HANDLING MANURE ON THE FARM 



or early spring, these small piles are scattered and the 

 land plowed. Of all bad methods, this is the most waste- 

 ful. It is bad practice : the manure loses its elements, 

 which leach out and sink into the soil ; one spot is made 

 rich, the rest of the land receiving an insignificant por- 

 tion only ; on the rich spot the crop grass, oats or wheat 

 often lodges and gives no better results than the less 

 favored portions ; or the manure heap may heat and 

 ferment, losing a goodly portion of its nitrogen, the ele- 

 ment most in demand. 



The large mound: now but little practiced. The piling 

 in large heaps or mounds thirty to fifty loads to each 

 is not to be commended unless it can be moistened freely, 

 that fermentation may be prevented. It doubles the 

 handling and materially increases the cost of application. 

 It should be said that this method is a relic of the old days 

 and now seldom is practiced. 



The most common form of application is hand scatter- 

 ing with manure hauled direct from the yard to the field. 

 Hand scattering is objectionable. The objection to 

 hand scattering lies in the unevenness of distribution. 

 Even with the best care more or less manure falls in 

 bunches, leaving a great number of vacant spaces to get 

 no manure at all. The result is this: On some portions 

 of the soil too much manure goes, and on others too little 

 or none making a double waste. Here is the opinion of 

 Professor Smith: "Experiments to-day are wanting to 

 exhibit the losses accruing from throwing the manure at 

 the land in chunks. If manure is hauled out in the dead 

 of winter and scattered from a sleigh box, it is sure to be 

 left in large forkfuls, scattered unevenly. It is impossible 

 to get manure so applied properly worked into the ground 

 to insure the mixing of the decaying organic matter with 

 the soil. Remember that if the decaying manure is not 



