32 
STATE AGEICULTUKAL SOCIETY, 
trous effects of drouth, starvation, rust and rot; diminishes the 
liability to heaving and winter-killing ; and that thus in all 
these and other ways it tends to improve both the quantity and 
quality of crops ;—then drainage will be more common, and, in 
the case of particular locations, soils and crops, so far as means 
and circumstances shall warrant, become the general rule. 
ROTATION AND FERTILIZATION. 
It is also a ground of congratulation that the farmers of 
Wisconsin are beginning to realize the importance of studying 
more carefully the adaptation of grain crops to particular soils 
and conditions; to appreciate the deteriorating effects of some 
crops and the ameliorating influence of others ; and to under¬ 
stand that, inasmuch as the plant feeds largely on elements 
contained in tlie soil, it cannot flourish either if these elements, 
or any one of them, be not found in the soil where planted, or, 
if, being present, they are not in an available form—in short, 
that rotation of crops and proper manuring of lands are based 
on science and common sense, and are, therefore, not to be dis¬ 
regarded. 
The old rule of wheat, wheat, wheat, is giving way to a 
more rational practice. Clover, that invaluable ameliorator of 
soils, so seldom seen as late as 1860, now rejoices the hearts of 
thousands of weary, half exhausted fields with the promise of 
a better day; and the disposition to cultivate a variety of crops 
has been growing stronger with advancing years. 
Fewer of the old barns lie inaccessable and useless in the 
steaming, stenchy craters of surrounding manure heaps; and 
a less number of those newly built are found standing on the 
brow of a hill or on the brink of some stream, with a view to 
an easy riddance of such “ miserable offal” as, somehow, will 
accumulate in and about every stable and cow-yard ! 
Burning straw-stacks, kindled for a like reason, or for the 
sake of a cheap pyrotechnic display, are less frequently seen 
scattering the precious food of succeeding crops to the four 
winds of heaven. 
Some very radical farmers, after-keeping much stock as 
