28 



way that avoids all large masses, and, as a conse- 

 quence, it plows and works into the soil much more 

 uniformly than where spread by hand. 



As to how much manure may be safely applied 

 to give the best results depends upon a great variety 

 of circumstances and conditions. It is to be re- 

 membered always that the common danger is in not 

 applying enough rather than too much. From 25 

 to 50 tons per acre annually is considered a good 

 application by most successful gardeners, but on 

 certain crops many gardeners will use as much as 

 100 tons per acre. These amounts are almost ap- 

 palling when compared with the five to ten tons 

 applied by the ordinary farmer. However, results 

 secured universally show that the gardener using 

 the largest quantities of manure with good judg- 

 ment is generally the most successful. Twenty-five 

 tons per acre annually should be considered a mini- 

 mum application. When commercial fertilizers are 

 used less manure may be desirable, but it must 

 never be forgotten that gardening may be success- 

 fully followed with manures alone, but that garden- 

 ing can never be successfully followed for any 

 length of time with fertilizers alone. 



GREEN MANURES 



The practice of growing certain crops primarily 

 for the purpose of turning them back into the soil 

 as a source of organic matter is coming to be more 

 and more common every year. While it is true 

 that the gardener prefers the stable manures, in 

 many locations otherwise well adapted to this busi- 

 ness, it is practically impossible to secure manures 



