782 
NOV. 7 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
they do not in all cases meet the demand even in that 
direction. All poor soils are not sterile from the loss of 
precisely the same ingredients, and all green crops do not 
hold the several elements of fertility in the same propor¬ 
tions, whatever may be said to the contrary. And so, as a 
matter of fact, It requires as much skill to adapt growing 
vegetation to particular soils as It does to use special 
fertilizers profitably under similar conditions; and so 
many of the claims that have been put forth for green 
manuring from time to time are quite too broad and 
comprehensive. 
3. The time required to produce the desired results by 
green manuring alone is altogether too extended. In this 
case two full years and four crops turned under, together 
with much plowing, harrowing and sef ding, made but a 
beginning; and at the same rate of progress it must have 
taken several more summers to have produced very 
marked results. I doubt if the land bad yet reached a point 
where a fair growth of clover could have been secured 
WILL GREEN MANURES RESCUE 
A NEW ENGLAND ABANDONED FARM f 
Slow Business Working Alone. 
Rye the poor land's crop; buckuheat and Hungarian 
good followers: cultivation and green crops beat cul¬ 
tivation alone; fertility in a harrow; chemicals and 
green crops equal stable manure: green crops clone 
too feeble and How. 
L. D. DAVIS. 
A Typical Abandoned Farm. 
Some years ago I came into possession of one of New 
England’s thoroughly run-down farmp. It is in Rhode 
Island, on the shores of Narragansett Biy, near Newport, 
and had been exhausted through the practice of selling 
everything that could be produced, and returning little or 
nothing to the soil. In this respect it was not widely dif¬ 
ferent from other nearby farms. It was my purpose from 
the first to so proceed as to change this wretchedly poor 
farm into a good one. The problem how to proceed had 
its difficulties, however, and these were greatly intensified 
when it was determined that everything should be done at 
small expense. I believed that the work could be accom¬ 
plished, largely, if not entirely, through cultivation, and 
that at the same time the farm might be made to yield 
sufficient income, taking it as a whole, to meet current ex¬ 
penses, even if no profit was made from year to year. I 
know that a good many people will smile 
at even a suggestion of this kind, and 
possibly that smile may extend to a broad 
laugh when I say, further, th t having 
other business to occupy most of my time, 
I proposed to accomplish all this by hired 
labor. - 
One of the several theories which I pro- I 
posed to test was that of plowing in green 
crops, of which I had heard so much, and 
in which I had a good degree of faith. I 
selected a field of about three acres, con¬ 
fessedly the poorest lot on the premises, to L ~ 
be subjected to the green manuring pro¬ 
cess without the application of any other . 
fertilizers. The soil was thin and made up 
of sandy loam, with a gravelly subsoil tgA_— 
closely compacted. It had teen cropped 
for years before, until it would produce 
nothing but rye; and when this last resort 
of a poor farmer had been made, and the 
rye harvested, the field had been left in fallow. In the 
course of years, a slight coating of grass and weeds covered 
;Jr*} i ordinary fertilizers. If writers gave the 
results of their own actual experience, in¬ 
stead of, as is often done, rehashing what 
others have said, their remarks would be 
more correct and valuable. And so I should 
not again attempt to reclaim barren land 
by green manuring alone. My experiences with green 
manuring and chemical fertilizers together were far more 
satisfactory. _Newport Co., R. I. 
A ROAD IN ALBANY COUNTY, N. Y. Fig. 278 
in common with the adjoining fields that had not yet been 
touched, the cattle appeared to greatly prefer it for grsz 
ing. But I could not credit all this improvement to the 
green manuring, for I had before me some other patches 
that had been greatly improved during the same period by 
having been thoroughly pulverized and sown to seed, 
followed by rolling, without any fertilizer at all. But the 
advantage was in favor of the plot that has been described, 
and it has since continued so. What might have been, 
had the same amount of labor been expended upon the 
one as upon the other I cannot tell, but of one thing I am 
ceitain : poor lands can be greatly benefited by simple cul¬ 
tivation alone. 
Having recently gone over this field after it has been in 
grass for several years, occupied for pasturage in common 
with adjoining lands, I can yet see a slight difference in 
HOW'S THE GOING THIS FALL 
{Continued.) 
We have three more pictures for your consideration this 
week. They are all taken from photographs so that they 
are true and accurate. 
Fig. 278 shows a picture made in Albany County, N. Y., 
“ almost in the shadow of our great $25,000,000 State 
House.” The cheerful proceedings pictured here were in 
progress while a few miles away the New York Legisla¬ 
ture was considering laws “for the government of the City 
of New York,” “for the expenditure of money in the 
repair of the State canals,” “for the com¬ 
pletion of the State Capitol,” etc. From 
.. « -rj an Albany morning paper the following is 
taken: 
S On account of the rough ruts and the very muddy 
condition of the roads near Guilderland Center, which 
are in the worst condition known In years, farmers 
find it extremely difficult to reach the market with 
their produce, In cons quence of which business has. 
for some time back, been very dull in this section. 
to pay taxes this spring, and some of those in debt 
cannot pay their yearly interest. Merchants are also 
hard pressed, and have large accounts ontheir books, 
which, although good, cannot be paid until the roads 
are in such condition, that farmers can get to mar- 
ket and sell their accumulated produce. 
The roads in East Berne and vicinity are simply 
indescribable. 
They are now beginning to mend, but 
for the past month they have been almost impas¬ 
sable. ani for farmers to at tempt to carry a load has 
been entirely out of the question. Nothing but ab¬ 
solute necessity will induce a farmer to go to Albany 
with a load of produce, and then he finds that 6(D or 
8(0 pounds make a heavier burden for his team than 
2,400 would with the roads in ordinary condition. The 
B effect tells seriously on our local merchants. The 
business at the grist mill suffers because farmers, 
rather than draw their grain to mill through the deep 
mud. prefer to feed it to their stock whole. The 
lumber business has teen affected to a greater extent 
than any other. The winter season is the time when 
farmers draw logs to the sawmill to have them 
sawed into fencing material and for repairing their 
buildings. 
The picture is truthful, aud these statements are correct. 
Now, look at the picture shown at Fig. 279. Here we 
have a smooth, hard road, good winter and summer. This 
picture was taken in spring when the Albany County roads 
were “impassable.” The team of three horses is hauling 
6,500 pounds of stone at a load. Two good horses in Albany 
County, N. Y , as we have seeD, got very tired and muddy 
hauling 800 pounds. You see how the stone wagon looks 
running on a good road. Now we will show you how one 
MORE LIKE;,IT. Fig. 279 
favor of the lot so treated over the others, that were some¬ 
what like it at the beginning, and as this difference, 
though slight, has been so long maintained the fact must 
be put down as a considerable item, in gross, in favor of 
the method employed. In reaching further conclusions, I 
am aided by the results of other experiments carried on at 
the same time, and later, which I cannot now describe. 
Green Stuff without Fertilizers Is Poor Stuff. 
I conclude: 
1. That plowing in green crops is of benefit to worn-out 
land by way of increasing and restoring its fertility, and 
that the system can be used to advantage. This has been 
demonstrated many times, and on a larger scale than that 
which I had attempted, and is beyond reasonable doubt. 
2. That it is not wise to depend on this process alone for 
fertilization. Though often told that plowing in green 
crops restores all the elements of fertility in the proper ures 
nrnnnrhions needed for future crop3, I am satisfied that wear 
