Barn-yard manure can be doubled in bulk and almost doubled in value
by composting with the right materials. We make the most of our peat
swamps, fallen leaves, and rubbish in general. Enough goes to waste on
many farms every year to keep several acres in good heart. But, as you
say, we cannot begin to procure enough to go over all the land from which
we are taking crops of some kind; therefore we maintain a rotation which
is adapted to our various soils, and every now and then plow under a
heavy green crop of clover, buckwheat, or rye. A green crop plowed under
is my great stand-by."
"I plowed under a crop of buckwheat once," said the squire, discontentedly,
"and I didn't see much good from it, except that the ground was light and
mellow afterward."
"That, at least, was a gain," Leonard continued; "but I can tell you why
your ground was not much benefited, and perhaps injured. You scarcely
plowed under a green crop, for I remember that the grain in your
buckwheat straw was partly ripe. It is the forming seed or grain that
takes the substance out of land. You should have plowed the buckwheat
under just as it was coming into blossom. Up to that time the chief
growth had been derived from the air, and there had been very little
drain upon the soil."
"Well!" exclaimed the squire, incredulously, "I didn't know the air was
so nourishing."
Webb had been showing increasing signs of disquietude during the last few
moments, and now said, with some emphasis: "It seems to me, squire, that
there is not much hope of our farming successfully unless we do know
something of the materials that make our crops, and the conditions under
which they grow.
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