or no ammonia in it, and as the nitrogen of manure, to be vol- 

 atile must be in the form of ammonia, the loss from this source 

 must be very small indeed; manure spread on the surface in 

 summer or early fall should be harrowed in, for the reason that 

 if left on the surface it dries in hard lumps and is hard to break 

 up and mix with the soil. Manure applied in the late fall be- 

 fore or after the freezing of the soil, is probably in the best 

 position possible, and I am satisfied not only from general ob- 

 servation and the experience of the most observing farmers, but 

 from experiments in which the exact weight of products has 

 been determined, that if all the farm yard manure could be ap- 

 plied in November instead of April that the average yield would 

 be increased by more than ten per cent, from this change alone. 



The explanation of this is to be found in the even distribu- 

 tion of the plant food in the surface soil. The fall rains and 

 the melting snow soften the manure and dissolves the available 

 plant food, washing it into the soil where it.is left in the best 

 condition possible for the young plant. 



The following experiments niadeon the Experiment Station 

 farm' show the effects of manure applied in this way. Three 

 acres of land were set apart for the work, the strips were fifty- 

 six rods long and three rods wide. 



Each acre was divided into four sections, and each section 

 consisted of three rows of corn, space being left between: these 

 spaces were planted but not included in the experiment. The 

 three rows had eight hundred hills, the hills and rows being 

 three feet two inches apart; this would give three-fourths of an 

 acre in each set of four sections, which in the diagram on fol- 

 lowing page shows the field. The fifth acre had six cords of 

 manure plowed in in the fall, the sixth acre had six cords spread 

 on the surface in the fall, and the seventh acre had six cords 

 spread on the surface in the spring. The yield was as follows :* 



Fifth acre plowed in in fall. 



Sixth acre on surface in fall, 



Seve nth acre on surface in spring, i ,690 



The manure was in all respects the same, so far as it is 

 possible to get manure of like quality. 



♦These yields are only for three-fourths of an acre. 



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