134 STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



the fine wools or tlieir grades. If so, let their advocates who are here to-day 

 proclaim it. 



And now, thankhig you for your patience in listening to me, I am disposed to 

 end this article with the same idea with which I commenced it, viz. : Which 

 pays the best? trusting that men of experience and success in other branches 

 of industry here present will develop the matter more fully &nd with more intel- 

 ligence than I have done. 



Mr. John A. Paton of Armada was next called upon, who read the following 

 paper on the 



APPLICATION OF MANURE. 



I will not speak at this time of tlic different fertilizers we usually have to buy, 

 but of our common barnyard manure, of which we all have, or ought to have^ 

 plenty. 



In the first place ^xe must liave our manure pile sufficiently rotten, and in the 

 right condition to give nourisliment to tlie young plants we expect to grow on 

 the soil, or we need not apply it at all. If your manure joile is one-third straw 

 and one-third cornstalks and cobs, you had better rick it over, and leave it in 

 the yard until it rots, being careful to have it in such a shape that the heavy 

 rains will not leach it. The usual time of applying manure is in the spring for 

 corn and potatoes, and in the summer and fall for fall wheat. For corn and 

 potatoes I would advise spreading the manure and then ploughing it under (but 

 never tlirow in ])iles and leave any length of time). The cultivation of the 

 young plants will bring the manure near enough to the surface. For fall wheat 

 I would advise top-dressing by all means, whether summer fallow or stub- 

 ble ground. Always plough the ground the last time before applying the 

 manure if you want the Avheat croji to get the benefit of it. After tlie ground 

 has been plouglied the last time apply the manure, spreading it evenly over the 

 surface, and then harrow it in. 



I think fall the best time to apply manure, and that it should always be 

 spread, — never left in piles to leach with the rains. I would apply manure after 

 ploughing, before harrowing, for all crops, whether fall or spring, except for 

 corn, potatoes, and root crops. But some will say, If you apply the manure on 

 the surface after ploughing, the sun and wind -will absorb the moisture and dry 

 it up, rendering it useless. To sucli I would say, that manure will not dry out 

 as fast as the natural soil, but on the other hand it will retain the moisture and 

 keep the young plants growing. Of course, if you are going to spread straw on 

 the groimd, you had better plough it under to keep it from blo^ving away, for 

 the only plant food there is in it until after it has decayed is what little liquid 

 it has absorbed while in tlie yard. tSome people draw the most of their manure 

 out in tlie -winter. If it is fit to draw (that is if it is sufficiently mixed and 

 rotted), I think it is a good plan to draw it in the winter, when other farm work 

 is not pressing, and it can be done without extra hired lielp ; but it should 

 always be spread, — never left in piles on the ground. As a general rule, how- 

 ever, the manure and straw that accumulate in the yard in winter should be 

 mixed and rotted in the yard during the early part of summer, and drawn upon 

 the land after haiwest. Sometimes coarse, strawy manure can be applied to a 

 stiff clay soil to advantage, but as a general rule, the finer and more rotten it is 

 Avhen ajiplied to tlie soil, the sooner we receive the benefit therefrom. 



