MANURES 45 



if applied in the spring to a crop of early cabbage or spinach, 

 while for a late crop of cabbage or for corn it may answer 

 very well. Where an abundance of well-rotted manure 

 can not be obtained in the spring and it becomes necessary 

 to use partially-rotted manure for an early crop, it is a good 

 plan to use nitrate of soda or some other quick-acting 

 fertilizer to afford plant food until the manure has rotted. 



Manures for Leguminous Crops. Leguminous crops, 

 such as peas, beans, clover, and alfalfa, do not need as 

 much nitrogenous manure as most other crops, since by 

 the aid of certain bacterium in nodules on their roots free 

 nitrogen of the air is utilized. Such crops improve the 

 land on which they grow by increasing the nitrogen supply, 

 and in this respect they are different from all other garden 

 crops. Legumes are sometimes referred to as nitrogen 

 producers, and other crops as nitrogen consumers. 



When to Apply Manure. The time and manner of 

 applying a fertilizer depend on the plant, the kind of 

 fertilizer, the soil, the amount of rainfall, etc. It should 

 usually be applied in the spring about the time the seed is 

 sown. This is true especially of farm manures and the 

 slower-acting commercial kinds. Nitrate of soda and other 

 quick-acting kinds may be applied when the plant shows 

 by slackened growth that they are needed. There is no 

 set rule as to quantity or kind to apply. This matter 

 must be largely worked out in individual cases. 



Animal manure should generally be spread evenly on 

 the land and then be thinly covered with the soil; yet for 

 some crops it may sometimes be most desirable to apply 

 the manure in the hill or furrow. The amount that should 

 be applied per acre varies with the crop, soil, and manure, 

 and so no exact rule can be given. For a midsummer or 

 late-maturing crop, probably twenty-five or thirty tons 



