FERTILIZERS. 83 



for all crops on tilled lands, we would recommend that the manure be partially, if not wholly, 

 fermented, or, as is commonly termed, rotted, before being applied. This may be done by 

 composting it with soil, as we have previously described, which process will have a tendency 

 to destroy the germs of any seed it may contain ; or it may be occasionally turned, giving the 

 seeds an opportunity to sprout, and die in the process, but the former is the surest method of 

 destroying them. In no case do we approve of applying strong manure directly to the seed 

 of crops. The safer way for hoed crops, such as potatoes, for instance, is to have a slight 

 layer of soil cover the manure before the seed is dropped; and as a general rule for all soils, 

 the best method of applying it, is to spread it on the surface after the last plowing, and har 

 row it in with the crop, if practicable. 



When manures are covered by heavy clay or loam soils, they remain, owing to the 

 nature of the soil, nearly dormant, and as no decomposition takes place, they are of little use 

 to the growing crop. On lighter soils their action is more speedy, but in any case they are 

 more efficacious when near the surface, or upon it, as we have previously stated. 



For grass lands, we advise that the application of farm manure be always in the late 

 autumn or early winter, that it may have the benefit of the melting snows and early spring 

 rains in dissolving it, and the finer it is pulverized when applied, the better. 



Dr. Nichols says on this subject: I have had considerable experience in this matter of 

 top-dressing grass lands, and feel competent, therefore, to advise on the subject. In the use 

 of stable dung, we say, apply it rather late in autumn, but not too late, that is, do not wait 

 until the ground freezes, but do it about a month before the usual time of the ad vent of severe 

 frosts. If applied too early, as in August or September, in the Northern parts of the 

 country, it dries hard in the sun, and is not so readily acted upon by frosts, and besides it 

 sinks deep into the growing grass, and is, therefore, not so well distributed as it should be. 

 The active principles have time enough to undergo chemical change from October to the next 

 April or May. Concentrated fertilizers should not, under any ordinary conditions, be applied 

 in the autumn. The reason is, that by the rapidity of the change the active elements of food 

 are brought almost immediately to the open mouths of plants, and thus by absorption they 

 are stimulated to growth when growth is not desirable.&quot; 



Application of Commercial Fertilizers. Respecting the application of com- 

 mercial fertilizers, we know of nothing better than the following, from the Director of the 

 Connecticut Experiment Station. 



&quot; The fertilizers may be applied broadcast, or if more convenient, they may be put in 

 the hill or drill, provided, they are well diffused through the soil. To accomplish this, they had 

 better be diluted with several times their bulk of earth before using. The important points 

 are, that they be: 



&quot;1st. Applied evenly over the plots where they belong and not allowed to get outside. 



&quot; 2d. Well distributed through the soil. 



&quot; Experiments with concentrated fertilizers are often spoiled, just as crops are injured or 

 lost through wrong application. Farmers are apt to think that the manure must be put close 

 to the seed or the plant will not get the benefit of it. This is wrong. It is not the just ger 

 minated plantlet that needs the manure, but the plant, from the time it is well started until 

 its growth is done. We want, not only to give the crop a good start, but to help it out on 

 the home stretch as well. The roots and their branching rootlets run out in all directions in 

 search of food, and the fertilizers ought to be where as many of the rootlets as possible can 

 get at them. If we distribute the fertilizers as well as we can, the water in the soil, aided by 

 the chemical and physical forces that nature keeps in operation, will do the rest. In illus 

 tration of this, remember how well barn- manure acts when applied as a top-dressing long 

 before the seed is put in. 



&quot; But if we concentrate the fertilizers in one place, fewer roots will get them, and these 



