CHAPTER XIII 



FARM MANURES 



FROM the beginning of agriculture, appli- 

 cations of manures have been the chief 

 means of maintaining the fertility of farm 

 soils. Manuring has been assisted, to some extent, 

 by green-manuring and crop rotation. In modern 

 agriculture increasing prominence is being given 

 to these latter practises. But it is not likely that 

 manuring will ever be displaced as the most widely 

 practicea and most economical method of main- 

 taining the fertility of the land. 



The vital relation between stock husbandry and 

 crop husbandry has been emphasised in the pre- 

 ceding chapter. The practical advantages of 

 associating these two coordinate branches of 

 agriculture are more generally admitted to-day 

 than at any previous time. Farmers are beginning 

 to abandon the wasteful methods of pioneer days, 

 to curtail the present extravagant use of artificial 

 fertilisers, and to rely more and more upon Nature's 

 provisions for maintaining fertility and the excre- 

 ments of animals the return of plants to the soil. 

 The first provision is discussed in the preceding 

 chapter; the second in this chapter. 



HOW MANURE BENEFITS THE SOIL 



The real value of manures and their effect upon 

 the soil were not known until quite recently; and 

 it is altogether probable that even now we have 

 but just begun to understand the manifold ways in 



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