548 VARIOUS FERTILITY FACTORS 



Manure may be applied on pastures at almost any time of year 

 with marked benefit to the grass and with additional benefit after 

 being plowed under for succeeding crops. It may be applied for 

 corn either before or after the ground is plowed, although very 

 coarse manure applied after plowing may interfere with cultiva- 

 tion. Used as a top dressing for winter wheat, even very coarse 

 manure gives good results if uniformly distributed. 



Coarse manure or heavy applications of fresh manure plowed 

 under late in the spring are likely to give unsatisfactory results 

 in a dry season, in part because the layer of manure tends to inter- 

 fere with the capillary connection of the soil and subsoil and retards 

 upward movement of the soil moisture in dry weather. Thorough 

 disking just before plowing will help to avoid this trouble, whether 

 farm manure or green manure (as a heavy growth of clover) is 

 to be plowed under. 



In the author's opinion, the crop rotation in live-stock farming 

 should be so planned that there is always a place to haul and 

 spread manure, and so that every cultivated field is covered with 

 manure at least once during each rotation, the manure being 

 spread lightly or heavily in accordance with the annual supply 

 and the size of the field to be covered; and, if necessary, in order 

 to maintain the humus and nitrogen content of the soil, the farm 

 manure should be supplemented by plowing under clover or other 

 legumes, keeping in mind that one ton of clover hay plowed under 

 is equivalent to four tons of average fresh manure, and that many 

 can grow clover who cannot produce sufficient manure. 



