Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 351 



experience is that more benefit is received, and for a longer time, 

 when the manure is plowed in. When left on the surface I think 

 some of the best parts are lost in the atmosphere. One of the most 

 profitable crops of wheat I ever raised was from seed which went 

 into the ground together with manure. That field showed the benefit 

 for five or six years. My experience with top-dressing is that it gives 

 a large return the -first year ; but that a slight plowing in makes the 

 crops good for a longer time. 



Prof. Nash — If you get a good crop every time you can afford to 

 apply the manure each season. Speaking of plowing in .manure, it 

 is possible to go too far. If time served I might tell in detail the 

 story of a farmer who put $200 worth of manure per acre on a large 

 field and plowed it in from one to two feet deep. The consequence 

 was he never received the slightest benefit from it. On the other 

 hand, he believed that ten years later his land w 7 as worse off than it 

 would have been without any manure. 



Mr. Henry Stewart — The question of manuring offers so many 

 varied conditions that no one system will answer for all circumstan- 

 ces. For meadows, of course, manure must go on as top-dressings ; 

 for wheat and grain crops it should go where the seed is, or as near 

 it as possible. For root crops it is best spread on the ground and 

 harrowed in. Then, again, the variety of manure would affect the 

 question. Nitrogenous manure should be covered to prevent waste 

 of the ammonia, which so readily passes off, but it would not be 

 advisable to plow it under deeper than where the sprouting seed can 

 reach it. 



Mr. F. D. Curtis —Coarse or uiirotted manure should be plowed 

 under ; well-rotted or fine manure is better utilized by being harrowed 

 in with the seed. An excellent system is to spread the manure, if 

 not too coarse, on the surface of sod in the fall, and plow it under in 

 the spring. In this way the manure is worked into the soil and is 

 absorbed ready to feed the young plant when required. If spread 

 upon the surface too early, the heat of the sun will evaporate much 

 that is valuable, and it is better to do this work when the winter sol- 

 stice is approaching and thus avoid the danger. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman — Some years ago in the Connecticut Valley I had 

 an opportunity of noting an experiment exactly in point. Two farm- 

 ers, whose lands were side by side, ran a race in raising tobacco. 

 The soil was the same, the previous treatment had been about the 

 same, the plowing and pulverizing were thorough on both tracts. 

 One farmer plowed in his stable manure with a shallow furrow, and 



