Green Manuring.

Southland Times, Issue 11654, 7 February 1891, Page 4

Green Manuring.

♦ Waldo^BrowD.in the Miami Valley Farmer, ■ays one method of maintaining fertility ii 'green manuring,' For some reas m* tkif is the meat important to farmers of the three mentioned. Why 7 Became the amount of ■table manure is for most farmers limited to what can be producsd on the farm, and is never enough to supply the wants of the farmer, while commercial fertilisers are expensive, and to some extent uncertain in their action. On the other hand green manure (by which T mean any vegetable matter which by it* decay in the soil, famishes plant food, ox im any way favourably sffec't the condition »f the toil) costs but little either in money or m labour, and the supply is practically uu .united, there being a great variety of plant* ivailable for this purpose, It is a fact tbat the farmers that have ben most careful to seep their land covered with green crops as nuch of the rear as possible, are the one* whose lands are in the best condition, It i« »lso true t>at many intelligent men claim that it is impossible to permanently help lard iy this means and that the n«e of gre*»n manure is simply •burning the candle at botb ?nds,' and will reduce the fertility of the sci more rapidly than any o'her system or management There are questions inv.ilverl in this discu«»ion wb-cb bave nr.t yet been ■olved by the most careful scientific experiment?, as f.T example, abont four-fiftbi ofthf air can be made availnble to the plants, now contending that clover it ■» trap for nitrogen,' and others that the plant can in no way avail itself of atmospheric oitroeen Th^ d-ffrTenc-between tbes* vie*", it seem* to Tie. i« ha' the former regard iht 9 >il as a 1&I". r itor , »nl the latter as a mi^e. Thpnvve we k 1 > -■ mn\ be worked ou' snd heo me v«ln- ie-« in the laboratory under 'he guidance of au irt"lligent mind, subs'anees v«ln<"ies« in tb-m---■elves may he i-nt in combination, «n<l become txct-e ling' y va'aabl-. I believe th•oil to be a labor* 1 ory ani not a mine and that under intelligent management its ferti'ity will be co-existent with the wants of man. fo come down to the practical methods of green manuring, I would say tbat it» efffcts are both positive and negative, and by this I mean that it will inere**e tbe »moum <f plant food in tbe *oil and reta n that already there, I am not a chemist but a pracical farm*r;bnt I know that tbe mor«- vee'aMe matter I c«i get into a soil 'he better the p'snts th-ivt on it. I also know that carbon ha» a ereat po •*■» of abari< hing and re'ainiDg gss^'ja'i' 1 'h-t f he decay of vegetable nnatt'-r in the soil hH^'s to the carbon, and thar thi* readily comnin-s wi b other *üb§t»nces to r^nr'er them available. I tl«o know that shading a soil favours those chemical char! get which make plant food available and tha keeping tbes <il .covered with a growth of vgttibW matter noton^y preven's loss from w»«h'nc — which is a prolific c»u»e of b»rrecnes« but aUo favours the chemical action by w Met plaot food is made available. In all localities where It will flourish, I plsc? clover first, as the the plant to heip the soil. Tais in on account of its large strong roots which weigh a little more than the top, nnd which push down deeply into the subsoil, and its rap d and abundant growth of foliage, which so quickly coven the soil, completely smothering out all weeds, and giving the conditions so favourable for ntriification.