[C^^ 



203 THE GENESEE EAltMEU. 



Soot may be used with great benefit for wlieat, either as a top-dressing or plowed 

 under, at the rate of thiily bushels per acre. We prefer using it in the fall, wliicli is 

 indeed the best time to sow guano, sulphate of ammonia, or in fact any manure for the 

 wheat crop. It gives the plant a strong and vigorous growth in the fall, and enables it 

 much better to stand the winter, while on good strong soils there is little danger of mucli 

 of the fertilizing matter being washed out by the rains, except where water is allowed to 

 stand for considerable time. It has been recommended by some, to mix unleached 

 ashes or lime with the soot previous to sowing : but this is a bad practice ; for either of 

 them will set free the ammonia, which escapes into the atmosphere, and leaves the mix- 

 ture comparatively valueless as a manure for wheat. 



MANAGEMENT OF BARN -YARD MANURE. 



At the present day, no subject connected with agriculture is receiving so much attention, 

 and deservedly so, as that of artificud manures — substances manufactured, or brought 

 from a great distance at much cost, — while the manufacture of guano at home, in the 

 barn-yard, is either altogetlier neglected or imj^erfectly attended to ; and while we are 

 far fi'om wishing our farmers not to purchase artificial or manufactured manures, we 

 think — we are sure — it woukl be greatly to their interest, to know more about the 

 composition of the manure of the hog-pen, the horse-barn, &c., and the reason of its 

 beneficial action on all soils. 



On this subject there is great diversity of opinion among scientific men, and also 

 among the farmers themselves. Some farmers assert that manure is not worth the 

 expense of hauling and spreading on the soil, while others think it is never applied but 

 with benefit to the subsequent crops. There is doubtless a reason for this dift'erence 

 of opinion. The former was probably formed by drawing on the land a substance 

 resemhling good, rich manure — made perhaps by cattle eating nothing but straw, and 

 allowed to remain in the yard till all that was soluble was washed out of it, and what 

 little ammonia it at first possessed evaporated "into the atmosphere. We agree with the 

 farmer who thinks such a manure hardly worth the labor of drawing out ; at the same 

 time Ave think that manure " as is manure" is never used without great benefit. We 

 once more assert — and shall continue to repeat it till disproved, or farmers act upon it 

 — that the composition and value of all manure depends, not on the animals making it, 

 but on the composition of the food consuined — that the more nitrogen the food con- 

 tains, the more ammonia there will be in the manure, and the more valuable will it be 

 to apply to all the cereal crops. 



Some farmers who understand this, and keep their stock on proper food, manage the 

 manure they make so wretchedly that its value is lessened in many instances one-half. 

 Then, again, some let the liquid exci-ements of the animals (and they are by far the 

 most valuable, containing all the alkaline phosphates and nine-tenth.s of the ammonia,) 

 run to waste, and are thus not only lost to the farm, but fill the atmosphere with gases 

 injurious to animal life. 



To prevent these losses, should be the great aim of the scientific farmer. The build- 

 dings should all be spouted, and the water not be allowed to run on the iii;;n'ar.:' except 

 at the discretion of the farmer, if this is done, there is sufticient wjiste straw on the fai-ni 

 to absorb all the urine made. The next precaution Avill be not to let tlie horse dn)ig 

 remain in a loose heap, close to the stable door, sweating and fuming, sending off all its 

 ammonia, the most valuable ingredient, into the atmosphere ; but it sliould be mixed 

 with the cold and sluggish hog and, cow manure, wdiich would prevent a too rapid fei- 

 mentation and the loss of so mticb ammonia. Compression, by excluding, tiie, jiir wll 



