24 FICTOIUAL PBAGTIGAL VEGETABLE GROWING, 



In tackling a big, practical .problem I must, of course, guard 

 against enunciating a cultural fallacy for the sake of securing a 

 literary antithesis. Let me, therefore, examine the position. We 

 manure land, not for the purpose of putting out of sight a certain 

 quantity of dung, but for securing a crop ; therefore, the primary 

 consideration is not what we put into the ground, but what we take 

 out of it. We might bury one load of dung in a square rod of 

 ground, or we might bury two, but the measure of our wisdom would 

 not be estimated by that : it would be calculated according to the 

 excellence of the crop. This is premiss Xo. 1. 



A plant is supported by the food which its roots take up in a 

 liquid form, and that food is prepared for it by a very remarkable 

 culinary staff, termed nitrifying organisms. The process of " cook- 

 ing is called nitrification. If the kitchen staff is large and efficient 

 the plant is well fed ; if weak, the plant is badly nourished. The 

 nourishment of the plant, therefore, does not depend upon the 

 amount of raw food material which is put into the soil, but in the 

 strength of the cooking staff. That is premiss No. 2. 



As the cooking staff is of at least equal importance to raw food, 

 measures must not only be taken to increase the food supply, but to 

 strengthen the staff of cooks. That is premiss No. 3. 



Now w^e come to ways and means. The method of putting food 

 into the soil — one method, any way — we all know ; but methods of 

 adding to the staff' of cooks we do not always know. 



The practical cultivator long ago found himself face to face with a 

 rather curious phenomenon. He manured his soil, and improved his 

 crop. He manured his soil more, and got a still better crop. He 

 manured even more heavily, and then, instead of getting a heavier 

 crop in the same proportion as he had before, he got a smaller crop, 

 and one not so healthy. He fell into a way of speaking of ground 

 which had got into the condition of refusing to yield better crops 

 after a certain point as "manure sick.'^ 



What had happened was this : He had crammed the larder with food, 

 but had not increased his staff of cooks, wdio were overworked in con- 

 sequence. Under the unwholesome conditions present in the soil they 

 dwindled instead of increasing, and so things went from bad to worse. 



The cooking staff in the soil can be increased by the provision of 

 warmth and air. An inert, hard-grained, brick-in-summer-and-paste- 

 in-winter soil contains little warmth and little air, consequently few 

 cooks. Break it up, turn it, expose it, and both warmth and air 

 penetrate ; then the cooks troop in, tie on their aprons, and set to 

 work. In many soils there is abundance of raw material for them 

 already existing, and more need not be added. I have observed wuth 

 much interest how readily a soil, neglected for years, half-tilled, un- 

 manured, and altogether impoverished, has responded to tillage 

 alone, giving excellent crops Avith very little manure. To attempt to 

 renovate neglected soil by simply cramming in manure is wasteful 

 and unscientific. 



The plan which the cultivator adopts to cure manure-sick soil 



