248 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



stored. If a farmer fattens stock from the produce of his 

 farm, it follows that whatever goes to produce bone, mus- 

 cle, and blood, is so much substance taken from the soil 

 and restitution is demanded. 



When the earth is covered with grasses, and they are 

 plowed under, and converted into vegetable mould, not 

 only does the land receive what has been taken from it, 

 but there is added, a vast amount of substances extracted 

 from the atmosphere, such as carbon, ammonia, nitrogen 

 and oxygen, and in that way the land is constantly im- 

 proved. It is in this way that nature renews herself, and 

 a piece of land left to her care, will, after the lapse of a 

 few years, regain its lost fertility. But the necessities of 

 man are such he cannot await this slow process, and there- 

 fore, it is that he must, to bring about the same result 

 sooner, resort to the expedient of plowing in green 

 crops. Various kinds of green manuring crops are used 

 for this purpose. In the selection of a crop to plow under, 

 one thing should be kept prominently in view, and that is 

 select such crops as derive their nourishment in great part 

 from the air. It has been demonstrated by many experi- 

 ments that the Legumins do this more effectually than 

 any other class. Among these none are so effectual 

 as the different kinds of clover. They not only enrich 

 the land by the great mass of foliage and stems, but 

 also by their penetrating roots, that by their mechanical 

 displacement of the soil, loosen and pulverize it. Next to 

 the clovers are peas. They, it is true, do not have the same 

 extensive system of roots, but, if possible, they grow and 

 exist more from atmospheric influences than any other 

 plant. They will thrive and make good crops on poorer 

 soils than any other kind of vegetation ; and if a year or 

 two is spent in sowing in peas and plowing the crop under 

 the soil will be made fertile enough to receive a permanent 

 coat of grass, for we know that the atmosphere is full of 

 those elements so essential to vegetation. Man can only 



