190;-).] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 38. 147 



The timothy has not >'et been displaced by other species to 

 any noticeable extent, but the poorer showing of the mix- 

 ture in which it is })rominent this year as compared with 

 last possibly indicates that the belief that the Fescue mixture 

 would ulthnately prove the better of the two will be justified 

 by the results obtained. 



IX, — Experiment in the Application of Manure. 



This experiment is designed to ascertain whether it is 

 economically good policy to spread manure during the late 

 fall and winter, and allow it to remain on the sui-face until 

 spring before plowing under. This system in our experi- 

 ment is compared with the plan of hauling manure to the 

 field during the winter, and putting it into large heaps. To 

 insure even quality of the manure used in the two systems, 

 it is our practice to manure two plots at one time, putting 

 the loads of manure as hauled to the field alternately upon 

 the two, in the one case spreading, but in the other putting 

 a sufficient number of loads to provide for the entire plot 

 into one large heap. We are using in this experiment five 

 large plots, each of which is subdivided into two subplots. 

 For one of these subplots the manure is spread when hauled 

 out, for the other it is put into a large heap. The area of 

 these subplots is about one quarter of an acre, and to each 

 the amount of manure applied is 11,096 pounds. The 

 manure from well-fed milch cows is used upon eight sub- 

 plots, and horse manure on two. The manure used in this 

 experiment is applied at ditferent dates during the winter, 

 our practice being to allow the manure to accumulate in 

 the pits from which it is taken until there is a sufficient 

 quantity for at least two subplots. The condition of the soil 

 at the time of application and the nature of the weather 

 which follows must necessarily differ in the difi'erent experi- 

 ments ; and these difi'erences, together with the difference in 

 the dates of application above referred to, no doubt in a 

 measure account for the variation in the results of the two 

 systems noticed on the different plots. 



The crop in this field last year was soy beans. After the 

 beans were harvested, winter rye was sown as a cover crop. 



