vii.] COST OF FARMYARD .UANURE 223 



is certainly preferable to the very general custom of 

 manuring the old ley before it is ploughed up for wheat 

 or oats. A certain amount of the farmyard manure 

 made on the farm should, however, always be reserved 

 for the meadow land, especially on light soils and on 

 land comparatively newly laid down to grass. Of 

 course dung would be wasted on rich grazing land ; it 

 is the thin light soils that are cut for hay, or grass land 

 that has only been laid down for a few years and 

 has had no time to accumulate a stock of humus, 

 which are most benefited by an occasional dressing 

 of farmyard manure — once in every four or five 

 years. 



What price should be set upon a ton of farmyard 

 manure is a question often asked, but no general answer 

 is possible, so much depends upon the other conditions 

 prevailing upon the farm. As a rule, farmyard manure 

 is part of the normal output of the farm ; the farmer has 

 only to make it and use it to the best advantage, he 

 is not concerned with the question of whether it would 

 be cheaper to replace it with an equivalent amount of 

 some other fertiliser. There are, however, occasions 

 when the problem does arise of whether it is cheaper 

 to make farmyard manure, to buy it, or to attempt 

 to replace it by artificials ; for example, the men who 

 are farming specially for potatoes or hops often fatten 

 bullocks or pigs solely for the sake of the manure thus 

 made, and are content to lose money on the live stock 

 because of the value of the dung. Since farmyard 

 manure made in this way is often a very expensive 

 'article, it is important to try and put some monetary 

 value on it, so that the farmer may attain a clearer idea 

 of the profit or loss attached to the keeping of live 

 stock as manure makers. It is, of course, possible to 

 treat farmyard manure like any other fertiliser and 



