444 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



poorest soils to one of the best, and other counties are following 

 in the same track from the same cause. 



Mr. Carpenter. — More depends after all upon the cultivation 

 of the soil than upon the application of manure. Land upon 

 which a sufBcient quantity of barnyard manure has been applied, 

 sometimes fails to produce, and then the subsoil plow will make 

 it fertile again. Underdraining is expensive, but it will pay in 

 the end, and frequently the first or second crop will pay the 

 whole expense. Less manure will produce better results upon 

 land underdrained and subsoiled. 



The Chairman. — The only question about underdraining is 

 whether the farmer can sustain the expense of the outlay. Every 

 man who has underdrained a single acre of his land, will admit 

 that the first two years will pay the expense, and will go on to 

 drain more of his land. 



Mr. Lawton. — Underdraining is a cheap method of manuring, 

 for the soil being aerated every day, derives from the atmosphere 

 and from the dew, a large amount of ammonia. Ground that is 

 thoroughly drained, derives from the atmosphere all the moisture 

 it requires, and will never suffer from drought. 



Prof. Nash. — The Loisweedon theory is that land properly un- 

 derdrained and subsoiled, will bear good crops forever without 

 manuring. A field has been planted with wheat every year for 

 twenty years, the crop increasing from year to year, although 

 not a particle of manure was applied. The land was divided 

 into strips three feet wide, and the alternate strips were planted 

 with wheat in drills, the crop being as great as if the whole had 

 been sown in the usual way. The next year the strips were re- 

 versed, planting those Avhich the first year had remained fallow, 

 and so on. But while this would indicate that it is foolish to 

 expend our money for manures brought half way round the 

 globe, it does not render it less proper that we should use to the 

 best advantage what manures we have, for the earth is the great 

 absorbent of whatever would render the atmosphere unwhole- 

 some. 



PROF. MAPES' FOURTH LECTURE ON MANURES. 



Prof, Mapes. — I propose to-day to consider a few of the special 

 manures. 



LIME. 



Many farmers are under the impression that the chief value of 

 lime is in its action as a manure, while in fact the amount directly 



