374 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY . 
preserving and renovating process, as they some day will, not¬ 
withstanding the great natural strength and fertility of our soil, 
then, and not till then, can we reasonably expect this valuable 
waste to be saved and manufactured into suitable plant food; and 
then perhaps we may also expect the legislature to enact laws 
making it a criminal offense and punishable by fine and imprison¬ 
ment, to manufacture and offer for sale an article of food for plants 
unless it contains those elements and enriching properties which it 
is advertised to possess. To-day, if one uses a fertilizer and finds 
i 
it valuable, he has no guarantee that the same brand purchased 
to-morrow, will not be worthless. 
But the great question which in this matter of fact age will be 
asked, is this, will all these things pay? Can I not rely upon the 
natural strength of my soil, and really obtain equal, if not greater 
returns for my labor? Will this manuring and renovating process 
pay ? I have already made this paper much longer than I had 
intended, and shall therefore not enter into any argument upon this 
question, but will simply relate the incident of the boy who was 
observed by a stranger, eagerly digging in the ground, and when 
questioned as to what he was doing, remarked that he was “ dig¬ 
ging for a woodchuck.” “ And do you expect to get^him,” said 
the stranger. “ Git him,” said the boy, with a look of astonish¬ 
ment at such a question. “ Git him, I’ve got to git him; we’re 
out of meat.” The fact is, Mr. President, this system of preserv¬ 
ing and renovating the soils of our country by judicious cultiva¬ 
tion and manuring has got to pay, for it has got to be done, or the 
nation will some day be out of meat and bread too. 
I will sum up in conclusion, as follows : 
1st. Make all the manure you can, and apply all you make in 
a condition best suited for food for plants and where most needed. 
2d. Cultivate thoroughly, stirring the earth to a great depth ; 
plow, harrow, roll, cultivate, subject the soil to repeated changes, 
so that aided by the action of frosts and rains, it may be so re¬ 
duced and refined as to be compelled to yield its supply of food 
in such abundance that the annual crops may feed and fatten upon 
it like the stall fed ox. 
3d. Renovate with clover. From observation and experience 
I am convinced that by an occassional seeding to clover, say once 
