514 



NEW ENGLAND FAET^TER. 



Nov. 



BURPACE MANURING. 



ONFLiCTiNG Opinions exist 



among good farmers as to 



whether it is best to apply 



manure to the surface, and if so, as 



to the best season of doing it. 



Some twenty years ago, the 

 opinion was popular that when 

 manures were applied to the soi^ 

 they should be immediately covered with it, 

 and at a depth of four to six inches. That 

 opinion has been much modified, some even 

 Laving gone so far as to say that it should not 

 be covered at all. 



It seems to us that the truth lies between 

 the two extremes. 



First, as to covering manure. We are in- 

 formed that in England the common practice 

 at this time is to apply as much of the manure 

 as is practicable to the surface, and never cover 

 it. It is used in liquid form, or if solid, in 

 very fine condition, and merely mingled with 

 the soil by the harrow, or the drill with which 

 the grain is sown. When the soil is devoted 

 to roots, or any crops where hoeing is to be 

 done, the manure is still kept on or very near 

 the surface, and is reduced to a fine condi- 

 tion. 



We have plenty of examples in nature in 

 this respect. She will restore most exhausted 

 lands to a state of fertility by the slow process 

 of annual deposits upon the surface of such 

 plants as are indigenous to the soil, some of 

 the elements of which are derived from the 

 atmosphere. She does not plough under any- 

 thing, but still produces large forest crops or 

 heavy growths of grass, or other coarser herb- 

 age, annually. This process may serve as a 

 hint, but does not prove that there is not a 

 quicker way to reclaim the land. Vegetable 

 substances that are tender and succulent would 

 probably decay, and form a favorable bed for 

 seed or roots when slightly covered up in the 

 soil, in a fourth part of the time which would 

 be required if they remained above ground. 



In a discussion of farm-yard manures in the 

 "London or Central Farmers' Club," the 

 chairman said he believed that manure was 

 never so advantageously applied as when it 

 was laid on the surface, and that so far from 

 deteriorating or losing anything through ex- 

 posure to the atmosphere, it caused more 

 benefit to the upper soil, where it was desir- 



able its effects should be most apparent." 

 This opinion seemed to be received as sound 

 doctrine, for no one objected to it during the 

 discussion. 



Mr. Robert Baker, who opened the discus- 

 sion at the same meeting, after touching upon 

 almost every conceivable point in the manage- 

 ment and application of farm-yard manures, 

 stated distinctly as his belief, that '■'the best 

 mode of applying manure was to take it 

 direct from the farm-yard and turn it in at 

 once, so as not to leave it exposed y 



We arrived at this conclusion many years 

 ago, from our own practice and observation 

 from time to time. This course seems to be 

 free from any of the objections which are 

 urged against other modes of using it. 



In this way the manure is handled but once, 

 whereas, in composting, it must be moved 

 several times. 



In composting, at each overhauling there is 

 a loss in the escape of ammonia, and there is 

 danger of carrying fermentation too far, and 

 thus greatly injuring the manure. 



If manure is taken directly from the yard 

 and ploughed under, it is handled but once, 

 loses nothing in the escape of ammonia, be- 

 cause no fermentation has taken place, and is 

 not injured at all by heating. 



Covered two or thr-^e inches, it is soon in a 

 warm and moist condition, so that fermenta- 

 tion readily takes place and gases are given 

 off. These are arrested by the soil, as are 

 also its juices, and are not only In a state of 

 readiness to be taken up by the roots of plants, 

 but act in a double capacity by becoming food 

 themselves and acting upon other materials 

 until they become so. 



In appljing it in a green state, much of It 

 will be in a coarse condition, but fermentation 

 and the action of frost will tend to pulverize 

 it, so that a second ploughing will usually in- 

 corporate it pretty thoroughly with the soil. 

 With these advantages, then, we have ro 

 hesitation in recommending this course with 

 all the manure that can be applied in the 

 autumn. If composted with any substance 

 that will divide the wet manure, so that it can 

 be made somewhat fine, then we would put it 

 under in the spring as early as the condition 

 of the soil would permit. 



For these, and other reasons which might 

 be urged, we are clearly of the opinion that, 



