PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMEKS' CLUB. 40.1 



liquid form. But it so happens that our soils are not all gravelly 

 or sandy, nor all underdrained ; therefore it is not policy in all 

 cases to undertake to reduce our manures to a liquid form before 

 using them. Besides in some seasons many of our crops (for 

 instance corn) receive more moisture in the form of rain than 

 they need, and to apply any more, would be injurious. 



If all soils and every season were precisely alike, and all plants 

 required the same treatment, then we should soon discover how 

 to be always successful. But they are not, and we find them as 

 diversified in character as men are in their opinions in regard to 

 them. From this, we learn that we are controlled in a great 

 measure by circumstances, and that adaptation is one of the 

 principles of agriculture and horticulture. 



A manure that is beneficial upon one soil might be positively 

 injurious upon another. Ashes are very beneficial to nearly all 

 sandy soils, and valueless, if not injurious, upon all clay soils, 

 simply because one of these soils needs the potash, while the 

 other does not. While ashes assist the sandy soil in retaining 

 moisture, which it so much needs, it would do the same on the 

 clay soils which have too much already. Again, a soil that 

 would grow a certain kind of crop in this latitude to its greatest 

 perfection, if removed to Georgia might be almost worthless for 

 the same crop, because in this climate we wftuld seek a soil that 

 was dry and wai-m, while in Georgia we would want for the 

 same crop a soil that was moist and cold. They who have 

 studied the cultivation and adaptation of the different varieties 

 of fruit for both of these latitudes will understand this better 

 than others. The soil may be composed of the same ingredients 

 in both localities, but its productiveness depends upon the con- 

 dition of these ingredients, whether they be coarse, or fine, 

 soluble or insoluble. 



This principle should guide us in applying manures to all of 

 our crops. If we have a soil that is too compact, and under- 

 draining does not make it as friable as we desire it, then we may 

 add coarse manures, and they will be beneficial as a divisor, in 

 addition to the amount of plant-food which they contain. For 

 this purpose, barn-yard manure is perhaps the best, and muck 

 the next in value — for muck is not only a manure in itself, but 

 is a powerful absorbent. It lasts a long time in the soil, and 

 improves the texture of all soils, except those that contain it 

 originally. Muck becomes the most valuable when composted 



[Am. Inst.] Z 



