48 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



ci«oly the same absolute value. To have good | 

 manure, then, we must feed the animals on food 

 contaiiung a sufficient amount of fertilizing ijigredi- 

 ente. We are anxious, at the risk of being tedious, 

 to impress this fact on the minds of our readers. 



In feeding animals, we should not only consider 

 what will produce the most moat, b-ut also what 

 will furnish the richest manure. For instance, In- 

 dian corn may fatten an animai as rapidly as oil- 

 cake, but the manure from oil-cake-fod animals is 

 iBuch more valuable than from those fed on corn. 

 Ordinary meadow hay may fatten sheep as well as 

 clover hay (though we somewhat doubt it), but the 

 manure from the former is much inferior to that 

 from the latter. Oil-cake, peas, beans and red- 

 clover are among the best foods that can be used, 

 not only for their nutritious qualities, but as also 

 ftiruishiug rich manure. 



Another point should not be overlooked. It 

 should be our aim to grow those plants as food for 

 stock which impoverish the soU but little, and clo- 

 ver, peas, beans and turnips are, on thLs account, 

 among the best. 



Having got the manure, our next object must be 

 to prevent its valuable elements from being washed 

 away, or from being dissipated by too rapid fer- 

 mentation. On most farms, moro loss is sustained 

 from the former than from the latter. On this ac- 

 count, the water from tlw building should never 

 be allowed to run into the manure-yard. AU that 

 falls on the heap itself, can be absorbed by the ju- 

 dicious use of straw and waste matters. But as 

 more water falls at some seasons of the year than 

 ie required by the manure, and not enough at other 

 times, it would be a great advantage to have a tank 

 into which the drainage could run when the water 

 is in excess, and from which it could be pumped 

 back when it is deficient. Few people have any 

 idea ot the value and convenience of a good ma- 

 nnre tank. Water has the power of retaining a 

 large quantity of ammonia, and tlie judicious use 

 of the drainage in the tank will prevent much loss 

 of this most valuable ingredient of manure. 



Some good farmers iu this vicinity are abandon- 

 ing tlie practice of plowing in clover for wheat. 

 TTiCT break up the sod ground for corn ; clean tl>c 

 land as much as possible with this crop ; tlten sow 

 barley, followed by wheat the same fall. And they 

 find, of course, much benefit from manuring the 

 wheat, either by plowing in the manure before 

 flowing, or applying it sa a top-dressing. Snob a 

 practice allows the manure to remain in the barn- 

 yard daring the sararaer, aad, by proper maaage- 

 meat, it can be rd'iucod to "spit manure," with 



little or no loss of ammonia. Such manure, so fer- 

 mented that it can be cut with a ?pade, wiU not 

 weigh more than half as much as if it had been 

 used in the fresh, unfermented state, and, of course, 

 the cost of hauling, spreading, &c., would be reduced 

 one-half. Such manure, too, acts quicker, and 

 would afford the wheat plants abundance of nour- 

 ishment in the fall, and give them a good start, 

 which is a very important consideration. 



Manure applied to spring crops should be thor- 

 oughly decomposed, or it has little immediate effect: 

 and if the weather proves dry and hot, unfermented 

 manure is as oft^n injurious as useful. We are well 

 aware that there is among practical farmers, as well 

 as among scientific writers, much diversity of opin- 

 ion on this point. If we plow in fresh manure, al! 

 the food of plants it contains is retained in the soil 

 and will ultimately exert its maximum effect. Ot 

 the other hand, as manure is usually treated, the« 

 is great loss from rapid and injurious fermentation 

 and more especially from leaching. But this loi- > 

 can be avoided. Before manure can be nseful t* 

 any crop, it must be thoroughly decomposed — 

 either in the heap or in the soil. Plants can not livi 

 on organized, or partially organized, matter. It i 

 their function to convert the crude, inorganic mat 

 ter of earth and air into organized matter, capabl 

 of supporting animal life. Plants can no more liw 

 on organized matter, than animals can live on th* 

 crude alkalies, acids and gases of which plants an 

 composed. 



Manures, to act immediately, therefore, most b 

 well rotted — and in this case, as in all others 

 " time is money." The relative advantages of ap 

 plying manure to wheat in the fall, or to sprin 

 crops, involve points which we cannot now cor 

 sider. During the summer, fermentation proceed 

 rapidly, and it is easy to get manure well rotte 

 for fall use ; but it is difiicult to get manure mad 

 in winter sufficiently decomposed for immedial 

 application to spring crops. 



Tlie four principal agents in fermentation, ai 

 light, heat, air, and moisture. Other things beii 

 equal, those substances which contain the most n 

 trogen ferment the easiest. On this account, got 

 manure will rot sooner than poor. Corapressio' 

 by excluding the air, retards fermentation ; an ft 

 c€38 of water, from the same cause, has the san 

 effect. If the heap was perfectly dry, no ferment 

 tion would take place. This, however, never ha. 

 pens in practice; but the heap is often too dr 

 and Uien the manure " fire fangs," with great k 

 of ammonia. The reason heat is evolved durii 

 fecmeatotion, is owing to the oxygeu of the i 



