MANURES. 77 



in these matters may result in the loss of more than half the 

 value of his manure. 



The third cause of loss which I mentioned want of intelli- 

 gence in its use is, perhaps, greater than is generally sus- 

 pected. Manure is so valuable that we must apply it, first, to- 

 such crops as will give an immediate profit; and, second, as far 

 as possible with reference to its growing at the same time a crop 

 which shall furnish plant food in the soil. Many farmers use 

 the bulk of their manure on corn land. While this is undoubt- 

 edly profitable in the East, where corn brings a high price, and 

 the fodder will go far towards paying the expense of growing the 

 crop, I think that, west of the Alleghany Mountains, where we 

 must come in competition with the great prairie corn-fields, we 

 can not afford to use manure, direct, for corn-growing. I have 

 long since settled this question in my own practice, and have not 

 for years applied a load of manure, directly, to the corn crop, 

 and should feel that I was not getting half its value if I did. 



I use all the manure I can spare from the garden and potato- 

 patch on my wheat. By so doing I rarely fail to get well paid 

 for my manure from the wheat crop, and at the same time it 

 grows a clover crop, which is worth more to fertilize the corn 

 crop which will follow than the manure would be if applied 

 directly to the corn. By this plan we can make our manure do 

 double duty, grow a paying crop of grain, and at the same time 

 a clover crop, which, even if all utilized for hay or pasture, will 

 fill the soil with roots, change its chemical and mechanical condi- 

 tion, and, by its dense shade, keep the surface cool and moist, so 

 as to cause the weeds to come up, and then smother them; so 

 that we have a field for corn cleaner, richer, and mellower than 

 if we had made a direct application of manure. 



There are some other incidental advantages in using manure 

 on the wheat crop. It gives us more time to get it in good con- 

 dition. We keep or at least ought to our stock in the barn- 

 yard till after our corn land is plowed, and are adding straw, corn- 

 stalks and other litter each day. I do not want to begin fork- 

 ing up the manure till after the stock goes to pasture, for it will 

 make the yard dirty and uncomfortable for them. Again, in 



