or composting as ordinarily practised. Returning now to our 

 experiments, I will quote from Bulletin 6, page 5, New Hamp- 

 shire Experiment Station, — 



One acre, manure plowed in, fall applied, 

 " " on surface " 



From our 1S90 experiments, — 



These experiments do not show as marked differences as are 

 often obtained, for the reason that in most cases an excessive 

 amount of manure was used, far more than the crop could 

 utilize. 



HOW MUCH MANURE CAN WE USE.'' 



No precise answer can possibly be given to this question, for 

 the limit is set by the kind of crop and the nearness to market. 



There is an amount of manure or fertilizer that can be used 

 to greatest profit ; then we may increase this amount and get 

 increased crops, but the value of the increase is not in propor- 

 tion to the cost of the additional manure ; or we may use less, 

 but not to as good advantage. In general the greater the 

 market value of the crop, the greater the amount of manure 

 that can be profitably used, and hence we cannot lay down any 

 general rule that will apply equally to the general and special 

 farmer. 



There is another difficulty in the way of even experimentally 

 determining how much fertilizer or manure can profitably be 

 used, and that is the uncertainty as to the value of the manure 

 left in the soil after the first crop is taken off. In the experi- 

 ments above given, two widely varying amounts of manure were 

 used. One, 7 cords or 20 common loads per acre, is about 

 what our best farmers use in mixed farming; the other, 14 

 cords or 40 loads, i-epresents very high manuring, so far as the 

 common lines of farming are concerned. Take the half-acre 

 plots represented by cuts 6 and 8 : the former had $43 worth of 



