. Agriculture for beginners. after year all the produce grown on land isa sure way to ruin it. If, for example, the richest land isplanted every year in corn, and no stable or farmyardmanure or other fertilizer returned to the soil, the landso treated will of coursesoon become too poor togrow any crop. If, onthe other hand, cloveror alfalfa or corn or cot-ton-seed meal is fed tostock, and the manurefrom the stock returnedto the soil, the land willbe kept rich. Hencethose farmers who sell,not such raw products ascotton, corn, wheat, oats,clover, but who market articles made from these raw prod-
. Agriculture for beginners. after year all the produce grown on land isa sure way to ruin it. If, for example, the richest land isplanted every year in corn, and no stable or farmyardmanure or other fertilizer returned to the soil, the landso treated will of coursesoon become too poor togrow any crop. If, onthe other hand, cloveror alfalfa or corn or cot-ton-seed meal is fed tostock, and the manurefrom the stock returnedto the soil, the land willbe kept rich. Hencethose farmers who sell,not such raw products ascotton, corn, wheat, oats,clover, but who market articles made from these raw prod-ucts, find it easier to keep their land fertile. For illustration:if instead of selling hay, farmers feed it to sheep and sellwool; if instead of selling cotton seed, they feed its mealto cows, and sell milk and butter; if instead of sellingstover, they feed it to beef cattle, they get a good pricefor products and in addition have all the manure neededto keep their land productive and increase its value eachsucceeding Fig. 14. Relation of Humus toGrowth of Corn (i) clay subsoil; (2) same, with fertilizer;(3) same, with humus 24 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS If we wish to keep up the fertility of our lands, weshould not allow anything to be lost from our farms. Allthe manures, straw, roots, stubble, healthy vines —in facteverything decomposable, should be plowed under or usedas a top dressing. Especial care should be taken in stor-ing manure. It should be carefully protected from sunand rain If a farmer has no shed under which to keephis manure, he should scatter the manure on his fieldsas fast as it is made. He should understand also that liquid manure is of morevalue than solid, because that important plant food, nitro-gen, is found almost wholly in the liquid portion. Someof the phosphoric acid and considerable amounts of thepotash are also found in the liquid manure. Hence econ-omy requires that none of this escape either by leakage orby fermentation in the So
Size: 1982px × 1260px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherbosto, bookyear1904
