MANURES. 123 



ment," in Yorkshire, means farmyard manure. This is like the old 

 story of a Scotch laird who, when chemical fertilisers were first talked of, 

 went to one of his tenants and told him that a new manure had come 

 to the country, and it was so strong that the contents of a coat-pocket 

 were sufficient to manure an acre of land. " May be that," said his old 

 friend, " but I doubt your waistcoat-pocket will hold the crop." 



Many intelligent farmers affirm that an application of about two cwt. 

 per acre gives an average increase of about one quarter of grain per acre. 

 Several farmers prefer giving their wheat crops an application of guano 

 in the autumn ; but when this is done it should only be a small quan- 

 tity, as it is not jiidicious to force the crop too much at that time, on 

 account of its suffering from frost. 



I prefer giving only a small quantity in the autumn for the reason 

 stated one to one and a half cwt. being sufficient ; and in the spring I 

 apply about two cwt. per acre, and this on a wet day ; and after the soil 

 is somewhat dry, I then harrow it with very light harrows, or a good 

 rough bush-harrow. Several farmers have told me that they cannot 

 use guano on their soils, as it makes the straw too strong, and then it 

 lies down before ripening. When this is the case, an addition of about 

 three cwt. of salt to the acre will be found very beneficial, as salt has 

 the property of strengthening the straw to a great degree. 



The following is a table which I have drawn up, showing the kind of 

 crops and soils, and the quantity of guano which I have sown with 

 advantage to each, with the quantity of salt to strengthen the straw, 

 and the time of applying it : 



