GOOD HUSBANDRY. 71 



is quickened, and b}' fall completed, when there will he a black, fria- 

 ble and rich dressing, ready for the soil and plant nourishment. For 

 corn, with perhaps the exception of that from the hog-pen, there is 



no better fertilizer. 



* 



In regard to the time when manure should be applied. This de- 

 pends somewhat upon its condition in connection with the crops we 

 propose to raise, and whether necessity compels us to use it to the 

 best advantage in order to supply present needs. It is well under- 

 stood that fresh droppings do not readily decompose and assimilate 

 with the soil ; but, in my opinion, there is no time when stable ma- 

 nure can be used to so good advantage, on the whole, as when it is 

 dropped from the animal, and before anything is lost by decomposition 

 and evaporation. When it can be done, it should be immediately 

 hauled to the field and incorporated with the soil b}' plowing or 

 cultivating, or both. This, of course, cannot be done in winter, 

 and it is fortunate that manure sustains but little loss at this sea- 

 son — I should say rather, it is a wise and most beneficent provision 

 in Nature's laws, that the process of fermentation and decomposition 

 is stayed, or, at most, goes on very slowly during the cold season, so 

 that it may be moved to the field at the farmer's convenience and 

 applied in the spring with little or no practical loss. While it is true 

 that the elements of green manure are not all immediately available 

 as plant food, yet its constituents are all in the soil, and held there 

 without loss as a "resen'^e force" to be drawn upon b}^ future crops. 



Heretofore most of our farmers have applied their dressing mostly 

 in the spring, in connection with sowing and planting ; but the 

 practice is changing, and the manure accumulated during the summer 

 is now largely used in the fall, and either cultivated into the soil or 

 spread broadcast over the rough surface of plowed land. This method 

 has a number of advantages over the former, the greatest of which 

 is the saving of time and labor in the busy time of spring work. 

 In this latitude, a great deal of labor, the preparation of the ground 

 for crops, the carting and spreading of manure, sowing, planting and 

 a large amount of incidental work that alwavs has to be attended to, 

 all this spring labor is unavoidabl}' crowded into a very short time ; 

 and some of our work must of necessity be delayed till late in the 

 season, thus lessening the chances of successful crops. Other con- 

 ditions being equal, an}- method b}- which spring work can be for- 

 warded should be regarded with general favor. Another advantage 



