Either method will furnish about as much nitrogen as would be taken
from the soil by a 50-bushel crop of wheat, a 75-bushel crop of corn
or a 100-bushel crop of oats per acre. The decision by the
individual between live-stock farming and grain farming should be
based upon preference and profit rather than upon the erroneous
teaching that farm manaure is either essential or sufficient for the
maintenance of soil fertility in this country.

Bread is the staff of life, and many must sell grain. I do not
advise all grain farmers to become live-stock farmers; but I do
advise both grain farmers and live-stock farmers to enrich their
soils by practical, profitable and permanent methods. Both classes
of farmers may secure new nitrogen--that is, they can positively
increase their nitrogen supply by sufficient use of legume crops.

How to Supply Nitrogen

The cotton-grower who sells cotton lint at 10 cents a pound and the
market gardener who sells from $100 to $300 worth of fruits and
vegetables from one acre may well make liberal use of commercial
nitrogen at 15 or 20 cents a pound; but if after deducting the cost
of harvesting, threshing, storing and marketing the average farmer
receives only 1 cent a pound for his grain and if 40 per cent of the
commercial nitrogen applied is lost by leaching, then the total crop
of grain would bring only enough money to pay for the nitrogen
required to produce it, at 20 cents a pound. We may sometimes advise
the American grain-grower to buy water with which to irrigate his
crop, but not to buy nitrogen with which to fertilize it.