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hopes of maintaining tbe fertility of bis land and thus providing for a succession 
of good crops are mainly based, it is estimated thai the manure produced In 
the solids and liquids of animals in the United states will probably amount to 
about 1,000 million tons annually, and that in Canada to aboul 100 million tons. 
The financial loss involved in the wasteful handling of such a vast amount of 
valuable material should impress us all with the Importance of this subject 
Tests for eleven years were also carried on with artificial manures to gain 
information as to their relative value when used separately or in combination 
on nearly all the more important farm crops. The results had from artificial 
fertilizers used alone have been disappointing, considering the large proportion 
of available plant food they contain. The reason for this lies probably in the 
fact that these fertilizers contain no humus and that the proportion of vegetable 
matter in the soil has been much reduced by constant cropping and the capacity 
of the soil for holding moisture lessened, to the detriment of its crop-producing 
power. 
The plowing under of clover has been most effective as an additional source 
of fertility. It increases the store of available plant food by the addition of 
nitrogen obtained directly from the atmosphere. It also adds to the mineral 
plant foods available by gathering these from depths not reached by the shallower 
root systems of other farm crops. It also serves as a catch crop during the 
autumn months, retaining fertilizing material brought down by the rain, much 
of which would otherwise be lost. It also supplies the soil with a large addi- 
tion of humus w hereby the land is made more retentive of moisture, and results 
in a deepening and mellowing of the soil. 
In a series of 14 plats of oats, covering a period of five years, where clover 
was sown and plowed under on alternate plats, the plats with clover gave an 
average increased yield of grain of about bushels. In a similar series of 
plats of barley where grown after clover there was an average gain of 8 bushels 
and 31 pounds per acre. In all these plats there was also a considerable 
increase in the weight of straw produced. Proportionate gains have also been 
made in trials with Indian corn and potatoes. Many other examples might be 
given. 
In preparing land for crops different methods are adopted in different parts 
of the Dominion. In the eastern provinces the fall plowing of land is now 
generally followed, as crops can be sown earlier by the adoption of this method. 
On the Northwest plains it has been found of great advantage to summer- 
fallow a part of the land each year. This practice conserves moisture, 
destroys weeds, and brings the farmer much larger crops. The yield of wheat 
on land which has been summer-fallowed will average fully one-third more 
than it will on land which has been prepared by fall or spring plowing. 
That increased crops result from early sowing has been fully demonstrated 
by the tests carried on at the central farm. Experiments with early, medium, 
and late sowings were conducted for ten years on plats of one-tenth acre each. 
sowing tw r o varieties each year of wheat, barley, oats, and peas. The land 
was very uniform and all similarly prepared. Six sowings were made in each 
case, the first at the earliest time practicable, the second at the end of a 
week, and others at the end of each subsequent week until six successive 
sowings had been made. These plats were all harvested and thrashed sepa- 
rately and the results recorded The best crops have been had from the second 
sowings, made just one week after it was possible to get on the land; beyond 
this delay has resulted in loss, which has become more serious as the delay 
has been greater. The average of the ten years' experiments shows that with 
wheat a delay of one week after the period named has entailed a loss of over 
30 per cent, two weeks 40 per cent, three weeks nearly .10 per cent, and four 
weeks 50 per cent of the crop. 
With oats a delay of one week has caused a loss of over 15 per cent, two 
weeks 22 per cent, three weeks 32 per cent, and four weeks 48 per cent. 
In the case of barley a delay of one week has resulted in a loss of 23 per 
cent, two weeks 27 per cent, three weeks 40 per cent, and four weeks 40 per 
cent. 
With peas a delay of one week has caused a loss of 4 per cent, two weeks 
12 per cent, three weeks 22 per cent, and four weeks 30 per cent. 
The results of these experiments have been widely published and farmers 
in the East now pay general attention to early sowing. 
Another important consideration in connection with successful farming is 
the selection of the best varieties of seed for sowing, taking into consideration 
