344 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



It will be seen from this data that manure is more valuable 

 when used in connection with a crop rotation than when used 

 alone, and furthermore, that greater returns per ton of manure 

 were obtained from the lighter applications than from the heavier. 

 It would seem then a good practice where the manure supply is 

 limited, as it is on most farms, to make a lighter application over 

 a greater area than a heavier treatment to a smaller area. 



Supplementing Manure. — The Ohio Station has also demon- 

 strated that the value of manure may be increased by adding a 

 small amount of mineral fertilizer with it.* This is especially 

 true where it has been supplemented with phosphates. The 

 following table summarizes the data showing a marked increase 

 in the value of the manure where treated: 



VALUE OF MANURE TREATED WITH 40 POUNDS PER TON OF DIF- 

 FERENT MINERALS APPLIED BEFORE CORN IN A THREE- 

 YEAR ROTATION OF CORN, WHEAT AND CLOVER. 

 AVERAGE TOTAL INCREASE PER ACRE FOR ONE ROTATION. 



Manure with the Hay Crop in the Rotation: — In the Ohio 

 experiments to which we have referred the manure was applied 

 to the grain crops in the rotation — corn and wheat. Some 

 recent work at the New York (Cornell) and Pennsylvania Ex- 

 periment Stations has indicated that it may be more profitable 

 to use manures and fertilizers with the hay crop in the rotation 

 than with corn. It would seem that this is due to the fact that 

 the fertilizers stimulate the growth of roots in the hay and thus 

 have more organic matter for the grain crops following, while the 

 reverse would not necessarily be true. In these experiments it 

 was found that the residual effect of manures and fertilizers was 

 very marked, ten tons of manure per acre with the hay crop giv- 

 ing an increase on the corn following of 110 per cent over the 



* Ohio Experiment Station, Circular 131. 1913. 



