Mixed iVSanures 



exhausted by excessive cropping, or altogether 

 neglected, when they will restore the fertility of the 

 soU. In these particular cases an ordinary dose of 

 manure will give practically no results, since the clay 

 and the humus will absorb and keep for themselves 

 all the fertilising matter contained in it, leaving 

 nothing for the crops. 



In light soils repeated applications are not only 

 advisable but necessary. The least practical use to 

 which farmyard manure can be put is to spread it on 

 meadow land, though that is still a common practice. 

 As a matter of fact, nearly the only good it does 

 lies in the protection it gives to the soil. It should 

 be given to pasture only when the soil is shallow or 

 the manure superabundant. Manure as a top dress- 

 ing is only advisable in gardening where it isolates 

 the soil, thereby retarding evaporation and main- 

 taining the friability of the top soil. 



In many districts top dressings are happily dis- 

 appearing, farmyard manure being advantageously 

 superseded by chemicals. The former, well made, 

 brings fertilising elements to the soil in what is con- 

 sidered assimilable form, but the whole of the nitro- 

 gen and the phosphoric acid are not absorbed even 

 in the second year. The action of farmyard manure 

 is not confined only to that of its fertilising elements, 

 but the humus it contains increases the retentive 

 power of the soil, as will be seen in the chapter on 

 that subject, with regard to ammonia, potash, and 

 phosphoric acid. It mellows the land, or renders 

 it more compact, as the case may be, regulates the 

 aeration, helps the permeability, and makes it more 

 workable. 



101 



