THE VALUATION OF FERTILIZERS 197 



straight on to the field where he wants to use it, and when this 

 can be arranged it is quite well worth the farmer's while to 

 pay a few shillings per ton extra for the material. It is this 

 convenience to the farmer which is laigely responsible for the 

 difference in price at different seasons. In common practice 

 much of the material is put into store, though the storage 

 capacity on many farms is insufficient. Where a proper 

 manure shed exists it is sometimes used for only two or three 

 months in the spring and early summer, but if the manure 

 shed be properly constructed it can be used at other periods, 

 either as an implement shed, a turnip house, or even as a cart 

 shed. On a small farm the presence of any special place of 

 this kind may be regarded as a luxury, but, on a homestead 

 managing several hundreds of acres, a properly constructed 

 manure shed cannot very well be dispensed with. On farms 

 of considerable magnitude the farmer will frequently desire 

 to prepare mixtures found by experience to be suited to his 

 land. Such a procedure involves a fairly roomy place, 

 otherwise the operation of mixing will be very inefficiently 

 performed. If the mixing of several manures be carried out 

 by barrow, spade and riddle (see p. 179), a floor space of at 

 least 200 sq. ft. is necessary, in addition to the space occu* 

 pied by the manures stored in sacks. In any shed the differ- 

 ent fertilizing materials must be kept apart, otherwise 

 hopeless confusion results. The size of a manure shed 

 depends upon the degree of high farming which is carried 

 out on the farm for which the fertilizers are required. It is a 

 great convenience if the shed either permits a cart to enter, 

 or is built at a slightly higher level than the road, so that a 

 cart can be backed up against it, and thus avoid the frequent 

 raising or lowering of sacks between cart and floor level. 

 A rope and block tackle may be suspended from the roof, 

 so as to permit the easy removal of sacks from one part of 

 the shed to another. If possible, roof lights are desirable, 

 but in any case the place should be well lighted ; otherwise 

 mistakes are very liable to occur when the attempt is made, 

 in a dim light, to decipher written instructions, often creased 

 and fouled by use. Where a great variety of crops is grown 



