Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 347 



been sown with clover, the clover turned under with a slight dressing 

 of sea-weed from the bay. The crop grown by this treatment was 

 claimed to be from 400 to 600 bushels per acre. 



Reasons foe Surface Manuring. 



Mr. F. Grenwitz, Starkville, Herkimer county, N. Y. — After years 

 of trial, I have decided to lose no more time and toil in burying my 

 yard manure. To spread manure on the surface is to apply liquid 

 manure, for the first rain will wash out the substance and drench the 

 land. Then you have the coat for protection. This is a guard against 

 the sun or the severity of the frost on grass lands. In the soil, man- 

 ure will only fertilize what it comes in contact with, and that is com- 

 paratively a small portion of the land, as it cannot be as equally 

 distributed, possibly, as liquid manure, or the juice of the surface 

 covering does it. Here the soil is soaked as far as the liquid extends, 

 every particle of it. The smallest root cannot penetrate without not 

 only a contact, but a constant contact, with the strength of the man- 

 ure. This islthe case with grass roots; hence the remarkable growth. 

 So if a piece of land has manure spread on it in the fall and is plowed 

 in the spring, there is always an increased growth, showing a most 

 gratifying result. But if the land is plowed before the manure is put 

 on, and then cultivated in the spring, the effect will be still more 

 gratifying. This only in cases where the manure is applied evenly 

 so as to cover all the land, and is worked down in close contact with 

 the ground. This by a roller, heavy brush or light harrow. Then 

 the soil will hold the strength — the gases — as they are formed, and 

 the manure thus applied will be a part of the soil, never lost unless 

 washed off on a hillside. It is the best way to apply manure, whether 

 long or short — the short or rotten the best. But the longest manure 

 will do well, as it will the better protect the surface both winter and 

 summer. Even pure straw has an effect here that is surprising to 

 those who for the first time try it, and in some places it is always 

 applied on wheat fields in the fall. Let us save all our manure of all 

 kinds and apply as soon as possible ; the sooner it gets on to the 

 ground the better, as its strength and protection will at once benefit 

 the land, instead of the strength going off as it does in the barn and 

 in the heap as we find it heaped up. It is an excellent plan to cart on 

 the meadows or fields as soon as the fall manure begins to be made, 

 and spread at once, close and fine, and equally on all places. Continue 

 this during the winter. Be sure to cover all, and spread evenly as 

 you go. If you have a field plowed in the fall, nothing is better, if 



