The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-04

We have received from the United
States department Of agriculture a bulle-
tin on green manuring, of which the fol-
lowing Is a summary:
1. Green manuring improves the physi-
gal properties of the soil by making the
soil more porous and adding to its supply
of humus. 1t breaks up the dormant
plant food from deep down in the soil and
deposits it near the surface where 1t can
DE used by plants feeding near the sur
face.
2. Green manuring with buckwheat,
Hungarian grass, and other non-legumin-
Gus plants adds practically nothing to the
soil which was not there before, except
a mass Of vegetable matter which decays
and goes to form humus.
3. Green manuring with clover, peas.
beans, lupines. etc. Qegumlnous crops).
ACTUALLY enriches the soil in nitrogen
drawn from the air. These plants can
grow with very little soil nitrogen. They
store up the nitrogen of the air as they
igrow. and when plowed under give it up
ito the soil and to future crops 1t is the
Cheapest means of manuring the soil with
nitrogen.
A. But animals, as well as plants, require
nitrogen for food. BY feeding the crops
Fof clover, cow-peas. etc, only about one
Fourth the fertilizing materials of the crop
SIS lest if the manure is properly cared for
EAs the nitrogen of the air is the cheapest
ssOurce of nitrogen for plants, so il is the
cheapest source of protein (nitrogen) for
tanimals. The legumin1us crop is best
OdliZed when IL is fed out on the farm
land the manure saved and applied to the
tSOil. The greatest profit is thus secured
land nearly the same fertility is MAIN
tained as in green manuring
} .. For renOVatng worn or barren soils,
and for maintaining the fertility where the
barnyard manure is not properly cared
for, green manuring with such leguminous
crops as cOw-peas, cloVers, and lupines is
recommended. \ dressing Of potash and
phOsphates will usually be sufficient for
the green manuring crop.
g. The practice Of green manuring on
medium and better classes of soil is ira
mend his system so that the barnyard
manure viii be az well cared Tor as any
other farm product Loss from surface
washing. teaching. fermentation, and de-
cay should be larded against Then the
teedinE OF richer food viii mean richer
manure and better ana cheaper crops.
T. The system Of sOiling or feeding
green crops in the barn in place of pas
turage enables a larger number Of ami
mails 10 be kept on a green area Of land
saved For this purpose leguminous crops
are extremely valuable
s. Hay from leguminous crops is about
twice as rich IN protein as hay from
grasses. IN the one case this protein
,(nitrogen) is obtained very largely from
the atmosphere. in the other IL Is all
drawn from the fertility of the soil. Legu-
.min0us crops yield larger crops of hay
TO the acre than grasses. Hence the pro-
'ducti)n of food materials on an acre.
especially protein. is several times larger
with ] guminpus crops.
g. II allowed TO ripen. the seed Of the
cow-pea end sofa bean furnishes an ex-
tremely rich concentrated feed which can
be ground and fed in pace of expensive
commercial feeds. The straw remaining
may BE- fed as coarse fodder, for it is
Ri han ordinary hay
10. Grow more leguminous crops. They
u 4li-.l t..e escape, food for stock and
the cheapest manure for the soil They
do this because they obtain from the air
substance necessary for plants and an
finals alike. which costs in the form of
Fertilizers and feeding stuffs from 10 TO
% cents a Mound