VOL
HE FAR**
:sr
or
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Garden
INDIANAPOLIS  AUGUST 22, 1908.
NO. 34
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GREEN   MANURING.
A Good Practice.
lst Premium.—Green manuring, or the
plowing nuder of green crops, is a very
good practice. The plant food that the
<rop had taken out of the soil is then put
bnck, and the organic matter thus put into
the soil mellows it and aids in making
plant food available.
To properly understand the value of organic matter in the soil ^^=^==
it is necessary to know
that organic matter is
the food for bacteria
and that it is necessary
to hare bacteria in the
soil in order to have the
plant food in it made
available. Hence the
plowing under of green
crops puts food for bacteria into tbe soil. The
bacteria multiply rapidly, and in their life processes throw off waste
products that attacl; the
los:ked-up plant food in
the soil aud change it
into «-ful ill- that the
plants can make use of.
The bacteria change the
organic matter to hum
us, which is very valuable in the soil. It
makes the soil mellow,
it increases' the power of
the soil to hold
moisture, and the humus also has the power of
holding available plant
food in a form that it
cannot leach out of the
soil (as it otherwise
Mould) and yet so the
plant can take it up
whenever it wants it.
A soil lacking in humus, no matter how
rich, will soon run down, will become
hard, has little power of holding water,
aud lets the available plant food leach
away. Those who have opened up new
lnnd will remember what crops were rais
ej the nrst few years, when there was
plenty of leaf mold and rotting wood in
the soil. Nature keeps the soil mora?
mellow by simply using organic matter
than man can by plowing and cultivating.
Notice how mellow tbe soil under the leaf
mold is, how moist it is, what a good condition it is in for the plant to send its tender roots through.
If yon have not tried plowing under a
orop of clover, do so, when it is in full
bloom, and you'll be surprised at the
good results that will come from it for the
next three pr four years. W.
in a great measure, on keeping it supplied with this element. In the
form of commercial fertilizer it is very expensive. The better way is to raise such
crops as gather it from the air and store
it up in the soil for the benefit of the succeeding crops. And clover, being deep-
rcoted, opens up the soil and lets in the air
and moisture which is also beneficial.
Where fertility has become exhausted,
the first thing necessary is to add humus
to the soil, and that rich in nitrogen is
best.        Such crops as corn nnd potatoes
All are agreed  that the effects of green
mauuring are beneficial. H.
Leguminous Crops are Best.
3d Premium.—To turn a crop of clover,
or any other legume, under while in its
green state will improve the soil from $10
11 $15 per acre, and sometimes even more.
The soil will be wonderfully improved by
turning under a crop of any green plant,
such as rye, buckwheat, rape, etc., but if
we wish best results it should be a leguminous crop, such as clover, alfalfa, cow peas,
under almost any circumstances and can
be tilled almost one-half easier on account
q{ being loose and lively. Reader.
No. 651, Aug. 29—If you sell 200 bushels of wheat from 10 acres of ground and
make no return of fertilizer to the soil,
how much land have you sold; that is, how
much is the soil depleted?
No. 652, Sept.—Explain the process of
budding  and  grafting  fruit  trees.
No. 6iW, Sept. 12.—Tell how to make
cider vinegar and fruit butters.
Tbe Marion Co., A. & H. Society Inspectiung Indian Farmer Experiment Plat. Au g., lst, 1908.
Supplies Humus to the Soil.
2d Premium.—When a green crop Is
turned under the effect on the succeeding
crop depends to a great extent on the
length of time the ground is plowed before the planting Is done, the nature of
the crop that is turned under and the one
that succeeds it, and other considerations.
Perhaps the best crop we can raise for
green  manuring  is   clover. When   let
grow till it is ready to cut for hay before
heing plowed under, it is valuable for the
humus it adds to the soil as well as for
the nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the
most vauable elements of plant food, and
the most expensive to supply. It seems
also that it is usually the first to become
exhausted,   and the productiveness of the
may be planted immediately after the clover is turned under.
Our best success with these crops has
been on clover sod where the plowing was
done later. One of the best crops of
wheatwe ever raised was also on clover sod
but the ground was plowed several weeks
before seeding time and well pulverized.
In this way a good solid seed bed was secured. On another occasion wheat was
sown on clover sod which was plowed in
June. It was then turned bnck in August, and the wheat sowed about the 20th
of September. This was several years
ago, before binders came into general
use, and it required six men to do the
b nding. It looked as though it would
make 40 bushels to the acre, but in fact
it yielded only about 12 bushels. It was
all straw. But while this crop was unprofitable, yet the beneficial effects of the
green manuring could be seen for several
yfars. In my opinion, wheat and rye
should not ordinarily be sown immediately
after a green crop Is plowed under. There
is a difference of opinion as to whether it
ii more profitable to plow vnder such
crops or to feed them and put the manure
back on the field. But what is the best
plan in one case may not be best in another. It depends to some extent on the
kind of stock it may be fed to, also whether the supply of hay or forage exceeds the
supply of corn. In the latter case it
is undoubtedly better to plow the clover
under and plant corn; besides this brings
a more immediate return. In any event
the difference of opinion is only in the
method of getting the humus in the soil.
eoy beans, etc. If we turn under a green
crop of rye or buckwheat, or something of
that kind, the improvement is principally
ir. the addition of humus to the soil, but
clover besides adding humus also adds nitrogen. This soil nitrogen is one of the
most important elements of plant food.
Clover or any legume draws free nitrogen
from the atmosphere for its own support
and in nddition to this it stores a quantity in the soil for some other crop that
does not possess the power of drawing
from the atmosphere by nodules upon the
roots.
I have in mind a field adjoining my
farm that was greatly lacking in fertility.
It       was       sown       in       rye and
the rye was permitted to grow
until near June, then was turned under
for corn. The effect was a decided improvement in the crops for several years,
nnd this was only rye and had not the
power of storing up this soil nitrogen. 1
have learned by observation that a turn-
under crop of clover will make a wonderful improvement upon the soil and also
upon the crop for a number of years. It
ls well worth trying for it is sure to pay,
on account of clover storing up soil nitro-
grn to the amount of $10 to $15 per acre
and making the soil worth that much
more, while corn draws that amount or
more from the soil. If we would practice turning under a crop of clover occasionally, it would be an easy matter to
plow our soil any time, no difference how
dry, as the soil that has plenty of humus
and nitrogen will not pack down and get
solid,    bnt will produce    a splendid    crop
SEWAGE FOR
GROWING CROPS.
It probably never
did occurred to the
sheriff of Nottingham,
England, that the greenwood in which he sought
the redoubtable Robin
Hood would one day be
cleared away and converted into farms which
are said to be models in
turning the sewage of
Nottingham in "Merrie
England" to valuable
account.
These farms comprise
an area of over 1,800
acres and the system of
broad irrigation is practiced. By means of underdrawing from 10,-
000,000 to 12,000,000
gallons of sewage Is
handled every 24 hours,
the land treated contlb-s
uously for 12 hours at a
time. About 1,000 acres
of the land is nnder cultivation, the principal
crops grown being
wheat, oate, rye, kohlrabi, and cabbage, and
the yields are enormous.
The soil for the most
""""part is of a sandy character with gravelly subsoil and good natural drainage. It is stated that theannual
returns from these farms are about $110,-
000. or an average of $110 per acre.
When such figures are presented it is
appalling to think of the waste of fertile
wealth in the way of sewage and garbage
from our thousands of cities and larger
towns.
More than once we have spoken of this
matter, and expressed surprise at the fact
that such waste is allowed to go on year
after year, in all our large cities, without
complaint on the part of the farmers.
This refuse matter should all be replaced
upon tbe lnnd whence it was taken in the
form of grains, vegetables, fruits, hay
and ments, nnd not sent down the Mississippi to help enlnrge the vast and constantly increasing deltas of rich soils in
the  Gulf  of  Mexico. Some  time  this
waste will be stopped.        Why not stop
it now?
"Agricultural College Day" will be one
of the big dnys at the National Corn Exposition to be held in Omaha in Deeember.
it will be a great day as the students plan
to have a big parade, each college delegation headed by one of the big special
bunds which will furnish music at the
corn show. Purdue (Indiana) University
students and faculty have arranged to
bring their big exhibit from the Indiani
State fair and the grain dealers, corn dealers and business men will join the special
train for the Omaha excursion. They will
stop at Ames and visit the Iowa State Agricultural College onroute.