MAM 1:KS h\>n M"K< lAL < IlUl'S. 277 



you prt twic'f as iiiurli corn ami stalks Id the acre as you woulil of 

 wheat and straw. In dIIkt words, wliili- th«' wheal taniiot tiiid 

 more nitro^^-n than is nec«-ssary to prodiuc 15 bushels of wluat 

 and straw, the corn can find, an.l doe-^ fintl, take up, and organize, 

 at least twice us ujueh nilrojiin as the wheat." 



If these are faets, then the remarks we have made in re;?artl to 

 the value of clover as a fertiliziiii; i rop, are aitplicahle in some de- 

 gree to Indian corn. To jzrow clover and sell it, will in the end 

 impoverisii the soil ; to irrow clover and feed it out, will enrich the 

 land. And tiie same will be true of Indian corn. It will L'ather 

 up nitrojren that the wheat-crop can not appropriate; and when 

 tlie corn and stalks are fed out, some 90 [kt cent of the nitrogen 

 will be left in the manure. 



"You do not think, then," .sjjid tin- Doctor, " tliat nitrogen is 

 such an important elemer.t in manure for corn, as it is hi a manure 

 for wheat." 



I have not said that. If we want a largi- crop of corn, we shall 

 usually need a liberal supply of availal.l.- nitrogen. IJut this is 

 because a larger crop of corn means a much largj-r produce per 

 acre, than a large crop of wiieat. Forty bushels of wheat per acre 

 is an unusually large crop with us ; but 80 bushels of shelled corn 

 can be grown in a favorable sea'^on, and on rich, well-cultivated 

 land. As the Deacon has said, 30 bu.shels of corn per acre can be 

 grown a-s easily as 15 bu.shels of wheat ; and it is quite probable, in 

 many cases, that a manure contiiiiing no nitrogen, migiit give us 

 a crop of 35 or 40 bushels per acre. In other words, up to a cer- 

 lam point, manures containing mineral, or carbonaceous mattiT, 

 might frequently, in or linary agriculture, increa.se the yield of In- 

 dian corn ; while on similar land, such manures would have little 

 effect on wheat. 



"That is so," sail the Dcacor, " we all know that plaster fre- 

 quently increases the growth of corn, wiiile it seldom does much 

 good on wheat." 



But, after you have got as large a crop as the land will produce, 

 aided by plaster, ashes, and superphosphate, say 40 bushels of 

 shelled corn per acre, i/ifn if you want to raise 70 bushels jkt acre, 

 you must furnish the soil with manures containing sufiBcient avail- 

 able nitrogen. 



Some years ago, I made some careful experiments with artificial 

 manures on Indian com. 

 " Oh, yes," sai 1 the Deacon, " they were made on the south lot, 



