442 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



THE USE OF MANURES 



From an Address before the Essex Society. 



BY RICHARD S. FAY, ESQ. 



We must bear in mind that the manure from well-sheltered 

 and well-fed cattle possesses far greater fertilizing properties 

 than that from those which suffer in cither of these respects. 

 Self-interest, therefore, as well as humanity, demands from us 

 more care and attention in guarding our stock from the effects 

 of the extreme heat and cold which eminently distinguish our 

 New England climate. 



An abundant supply of manure is an absolute necessity to 

 profitable results iu agriculture. Possessed of this, almost any 

 soil, if cultivated with a moderate degree of judgment, can be 

 made to produce good crop?. This is a plain simple truth 

 about which there is no question; but the moment we come to 

 apply it to practice we are beset with difficulties. There has 

 been so much said and written upon this subject, and so many 

 theories propounded, that it is almost impossible to know what 

 to believe or how to proceed. The action of manure is as puz- 



and as unsolved to the farmer as the law of perpetual mo- 

 tion to the philosopher or the squaring of the circle to the 

 mathematician. If one attempts to* inform himself from books 

 he soon becomes involved in a labyrinth of contradictions*; and 

 if he consults his neighbors he will rarely find any two to agree. 

 One is for long manure, another for short; one is loud in 



e of guano; while another thinks it hurts the land, recom- 

 mending phosphates, salt, soda, lime, ashes, bones, or some 

 other fertilizer as the only valuable addition to his home-made 

 manure; while still another condemns them all, having, per- 

 haps, a nostrum of his own which he considers the only one 

 worth using. Nevertheless, we have some well-established 



