Show A review of the year As the more active portion of the year draws to a close it is well for the farmer to look back over tile busy months month just u t past and draw some I lessons esons fr from the season this io ie not only a pleasure but a I d duty uty and all the more the duty when there is little or no pleasure in such a retrospect it may be that so some me of the crops have failed an and it should be the work of the more quiet months of late fall and win wind ter to find out the causes of these failures and take all possible measures aresto to prevent recurrence As an example ic it may be that the field of wheat yielded only half a crop and was therefore without profit this may have been tho the effect of one or more causes was the soil too poor A good crap of wheat does not grow upon land that is lacking in the materials upon which plants must feed there must bo be a supply of potash and phosphoric acid especially of nitrogen in an available form in short a soil to be fertile must abound in those materials which arc are removed in a crop and may be returned again in in the manure that is made from such crops if the crop was poor in many ninny cases or otherwise enriching the soil wi will insure a yield for the coming year but richness is not everything and the farmer may see hh his crop on oil a soil that has bas enough odthe of the various ingredients of plant growth the mechanical texture of the soil may be at fault A wet soil is not a I productive one agricultural planta cannot do well in earth when the roots are surrounded by water but by draining wet cold land often becomes very productive again on soil rich and mellow th the e partial or entire failure of the cromma crop may be in in the seed or thelow the sowing 11 or both the value osgood of good seed is beyond question and only the best should bo be used there is a great difference in varieties and a superior sort is clia pest at any c cost st the farmer may judge of the quality ty of his seed by nothing what his is neighbors use and the tile crops t they hey get under similar conditions iv when en his own fields have not given good ic ie turns furthermore a test may be made by sowing sewing different varieties side by side we do not advocate testing many sorts but do enough of this experimental work to keep ab abreast re ast with the progress in in the improvement of varieties there are failures due to the ravages of insects or to conditions of climate prevailing for the season if insects have been destructive it is important to become acquainted with their lia habits bits that any and all rnear may be taken to meet them in in short farming arnow as now profitably pursued needs COD constant Stant study and during the comparative leisure of the winter every on one e should review the past and plan for better results in the future american agriculturist for october |