i8o 



Nature-Study Agriculture 



Gypsum 



The value 

 of barnyard 



One mans 

 success 

 with crops, 

 his method 

 of using 

 manure 



quicklime; (3) ground limestone and air-slaked lime, 

 the latter being made by letting quicklime or water- 

 slaked lime stand exposed to the air for a long time. 

 These all serve the same purposes when used on the 

 land. Care must be taken not to put quicklime or 

 hydrated lime on a crop, as they may burn it. 



Gypsum, often called " land plaster," also contains 

 calcium, along with sulfur. It has recently given re- 

 markable results when applied to alfalfa land in the 

 West. Perhaps the reason for this is that the land 

 upon which it was used lacked sulfur. 



Barnyard manure. There are many reasons why 

 fertilizer that comes from stables and cattle corrals is 

 more commonly used by farmers than any other. It is 

 found on every farm and costs the farmer nothing but a 

 little care and labor. In some respects it does the crop 

 more good than do the mineral fertilizers of commerce. 

 (Exp. 6.) In spite of the great value of manure to the 

 soil and the small expense and trouble of making good 

 use of it, many farmers still use it to fill holes about 

 their land. Others who do put it on the fields allow 

 much of it to go to waste. But farmers who understand 

 its value use manure in such a way as to make it add 

 both to the quantity and quality of their crops. 



A Pennsylvania dairyman, by good management, 

 made his farm so productive that people came from great 

 distances to study his methods. The Department of 

 Agriculture had a bulletin prepared explaining the causes 

 of this, man's great success in growing crops. One of the 

 most important of these was the way in which the barn- 

 yard fertilizer was used. Every morning it was hauled 



