SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



79 



This saves the manure best. Labor is cheaper in winter; 

 snows may allow the use of sleds for hauling; the least amount 

 of labor is required in placing the manure from the stalls 

 on a sled or wagon to be taken to the field. The manure 

 should be spread when carried to the field, and not left in 

 heaps to leach. 



The practice followed in some sections of putting the 

 manure in piles in the field should be stopped. That is an 

 old-fashioned way which requires more labor. It makes the 

 grain or other crop uneven in growth and uneven in ripening. 

 It does not make the best use of the plant-food in the manure. 



Fig. 45. — The modern manure spreader in tlie barnyard. A litter oairirr wtuch 

 runs on an overhead track is used to take the manure from the barn. Tije figure 

 shows the carrier in position of emptying into the spreader-box. The team is 

 hitched on and the load is spread in a field as shown in another figure. 



Using Barnyard Manure. — Three points should be con- 

 sidered in the use of barnyard manure. First, it is rich in 

 nitrogen and has some of the other elements. Second, it is 

 well suppHed with bacteria which are very helpful to the 

 soil. Third, it supplies the soil with humus. 



The manure of the farm should be spread on the highest 

 parts of each field, because they are usually the poorest soils 

 and some of the fertility naturally washes down toward the 

 lower soils. 



