CHAPTER III. 



MANURES. 



SECTION 1. IMPORTANCE OF MANURES. 



"No soil, whatever may be its original fertility, can sus- 

 tain a heavy and continued vegetation for many years 

 without becoming, to some extent, exhausted. Indeed, 

 there are few people so fortunate, except those who settle 

 upon new, uncultivated lands, as to procure a soil that does 

 not need manuring to fit it for the first planting with 

 trees. It is, then, a matter of importance for every man 

 who has more or less land to cultivate, to inform himself 

 well on the subject of saving, preparing, and applying 

 manures. In this country, the only class of men, gene- 

 rally speaking, who can be properly said to collect and 

 manage manures with system and care, are nurserymen 

 and market gardeners near our large towns. It is very 

 seldom that people generally give the matter a thought 

 until garden-making time comes around in the spring ; 

 and then, anything in the form of manure is carried into 

 the garden, and applied whether fit or unfit. This is not 

 the proper course. 



Every garden should have its manure heap, that, in the 

 fall or spring, when it comes to be applied, will cut like 

 paste. In that state only is it safe to apply it. All parts 

 of it are then decomposed thoroughly; all seeds of 

 noxious plants are dead, and it is in a condition capable 

 of yielding at once, to the roots of growing plants, 



