60 FIELD CROPS 



porated with it; then, when the land is plowed, it does not 

 act as a coarse mulch to separate the plowed portion from the 

 subsoil. This method of applying manure has the additional 

 advantage of disposing of most of the weed seeds which are 

 commonly present in it. Weed seeds in manure thus applied 

 are induced to germinate, but the plants are unable to make 

 much growth and have little opportunity to produce seeds in 

 either meadow or pasture. 



66. Applying Manure as a Top-Dressing. Another very 

 good practice that is being followed more and more by corn 

 growers is to apply the manure to corn land as a top-dressing. 

 This practice makes it possible to plow the land in the fall. 

 Manure accumulated about the yards and produced in the 

 stables during the winter is spread on top of the fall plowing 

 and is disked into the soil in the spring before the corn is 

 planted. In this way the coarse manure which is applied 

 does not in any way tend to separate the surface soil from the 

 subsoil. It helps to form a surface mulch to retard the 

 evaporation of moisture from the soil, and it is near the sur- 

 face where many of the weed seeds in it may be germinated 

 and the plants easily killed by subsequent cultivation. It is 

 above the roots of the plants, so that leaching from the 

 manure carries the fertility down to the plant roots, instead 

 of carrying it below and out of their reach as is likely to be 

 the case if manure is plowed under. 



It has been found that from ten to fifteen loads of manure 

 to the acre, which is as much as it is generally advisable to 

 apply at one time, may be disked into the surface of fall- 

 plowed land so thoroughly as to give little or no trouble in 

 the planting and cultivation of a corn crop. 



67. Use of Green Manure Crops. In the South and East, 

 where there is less stable manure available than in the corn 

 belt, while the need of adding fertility and vegetable matter 



