MANURES. 121 



applied to the soil with beneficial results. In order to insure 

 success we must save closely and apply bountifully enriching 

 materials to the soil ; but that manures may fully answer the 

 best purpose they must be judiciously applied. We should 

 apply a manure to the soil for which it is most suitable, and 

 at the season wlien it will produce the most valuable effects. 

 In their application there are various opinions as to the best 

 mode and time of applying them. Some plough them in deeply, 

 some cover them slightly, others spread on the surface and 

 leave them uncovered ; on grass ground, some spread in the 

 spring, others after haying, and some in the fall. 



As a general rule, it is best to apply manures as near as may 

 be to the time when the ground is seeded, and on grass when 

 the grass begins to grow. The reason for applying manures 

 at this time is obvious. They furnish food for plants as soon 

 as their mouths are open to receive food, or, in other words, as 

 soon as the plants begin to grow. The plants will then receive 

 the greatest quantity of nourishment at the time when it is most 

 needed. From practice and observation, your Committee think 

 the best time to manure grass is early in the spring ; the best 

 manure is green manure from the stables where the cattle are 

 bedded with straw, and spread evenly on the surface. The litter 

 tends to keep the soil light and protect the roots of the plants 

 from the hot sun and drying winds, like the leaves in the forest, 

 and the young grass soon shoots above the mulch, forming a 

 kind of sponge that keeps the moisture of the dew and rains 

 much longer on the surface than it would otherwise. If the 

 society should enlarge the premium on manures, and the 

 application of them, so as to induce many to compete for 

 the society's bounty, it would do much towards growing larger 

 crops and increasing the fertility of the soil. We would sug- 

 gest that if the premiums on fast horses and manures were 

 reversed, one for the other, a greater benefit would be con 

 ferred on this community than now by the society's premiums 



J. Addison Merriam, Chairman. 



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