Manures and Commercial Fertilizers _ 101; 



and spread evenly with a manure-spreader, a machine 

 that should be on every farm; and it loses mainly only 

 water, while if piled up in the barnyard it loses immensely 

 of that most valuable constituent, the nitrogen. Then, 

 instead of the rain's washing out the plant food to run 

 away from the barnyard, it is washed into the soil and 

 the soil holds it there for the use of the crops. Even in 

 cold climates, where the soil freezes hard, the manure 

 spread in the fall and let lie till spring has given the best 

 results in the crop. At the New Hampshire station an 

 experiment was made of spreading manure on the surface 

 in the fall and letting it lie all winter. On another piece 

 the manure was plowed under at once in the fall. On a 

 third piece the manure was spread in the spring, and then 

 all three pieces were plowed for corn. The best corn was 

 made on the plot where the manure lay on the surface 

 all winter. 



Have as little manure as possible, then, in the open 

 yard. Keep what is in the box stalls well tramped down 

 and filled up with straw or leaves, and it can remain there 

 unhurt till it is convenient to haul and spread at once. 

 The urine from the animals is of more value, even, than 

 the droppings, and an abundance of absorbing material 

 is of importance to save this. If the stalls have a hard 

 clay bottom do not put a wooden floor in them. If the 

 soil is sandy and apt to leach, the floor should be made of 

 broken rock grouted well with cement to prevent the loss 

 of the liquid manure. Then, if it cannot leach away, 

 and plenty of absorbents are used, the whole can be saved 

 and make a far more valuable manure than if the liquids 

 leached out. 



