MAINTAINING THE ORGANIC MATTER OF SOILS 169 



weight, well rotted manure may be more valuable -than fresh 

 manure, but the loss of fertility and organic matter involved in the 

 process more than overbalances the benefits. The character of the 

 rotted manure will depend upon the conditions under which the 

 decay took place. There is no question but that twenty tons of 

 fresh manure applied to soil will produce greater increase than 

 the same weight of manure would after it is well rotted. In many 

 cases it is not practical to apply manure as rapidly as produced. 

 Farmers of the corn belt haul out the manure in summer and 

 early spring. That taken out in 'summer is usually placed on land 

 to be fall plowed. This is without doubt a good practice. The 

 manure becomes decayed sufficiently by spring so that it will not 



Fio. 84. An expensive and wasteful way of handling manure on the farm. Do not put 

 it in piles. (Deere & Co.) 



interfere with moisture movement. The fall and winter loss is 

 avoided. 



Coarse manure is best applied in the fall, but if the applica- 

 tion is made in spring it should be very light. Heavy spring appli- 

 cations may ruin the crop, especially corn. In the dry summer of 

 1914 corn on some fields that had received heavy applications of 

 manure before being plowed in the spring produced no grain 

 whatever. 



Manure is sometimes piled in the field in small heaps and later 

 scattered with the fork. This is not only an expensive but a 

 wasteful process. Much of the fertility is leached into the soil 

 beneath the heaps and a large amount of manure is left at these 

 spots in spreading (Fig. 84). The result is a great many very 

 rich spots upon which small grain lodges badly and is frequentlv 



