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SECTION IV. 



MANURING. 

 Farmyard Manure. 



Profitable potato growing is closely connected with 

 the ample application of manures. The mainstay of 

 market gardeners has always been farmyard manure, 

 with which is included town, stable, and others of 

 similar nature. As a rule, what is known as London 

 dung is quite as rich in manurial properties as the 

 best farmyard manure. The preference for farmyard 

 manure or, as it is more commonly called, dung by 

 market gardeners is not solely due to its manurial 

 constituents, but to the beneficial effect it exerts on the 

 soil. Market garden soils, and such soils as are best 

 suited to the growth of potatoes, are usually of an 

 open nature, and thus easily influenced by drought, 

 and to a less degree by excessive moisture in seasons 

 when the rainiall is heavy. Heavy dressings of dung 

 help to retain moisture in dry seasons, and keep the soil 

 open and thus promote free drainage in times of too 

 plentiful rains. The surface, too, is less likely to become 

 set or capped after heavy rains. The mechanical effects 

 of dung are quite equal to the manurial, and must be 

 taken into consideration when estimating its value 



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