60 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



fanging. Such manure piles should be forked over at 

 intervals in order to quickly get them into the best 

 condition. 



On grass lands, and sometimes to form a mulch 

 about orchard trees, manure is applied as a top dress- 

 ing. This, however, is rather wasteful, as part of the 

 ammonia is likely to be dissipated in the atmosphere 

 and a considerable value is likely to be lost by wash- 

 ing rains. Where possible, it is much better to plow 

 it into the land. If the manure has been piled so 

 that it is well rotted, this may be done at any time ; 

 preferably just in advance of planting the seed. 

 Large quantities of unrotted manure, however, 

 plowed into the land at this time are likely to do harm 

 by rendering the soil too open and causing the crop to 

 suffer from drought, unless rains are very abundant. 

 When fresh manure from the stables can be plowed 

 into the ground long enough in advance of planting, 

 so that it has time to become partially decomposed, 

 and the soil has been settled by a few heavy rains, the 

 results are eminently satisfactor3^ In fact, when 

 possible, this is the best way to utilize stable manure, 

 since there is no loss in fermentation and no extra ex- 

 pense in rehandling. Instead of taking the manure 

 from the stables daily, if box stalls can be provided 

 for the animals and there is plenty of material for 

 bedding, it may be allowed to accumulate in the stalls 

 until such time as a field is ready for plowing, when 

 it can be hauled direct to the field. The tramping 

 of the animals in the stalls keeps it compacted and in 

 good condition for a long period. Theoretically this 

 method is more or less objectionable as being unhy- 



