The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1904-05-05
AGRICULTURE.


The csan .pf the sgricuitersl faculty
stated ihs, frar pfiscipal ih,rs, are nee
essary In proper culture 81 The soil. These
are 10 the order q impcrtarcs !. mois-
ture; 2. hrmass :. lillsge; 4, added fcriIl-
ity. By this We ere 10 upderstard that
moisture IA the most important fes,ure In
the growing Of plants. We all know that
ecrtain degree Of moisture ~ 40 absolute
nse,aity but too much or too little 10
damaging. when there Ia too much. u the
excess can be got rid Of BY drainage, sense
would dictate that this be done but II the
excess Ia caused by excessive and consirr-
Gus rains, there 10 no help for Il. ifttere
"a too little moisture this can be rcmsdisd
by irrigation 10 suitable places for Il,
Humus 10 a great conservatcr a mois-
,ure, which !, assorbs from The elements.
Hurus 10 so constituted that II holds a
good quantity OF moisture ard gives Il Of
only ~ plants reed Is. Humus also fur
nlshes feeding ground for the soil bsc-
terra 10 work 10 and prepare that and some
portion Of The soil for plant nutrition.
Tillage, a. IL wtll-known-Atd PROVED
many times by George NJ. Clark, 1.-THE hay
man, "-is pnlver'x Of the foil aud pre-
psres a portion q Il to be more soluble 20
plants can readily feed upon II,
The fourth essential--"sdded fertility
may often be used economically; but II
No !, No 2 snd No 8 fave been well per-
formed, No. 4 Ia not absolutely needed to
grow good crop,.
have Witnessed many times where the
present dean Il the Cornell. agricultural
faculty--Prof. l.. III. Bailey has abund-
antly proved this proposition. Several
years ago he purci ased horribly rur-
down old farm near where then lived. II
had been left, by will, AS the support Of =
poor, lone, old msn who bad no friends to
look after him. Anybody could have the
use Of 1t for taking care Of him, and as may
well be Unsigned, tuch shif,less farming
was never seen about there before. When
10 this condition Prof. Bailey purchased 1t
for almost "a song when the old man
died. Then he be5an his scientlf, farming
on The lines stated. He never purchased
any fertilizers exc. pt little to spplv TO
bis fruit trees to cause the blossoms to
hang on the trees and bear fruit. OF course
he taved and applied the manure Of one
team and cow. He fortified the farm
by tIllsge ard turning down crops to make
humus. The chief Of these was buckwheat.
have seen his men pillow down heavy crops
Of buckwheat when In bloom and immed-
lately SOW another crop Of buckwheat on
that for the same purpose. Prof. Bailey
planted an apple, a dwarf pear and peach
orchard on that place few years ago. All
are thrifty. Apples do not bear vet; but
last season the pears aud peaches bore full
crops Of large fruit.
But to return to the Cornell farm. lin
stead Of producing only the average crop
Of wheat about here, which 10 IL to l6l
bushels an acre, Corne II Is getting from 80
to 40. The average crop Of cats grown In
the country lie % bushels per acre, while
Cornell is getting from 40 to 60, and other
crops in about the came proportions.
While on some good lsnds the country over
the application Of purchased fertilizers
might sometimes pay we'll, yet II i, cheap.
er. better and more satis factory to grow
good crops scientifically. Any fool can
grow good crops by buying fertilizers
enough; but 1t takes smart man to d'g
bis own fertilizer out Of the ground.