Mr. Smith-But a man may have it. and if he has, he may put it on.

Mr. Scott-It depends on the size of the manure pile.

Mr. Hill-You would prefer to have four inches with all the fertility saved possible?

Supt. McKerrow-Wouldn't you prefer to have six acres with the first four inches well filled, than four acres with six inches well filled?

Mr. Scott-Yes, that is what I mean. Capt. Arnold-Then you have six acres to go over instead of four.

Mr. Scott-And I have six acres to harvest instead of four. I believe that

upon this ground have something to do with determining whether you will fill simply four inches with humus or put in six?

Mr. Scott-Yes, it would. My line of thought was more specially upon the common farm crops. It would not apply to gardening, to the growth of sugar beets or vegetables, but the corn and the small grain crop and the grasses, with the exception of clover and alfalfa. We should keep this bacterial action for such crops near the surface.

Mr. Galbraith-What would be the depth of the roots in timothy?

upon our heavy soils four inches is sufficiently deep to plow the first season after it is manured. I am not averse to plowing a little deeper the second time. That will throw it back and you will get the manure nearer the surface again, but we must remember that decomposition goes on at a much more rapid pace nearer the surface than at a depth of six inches. It has been stated in my paper that the bacteria work at their best at a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees. Some will work as low as 35, but they do their best and most rapid work at 60 to 80.

Supt. McKerrow-Would not the kind of crop you are going to grow

Mr. Scott-A few roots strike down to considerable depth, but most of them are shallow.

Mr. Hill-I have brought in, and show you here, a specimen of the root of the great American drainage plant, not one of Salzer's, but made before he was, fully four feet long. It is a root of medium red clover, and it measured 52 inches before it was dried. That shows how it grows and where it reaches to. That was grown in Clark county.

Supt. McKerrow-Clay soil. How deep would you like the soil, Mr. Smith, for a crop of sugar beets?

Mr. Smith-I will answer that

that clover root grew down by the side of a stump.

Mr. Hill-Yes, but it did not depend upon the stump to get that depth, because I have seen clover roots grown in clay soil, frequently as long as that, where there was not a tree in sight.

Mr. Utter-Another thing I believe we plow for and cultivate, is to conserve moisture, especially in the southern part of Wisconsin, and the deeper we have our seed bed, the more moisture we can conserve. I think that is one object of plowing and cultivating deeply.

Mr. Scott-Will not this clover plant do that work, the conservation of moisture? Doesn't it prepare the lower strata of soil so it will hold more water?

Mr. Utter-We have not been able to use it in preparing our land in the southern part of Wisconsin, and we have had to do some hard work.

Mr. Scott Probably because you do not grow clover.

Supt. McKerrow-You had better try alfalfa.

Mr. Culbertson-Is this plan of yours more practicable on newer or older land?

Mr. Scott-Both. It certainly works on our new land in northern Wisconsin, and, according to Prof. Roberts of Cornell, it is equally practicable upon the old lands of New Jersey.

Mr. Culbertson-We understand that in some of the eastern states they have lacked proper tillage to maintain the fertility of the land.

Mr. Scott-As I understand, the troubles in the east have accrued largely from the use of too great an amount of commercial fertilizers, or rather, too small an amount of stable manures and humus.

Mr. Hill-We hear the statement made quite often that clover sod, or soil that is full of clover roots, is the best place to plant corn, because it is a warmer soil from the decaying of those roots. How is that?

Mr. Scott-I could not answer that. Supt. McKerrow-Is the soil that is lacking in warmth deficient in humus?

Mr. Scott-If clover is really a drainage plant, if these roots strike a lower stratum, making it porous, so the water can go down, then it must follow

that the soil would be warmer, because a well-drained soil is certainly warmer than wet soil.

Mr. Culbertson-What are the best crops to furnish a great abundance of humus?

Mr. Scott-We think we get a larger bulk by a mixture of clover and timothy.

Supt. McKerrow-His question was right on the point of humus.

Mr. Scott-Then I would confine it to clover, on account of its root system in connection with the top, without the timothy.

Mr. Culbertson-Do you have as thorough a sod on your land as you would have by a mixture?

Mr. Scott-No, I do not think so. Lt is my judgment that you get a larger amount of material in the root of the clover than with the clover and timothy, and better material also.

Mr. Foster-But isn't a great share of that material down out of reach when you come to the accumulation of humus in the soil; and would not red top and timothy and some other kinds furnish the surface soil with more humus to be turned over than tame clover?

Mr. Scott-Possibly you might get a larger proportion in the upper layers of the soil with other grasses which are surface rooted, but you must bear in mind that if there is any available fertility there you must have a root growing down to the depth where it is, pumping it up into the upper part of the plant, and consequently to the upper layers of the soil.

Supt. McKerrow-Then, again, the clover root will grow much larger when it does not have to fight the other plants mentioned.

Mr. Foster-I claim that there are several feeding grounds in that soil. The clover root goes way down and below the others. We can pasture different kinds of stock on soil, and none of them interfere with the others. So we feed plants of different character in different layers, so that they do not need to fight. That is my idea.

Mr. Scott-I have never been able to occupy the same soil with different kinds of stock or plants and have them get along as harmoniously as Friend Foster seems to, but I believe in many cases it pays to mix grasses.

still leaves the soil in condition to produce maximum crops. There is little profit in the average crop. As a rule, maximum crops are the profitable crops, though there are exceptions to even this rule. The producer cannot control the price, but should aim to produce cheaper. Feeding animals is the best system, because the largest portion of the fertilizing elements of the feeds is retained on the farm. At many places where we have been this winter, the farmers were selling hay and straw. The price for timothy hay delivered at the railroad is at least $7.00 per ton.

same price would be received and $17 for the labor of feeding, besides $70 worth of fertility deposited in the farmer's bank. In this case the hay is sold for $13.50 per ton. I believe $5 per ton is small enough estimate for the fertility left from feeding the clover hay.

It is estimated that the average amount of feed required to produce a ton of butter worth $500, is equivalent to 40 tons of hay, worth in the market $280. Adding the fertility value of the hay left after producing the butter, to the value of the ton of butter, equals $700, or a return of $17.50 per ton for

the hay when sold to the cow, while that fed to produce beef or mutton returned only $13.50. Of course, the difference in favor of feeding the cow goes to pay for the excess of labor required in dairying. This view of the matter might help in the choice of the kind of animals to feed. With broad acres and little available help, it might be best to feed beef or sheep. On smaller farms and more help, feed the cow and hog. The degree of profit in either case depends much on the skill of the feeder and on the selection of the animal. A friend of mine, whose farm is near Fond du Lac, told me that he re

$500, while on a load of potatoes it would amount to 30 per cent, and even 50 per cent, at the present time; besides, the grower would have to haul 50 or 60 loads of potatoes from the farm to a shipping point to draw as much money as one load of butter or two loads of cheese would bring. He would have to haul over 70 loads of hay, or 25 loads of oats.

Some years ago an Institute was held in a county where potatoes was the principal crop grown. It was 24 miles to the shipping point, taking two days to get one load of potatoes to market. It was learned that, though the

ceived from his 25 cows last year an average of $92 per cow for milk and cream. Some of my neighbors are satisfied to get $45 per cow.

In addition to feeding stock largely of the crops grown on the farm, it may be profitable, both for the stock and the farm, to feed commercial feeds that are rich in feeding and manurial elements.

The Commercial Side of the Question.

Another reason why animal husbandry is profitable cropping, is the saving in transportation when concentrated products are marketed. The cost of marketing a ton of butter is about one-half of one per cent on a value of

soil was sandy, it produced good crops of corn and clover. It seemed to be the business of the Institute to advise the farmers to change their methods and get cows and build a creamery. The potato grower whose farm is near a good market can save the costly transportation and grow the crop at a profit. So it seems that location may be a factor in profitable cropping.

The Importance of Rotation. Rotation is another factor. Nature revels in variety. We shall do well to follow her plan in crop production. Whatever the rotation, it should include clover and corn, or other cultivated crops. A farm was found in southern