FERTILIZERS. 103 



through the bottom of the furrow, will mix Peruvian 

 guano, or any fertilizer, so thoroughly that it will not 

 injure the seed. It has been found in practice, and is now 

 generally advocated by dealers in fertilizers, that, as a gen- 

 eral rule, it is a better plan to use barn manure and fertil- 

 izers together on the same crop, as far as circumstances will 

 permit ; using the barn manure broadcast, and the fertilizers 

 in the drill or hill, to give the crop a start. In my own 

 practice I have not paid much respect to the rule, and 

 thus far am very well satisfied with the results. I believe 

 that farmers, as a general rule, would do better for many 

 crops to use their manure on their grass, and so get a good 

 sward, and depend on this, turned under, for the bulky 

 vegetable matter when using fertilizers ; for most of the 

 difference between fertilizers and barn manure is the 

 presence of a bulky mass of vegetable matter in the latter, 

 which not only acts mechanically to lighten heavy soils, 

 but frees the plant-food locked up in all soils; and this 

 the sward would supply. 



THE SYSTEM OF MANURING WITH UNLEACHED WOOD 



ASHES. 



The firm that probably sells the most unleached ashes 

 in New England and the Middle States, Messrs. Munroe, 

 Judson, & Stroup, Oswego, N.Y., gives the following direc- 

 tions for its use. As I know that excellent crops have 

 been raised by following a portion of their instructions, I 

 will give them in full under their proper heads ; though 

 we must remember, that, although ashes contain all the 

 mineral elements in plant-food, it is wholly lacking in 

 nitrogen, and there must come a time when, the accumu- 

 lation in the soil having been used up, most crops will need 

 to have nitrogen fed to them in the manure. They advise 

 for all crops, to apply heavily the first year the full dollar 



