MANURE— ITS TREATMENT AND VALUE. 275 



for them to use. Particularly is this the case with farmers who have naturally 

 fertile soils. 



There may be some excuse for not making and using manure on new, rich 

 land where labor is scarce and high, but in all the older settled portions of this 

 State it will pay to make and use it. 



PROFIT. 



On a piece of land put in our hands to work last spring, was a field of twen- 

 ty-one acres, that the owners wished to have sowed to oats, and seeded to clover. 

 The field had been cropped several years without manure. The soil was of an 

 average fertility all over the field. A crop of corn planted on it the previous 

 year had made about an equal growth in all parts, and all so poor that it was 

 not considered worth husking, and was fed in the stalk. On the farm was a 

 pile of manure one year old, left from a cow stable, that we were directed to 

 put on this field. The pile would have made about twenty or twenty-five such 

 loads as we buy for a dollar. I estimated it was worth $35. After the ground 

 had been plowed, we spread this manure as evenly as possible over twelve acres 

 on one side of the field, at an expense of 115 for handling the manure. The 

 twelve acres manured yielded 543 bushels, or 49 bushels to the acre ; the nine 

 acres unmanured yielded 180 bushels, or 20 bushels to the acre. The manure 

 increased the crop 29 bushels to the acre, or 303 bushels on the farm, worth 

 fifty cents per bushel, or $151.50. The cost of preparing ground, seed, sowing 

 and reaping, was the same per acre on the whole field. The cost of binding, 

 drawing and threshing was more on the manured portion, but as the straw 

 was twice as heavy we will let that balance the extra work. The manure and 

 drawing cost 160, therefore $50 expended in manure made an increase in the 

 crop of $151.50, or a profit of $101.50 in one season. In addition to this the 

 clover made a good catch on the manured land, while on the rest it hardly 

 grew at all. 



MARSH MUCK. 



There is something about marsh muck that seems to have a remarkable effect 

 on old land, especially on light soil, and particularly on garden land that has 

 been heavily cropped and manured for several years. It seems to have some- 

 what the same effect that is caused by plowing under green crops. I have 

 known good crops of onions raised on sandy soil for two years, by a heavy ap- 

 plication of muck, and a light sprinkling of leached ashes. On old onion beds 

 the tendency of onions is to ripen too early, or before they get their growth, 

 thereby decreasing the crop. By using muck and a variety of other manures, 

 we can raise good crops on the same land for years in succession. They will 

 do better to change the crop. But as it is expensive fitting ground in proper 

 shape for onions, and as it is the most certain and profitable crop that we raise, 

 we find it does not pay to change often. 



ONIONS. 



We have raised onions on the same ground for seven years in succession, 

 never having a profit of less than $175 to the acre, and the last two crops 

 yielded as well as any. 



MUCK APPLIED TO RASPBERRIES. 



We have applied muck alone and composted with mature to various crops, 

 and always with success. We have applied muck to raspberries, three or four 

 shovelfuls to the hill, and increased the yield one-quarter. 



