riments 

 so far. tiiough they have ln-en continued for several years, do 

 not show any striking superiority of the manure from cott(m- 

 seed cake over that from corn meal. I saw the wheat on these 

 differently manured plots in 1879. Dr. Voelcker and Dr. Gil- 

 bert, told me tliat, one of two plots was dressed with the cot- 

 ton-seed manure, and the other with the corn meal manure, 

 and they wanted me to say which was the most promising 

 crop. I Ix'liive the one I s;ud w;is the l)etter, was the cotton- 

 seed plot. But the ditf.rence was very slight. The truth is 

 that suih ex|M'riments must be contnuied for many years before 

 th.y will prove anytliing. As I said before, we know that the 

 manure from the cot^^n-s(■ed cake is richer in nitrogen than 

 that from the corn meal ; but we also know that this nitrogen 

 will not produce so great an efft'ct, as a much smaller amount 

 of nitrogen in salts of ammonia, or nitrate of soda. 



In going over thesf experiments, I was struck with the 

 heal'.hy iuid vigorous appearance of one of the plots of wheat, 

 and asked how it was manured. Dr. Vcelcker called out, 

 "clover, Mr. Harris, clover." In England, as in America, it 

 requires very little observation and exjxrii'nce to convince any 

 one of the valui- of cIov»'r. After what I have said, and what 

 the Deacon, the Doctor, Charley and the Sijuire have said, in 

 the pages of this book, I hoiK' no one will think that I do not 

 appreciate the great value of red clover as a means of enrich- 

 ing our land. Dr. Voelcker eviden^^ly thought I was skeptical 

 on this ymint. I am not. I have great faith in the benefits to 

 he derived from the growth of clover. But I do not think it 

 originates fertility ; it does not get nitrogen from the atmos- 

 phere. Or at any rate, we have no evidence of it. The facts 

 are all the other way. We have discussed this question at 

 considerable length in the pages of this book, and it ie 

 not necessary to say more on the subject. I would, however, 

 particularly urge farmers, especially those who are using phos- 

 phates freely, to grow as much clover as possible, and feed it 

 out on the farm, or plow it under for manure. 



The question is frequently asked, whether the use of phos- 

 phates wUl ultimately impoverish our farms. It may, or it may 



