294 HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



" year grazed, and then put into corn, the maximum yield 

 " may be reasonably expected. This winter manuring costs the 

 " least of all methods, and probably saves the most of the value 

 " of the manure of any known to me. 



*' But the barn-yards of a productive grain farm will be covered 

 " in the spring a foot or two deep with the butts of corn-stalks, 

 " straw, and manure from cows, young cattle, etc., that will be 

 " so coarse that it requires reducing in bulk by fermentation. 

 " This matter is pitched into large piles in the yard, from time to 

 ** time sprinkled with gypsum, and about the first of July the 

 *' sides of the piles cut down and cast on the top, to promote the 

 " decay of the part of the manure that has been so exposed to the 

 ** air that fermentation has been very slight. 



" Thus treated, this coarse manure will be so reduced that by the 

 " time wheat is to be sown in the fall it can be drawn out and 

 *' scattered on the top of the wheat ground immediately before 

 " harrowing and drilling in the seed. Selecting that part of the 

 " wheat ground that most requires help, we top-dress it with this 

 " rotted manure, not mixing it with the soil more than the harrow 

 " and drill buries it, with a very slight covering. 



" This last-described method of handling barn-yard manure is 

 " vastly more expensive than the one first given ; but, all things 

 " considered, I know of no better way to take care of the coarser 

 " parts of it. 



'* In this very summary statement of our methods of using 

 " barn-yard manure, I have avoided arguing the controverted 

 "points that are involved — some of them may come up for con- 

 " sideration at a future time. 



" ROTATION OF CROPS INVOLVES MIXED AGRICULTURE. 



" There are sections of country where rotation of crops and a 

 " system of mixed agriculture is impracticable. And there are 

 " districts where the plow cannot be used at all. But a very 

 " large proportion of this country is in all respects well adapted 

 ^' to the production of a great variety of crops, and to the sup- 

 " port, at the same time, of large flocks of sheep, or herds of cattle. 



