82 TALKS ON MAMUKS. 



whole field was seeded dowa with liuiolhy. No clover was sowu 

 either then or iu tiie spring ; but after the wheat was sowu, he put 

 oil a slight ilressiug of manure on two portions of the field that 

 he thought were poor, lie told the man to spread it i-ut of the 

 wagon just as ihin as he could dij^lribute it evenly over the laud. 

 It was a very light nianuring, i)ut t!ie manure was rich, and thor- 

 oughly rfitted. 1 do not recollect whether the etl'cet of the manure 

 w as particularly noticed on the wheat ; but on the grass, the fol- 

 lowing spring, the effect was sufficiently striking. Those two por- 

 tions of tlie field where the manure was spread were Cfrcercd tei'th 

 (I spkmlid crop of red clover. You could sec the exact line, in bt)th 

 cases, where the manure reached. It looked quite curious. No 

 clover-seed was sown, and yet there Wiis as fine a crop of clover 

 as one could desire. 



On lookin;^ into tlie matter more closely, we found tliat there 

 was more or less clover all over the field, but where the mnnurc 

 was not used, it could hardly be seen. The jilants were small, 

 ami the timothy bid them from view. But where the manure 

 was used, these plants of clover had been stimulated in their 

 growth until they covered the ground. The leaves were broad 

 and vigorous, while in the other case they were small, and almo;-t 

 dried up. This is prol)ably tlie right cxplanatiim. Tlie manure 

 did not "bring in the clover;" it simi)ly increased llie growth of 

 that already in l!ie soil. It shows the value of manure for gras.s. 



This is what Mr. Johnstcm wanted to show me. "I might have 

 written and told you, but you would not have got n. clear idea of 

 the matter." This is true. One had to sec the great lu.xunance of 

 that piece* of clover to fullv appreciate the effect of the manure. 

 Mr. J. said the manure on that gra.ss was worth |i:?0 an acre* — that 

 is, on the three cro|>s of grass, before the field is ag:iin plowed. I 

 have no doubt that this is true, and that the future crops on the 

 land will also be benefited — not directly from the manure, p< r- 

 haps, but from the clover-roots i-i the soil. And if the field were 

 oasturcJ, the effect ou future crops would be very decided. 



