MANURES AND MANURING 27 



organic matter in an effort to correct this difficulty. 

 Three or four inches of fresh horse manure is ap- 

 plied to the soil in the fall of the year after the last 

 crops are off and immediately turned under as 

 deeply as soil conditions will permit. After plow- 

 ing, the land is immediately covered with three or 

 four inches more of the stable manure and left in 

 this condition over winter. The materials turned 

 under are pretty thoroughly rotted by springtime, 

 and the second application has become decidedly 

 brittle by its exposure to the weather. As soon as 

 the land is dry enough to work with a team the fol- 

 lowing spring, it is disked in both directions, which 

 thoroughly chops and breaks the manure on the 

 surface, after which 

 it is plowed under. Av 



To be sure, the soil g 

 does not dry out 

 quite as quickly as 

 when the surface is 

 comparatively free ^^^ common spike-tooth harrow 

 of this litter, but 



the land is easily prepared in good time to re- 

 ceive all kinds of plants that could not be placed in 

 the soil safely before danger of frost was past. The 

 above method is only suggestive, and the plan of 

 application to be followed must ever remain largely 

 dependent upon conditions local in their character, 

 and one calling for the exercise of good judgment 

 upon the part of the manager. 



The use of the manure spreader will be found to 

 greatly facilitate the labor of application as well as 

 the thoroughness with which heavy applications 

 may be incorporated and mixed with the soil. The 

 manure spreader tears and shreds the manure in a 



