FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122  
123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   >>   >|  
d not tell me what it was, and when I got there, he took me to a field of grass that was to be mown for hay. The field had been in winter wheat the year before. At the time of sowing the wheat, the whole field was seeded down with timothy. No clover was sown, either then or in the spring; but after the wheat was sown, he put on a slight dressing of manure on two portions of the field that he thought were poor. He told the man to spread it out of the wagon just as thin as he could distribute it evenly over the land. It was a very light manuring, but the manure was rich, and thoroughly rotted. I do not recollect whether the effect of the manure was particularly noticed on the wheat; but on the grass, the following spring, the effect was sufficiently striking. Those two portions of the field where the manure was spread were _covered with a splendid crop of red clover_. You could see the exact line, in both cases, where the manure reached. It looked quite curious. No clover-seed was sown, and yet there was as fine a crop of clover as one could desire. On looking into the matter more closely, we found that there was more or less clover all over the field, but where the manure was not used, it could hardly be seen. The plants were small, and the timothy hid them from view. But where the manure was used, these plants of clover had been stimulated in their growth until they covered the ground. The leaves were broad and vigorous, while in the other case they were small, and almost dried up. This is probably the right explanation. The manure did not "bring in the clover;" it simply increased the growth of that already in the soil. It shows the value of manure for grass. This is what Mr. Johnston wanted to show me. "I might have written and told you, but you would not have got a clear idea of the matter." This is true. One had to see the great luxuriance of that piece of clover to fully appreciate the effect of the manure. Mr. J. said the manure on that grass was worth $30 an acre--that is, on the three crops of grass, before the field is again plowed. I have no doubt that this is true, and that the future crops on the land will also be benefited--not directly from the manure, perhaps, but from the clover-roots in the soil. And if the field were pastured, the effect on future crops would be very decided. CHAPTER XX. MY OWN PLAN OF MANAGING MANURE. One of the charms and the advantages of agriculture is that a farm
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122  
123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

manure

 

clover

 

effect

 

future

 

portions

 

matter

 

spread

 
plants
 

covered

 

timothy


growth
 

spring

 

written

 

ground

 
wanted
 
Johnston
 

vigorous

 

increased

 

leaves

 

simply


explanation

 

plowed

 

pastured

 

decided

 
CHAPTER
 

directly

 

advantages

 
agriculture
 

charms

 

MANURE


MANAGING

 

benefited

 

luxuriance

 

curious

 

thought

 

distribute

 

evenly

 

recollect

 
rotted
 

manuring


dressing

 

slight

 

winter

 

sowing

 

seeded

 

noticed

 

closely

 

desire

 
stimulated
 

splendid