MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 155 
let being for some distance 10 to 12 feet deep. The 
usual depth was 3 to 4 feet. Then a very little stable 
manure was spread over the field and red clover 
was sown with beardless spring barley as a nurse 
crop. With the clover was sown a fertilizer com- 
posed of tankage and acid phosphate. The barley 
was cut off for hay and the clover came on and made 
a fair growth. It was a good stand and had a 
healthy look, which no one remembered seeing on 
this field for many years. The clover was cut for 
hay and seed, and a trifle more of manure spread 
over the ground. It is evident that on a 60 acre field 
one will not strew manure very thickly unless he has 
access to a very large store, and only the farm barns 
and feeding yards could be drawn upon. 
The land was then plowed and planted to corn, 
making about 55 bushels per acre. Its previous crop 
had been about 20 bushels. On the corn stubble 
more manure was spread in 1904 and again the land 
was sown to clover with a nurse crop of beardless 
spring barley. This time it was hoped that the field 
might be dry enough and fertile enough to take al- 
falfa, so a mixture of alfalfa was put with the 
clover, about 10 per cent or a little more. Again the 
barley was made into hay. 
This time the clover was a glorious success, yield- 
ing more than double what it had yielded the first 
year and the alfalfa came in strong for the second 
cutting. It was vigorous over nearly all the field. 
In the spring of 1906 the field was again sprinkled 
somewhat with manure and plowed for corn. The 
