use I am sure there is no point in scientific farming of greater
importance. Mr. Geddes calls grass the "pivotal crop" of American
agriculture. He deserves our thanks for the word and the idea connected
with it. But I am inclined to think the _pivot_ on which our agriculture
stands and rotates, lies deeper than this. The grass crop creates
nothing--developes nothing. The untilled and unmanured grass lands of
Herkimer County, in this State, are no richer to-day than they were 50
years ago. The pastures of Cheshire, England, except those that have
been top-dressed with bones, or other manures, are no more productive
than they were centuries back. Grass alone will not make rich land. It
is a good "savings bank." It gathers up and saves plant-food from
running to waste. It pays a good interest, and is a capital institution.
But the real source of fertility must be looked for _in the stores of
plant-food lying dormant in the soil_. Tillage, underdraining, and
thorough cultivation, are the means by which we develop and render this
plant-food available. Grass, clover, peas, or any other crop consumed on
the farm, merely affords us the means of saving this plant-food and
making it pay a good interest.

CHAPTER X.

HOW TO MAKE MANURE.

If we have the necessary materials, it is not a difficult matter to make
manure; in fact, the manure will make itself. We sometimes need to
hasten the process, and to see that none of the fertilizing matter runs
to waste. This is about all that we can do. We cannot create an atom of
plant-food. It is ready formed to our hands; but we must know where to
look for it, and how to get it in the easiest, cheapest, and best way,
and how to save and use it. The science of manure-making is a profound
study. It is intimately connected with nearly every branch of
agriculture.

If weeds grow and decay on the land, they make manure. If we grow a crop
of buckwheat, or spurry, or mustard, or rape, or clover, and mow it, and
let it lie on the land, it makes manure; or if we plow it under, it
forms manure; or if, after it is mown, we rake up the green crop, and
put it into a heap, it will ferment, heat will be produced by the slow
combustion of a portion of the carbonaceous and nitrogenous matter, and
the result will be a mass of material, which we should all recognize as
"manure." If, instead of putting the crop into a heap and letting it
ferment, we feed it to animals, the digestible carbonaceous and