88 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 
manure. If this is worth only $1.50 per load the spreader 
has resulted in a saving of $75.00 per year on manure. In 
addition to this there will be a saving of fully $25.00 in labor. 
A spreader that is kept oiled when in use and shedded when 
not should last from ten to fifteen years. The average life 
of our own spreaders is from eight to ten years, but in 
hauling manure from town they are subjected to harder 
usage than would be the case if used only on the farm. 
Maxine Best Use or MANuRE 
A good time to spread manure is on clover sod just before 
planting corn, but a better time is to apply the manure to 
the clover plants the fall before. This causes a decided in- 
crease in the growth of the clover and if the last crop is 
turned under the additional growth will be of greater benefit 
to the succeeding corn crops than would be the case if the 
manure was applied direct to the corn. Again, manure can 
be spread on clover fields in wet weather when the team 
and wagon would pack and injure plowed ground. 
For several years we practiced the top dressing of wheat 
after the ground became frozen, but now we are convinced 
that manure is worth more when applied to clover or pasture 
land. 
The greatest objection that we have to manure is that 
it does not go far enough and this is the strongest reason for 
carefully preserving and applying all that is produced on the 
farm. It may be necessary, in time, for the Corn Belt farmer 
to use commercial fertilizers, but the longer he can hold this 
day off the better it will be for him. 
By carefully returning to the soils all the manures, corn 
stalks and other trash and in some cases applying rock 
phosphate or limestone, the prairie farmer, with the help of 
frequent leguminous crops, should be able to maintain the 
productivity of his land indefinitely. 
