42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



PRINCIPLES OF MANURING. 



A Paper on the value, production and use of Manures, by W. H. Jordan, 

 B. S., Instructor in Agriculture at the Maine State College. 



General Considerations. 



I do not want ni}" farmer friends to pass by this article and not 

 read it, because they more than half suspect that it is so very theo- 

 retical and scientific that they can't understand it, or gain an}' prac- 

 tical knowledge from it. I wish every word read, even if you do not 

 find a single fact new to you, or do not believe half I state. I shall 

 try to write, so that the ideas I advance can be understood and 

 applied to your farm practice. I also propose to state nothing but 

 facts, and these largel}' in the form of well established principles 

 that lie at the foundation of the farmer's prosperity. The life of the 

 farmer is too real ; his margin of profits too narrow for him to spend 

 veiy much time and money in proving any theory or notion to be 

 unsound. 



I write this paper, not that I feel especially compi^tent to teach 

 others about the great facts of agricultural science, nor because it is 

 in m}' power to solve all the knott}' problems that farmers meet, but 

 because I wish to suggest some of the truths that have alreadv been 

 of help to thousands of farmers ; old truths the}' may be, but which 

 are still largeh* ignored. 



Farmers live by doing two things, growing crops and growing 

 animals, and the millennium will come to agriculture when its devo- 

 tees possess all knowledge in regard to these two operations. From 

 the soil and air come crops ; from the crops animals. "We make use 

 of manures as an aid to crop production, and therefore as an aid to 

 the growing of animals ; in fact we can say that for Maine farming, 

 manures serve as a basis for production of both kinds. 



T\\ o important facts stare fanners in the face, viz : 1 . That b}' 

 certain methods of farming the soil can be brought into such a con- 

 dition that it will refuse to grow paying crops. 2. That ni.anures 

 will not only remedy but prevent such a state of alfairs. 



