148 STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 



ing our barn-yard manures to the surface of the soil ? Certainly 

 the course so often pursued, of permitting our sheep, cattle aiid 

 horses to roam over our fields during- the fall and winter, and drop 

 their excrements upon the ground, is the most wasteful. In this 

 way, as in spreading upon the bare fields broadcast, half rotten, or 

 fresh dung, unmixed with mineral substances which fix and hold 

 its vapors, the ammoniacal gases escape into the air, and the saline 

 matters are washed away by the rains. Besides, the grasses or 

 young grain crops are apt to grow in a rank form where these 

 droppings are made. 



The con%nction is growing among farmers that our grass and 

 clover fields should be allowed to remain longer in their seeded 

 state than we are accustomed to allow them. To these our farm 

 manures can best be applied in the following form : Secure the 

 complete fermentation of these fertilizers, so that the organic acids 

 in tht'm will absorb the volatile substances. This citn always be 

 done by fall ; and with sufficient care the winter supply can be 

 made ready by the middle of spring. In my judgment, the fall 

 application is preferable. The foul seeds in the manure will be apt 

 to sprout before winter, and be destroj-ed by the cold weather. 

 The covering will stimulate the grasses and clover during the lall, 

 producing larger leaves and stronger roots to resist the action of 

 the Iriists and severe winds of our winters ; and it will form a con- 

 siderable protection during that season to the plants tiieinselves. 

 This course of broad-casting in the fall is doubtless the best one 

 to pursue when you wish to prepare the pasture or meadow for a 

 corn crop to be followed by wheat. After the grasses have been 

 stimulated or strengthened in this way, they can be turned over io 

 the spring for the corn ; and not only will the sod be full of roots, 

 but their roots will have drawn up during the fall, and kept near 

 tlie surface, some of the minerals and gases which may have sunk- 

 en quite deep in the soil. * * * 



In our sandy soils, while it is doubtless best to plow in weli 

 rotted manures just before the seed is sown or planted, the appli- 

 cation of the same kind of manures to the surface, if the season is 

 somewhat moist, is recommended to be done after the crop has 

 obtained a fair start. But it is my opinion that the most profit- 

 able method, all things considered, of top-dressing with our com- 

 mon manures, is to apply them in the liquid form from a cart or 

 machine made for that purpose. Large tanks can be constructed 

 at our barns just as rain-water cisterns are made, into which all 



