MANAtiKMENT OK M.V.\L1:ES OX (iU.VIN-KAKMS. 119 



" III <mr Dwii case, slictp huvi" hn-n coinbincil witli i^niiii raising. 

 So wc liavf sttKl wool, wliial, and harlcy, ami, in all my life, not 

 tivc tons of hay. t'lovrr, yon know, lias licrn onr jjjrral forai^e- 

 cTop. We have winlcretl our sheep mostly on clover-hay, having 

 some tiniothy mixed w iih it, that was necessarily cut (to make into 

 hay with the medium, or early clover,) when it was but gra.ss. We 

 have fed such hay to our cows and horses, and liave usually 

 worked into manure the corn-stalks of ai)out 20 acres of ;iood 

 corn, eacii winter, ami we have worked all th«' straw into shape to 

 apply as m.-uiure thai we could, spreadin-; it thickly on pa.'>tures 

 and such other fields as were c<(nvenient. Some straw we have 

 sold, mostly to pa|Kr-makers." 



"That," s;iid the Deacon, "is gom], old fashioned farmini;. 

 Plenty of straw for heddin;.', and n:«»od clover and timothy-hay for 

 feed, with wool, wheat, and barley to sell. No Udk about oil- 

 cake, malt-combs, and manirels ; nothiuL' about superiihosi)liate, 

 guano, or swam|>-muck." 



Mr. Geddes and Mr. Johnston are both representative farmers; 

 both are large wheat-giowcrs ; both ke( p their land clean and 

 thoroughly cultivated ; both use gypsum freely ; both rai.se large 

 crops of clover and timothy; both keep sheep, and yet they rep- 

 n-sent two entirely dillerent systems of farming. One is the great 

 advocate of clover; the other is the great advocate of manure. 



I once wrote to Mr. Geddes, asking his opinion as to the best 

 time to plow under clover for wheal. He replied as follows: 



" Plow under the clover when it is at full growth. But your 

 qur^stion can much better be answered at the end of a long, free 

 talk, w hich can be;-t be had here. I have many times asked you 

 to come here, not to see fine farming, for we have none to show, 

 but to see land th:it has been used to test the effects of clover for 

 nearly 70 years. On the ground, I could talk to a willing auditor 

 long, if not wisely. I am getting tired of being misunderstood, 

 and of having my statements doubted when I talk about clover 

 as the great renovator of land. You preach agricultural truth, 

 and the facts you would gather in this neighborhood are worth 

 your knowing, and worth giving to the world. So come here and 

 gjither some facts al)out clover. All that I shall trj- to prove to 

 you is, that the fact tliat clover and plaster are by far the cheapest 

 manures that can be had for our lands, lias been demonstrated by 

 many farmei-s beyond a doubt — so much cheaper than bani yard 

 manure that the mere loading of and spreading costs more than 



