DISCUSSION OP FARM MANAGEMENT 



97 



from the stable should not be thrown out under 

 the eaves of the barn to leach ; neither should it 

 be thrown in large piles and allowed to fire, as is so 

 often done. It is a good plan to feed cattle and 

 other stock under sheds simply for the purpose of 

 better preserving the manure. 



The manure-spreader is a useful implement, and 

 when the manure is handled 

 regularly as made and spread 

 in the fields, the spreader 

 may be used very profitably 

 on the farm that carries 

 much live-stock. On the 

 small farm, or on the farm in 

 which the practice is to haul 

 the manure out at intervals 

 and turn all hands to the 

 work for a time, the spreader 

 cannot be used so advan- 

 tageously. There is little 

 question, however, but that ^^ 

 in the spreading of large ~ 

 quantities of manure each 

 year a good spreader will 

 soon pay for itself, not only 

 in the saving of labor but in 

 the more even spreading of 

 the manure, thus giving 

 more uniform results and 

 making the manure cover 

 more land. The manure 

 should be put on the grass 

 land when grass is used in the regular order of 

 rotation, as described above. [For a discussion of 

 the economy of the manure-spreader, see Vol. I, 

 Chap. VI, page 215 ; also page 499.] 



Manure should be spread thinly, the purpose be- 

 ing to cover a large area of land with a relatively 

 small quantity, rather than to give a very heavy 

 dressing to a smaller area. 

 When the manure is spread 

 thinly, over a large area, 

 the crop on the land may 

 get all the value of the ma- 

 nure and no harm be done ; 

 but when spread thickly, 

 especially when plowed un- 

 der, the crops may not make 

 full use of the manure, and 

 often there is danger, espe- 

 cially in dry seasons, that |l 

 the crop may be injured or 

 destroyed by "burning out" 

 of the soil. This means that 

 the heavy coat of manure 

 breaks the capillary connec- 

 tion between the soil and the 

 subsoil, cutting off the sup- 

 ply of water and in a period 

 of drought the crop suffers. 

 The purpose and methods of 

 green -manuring have al- 

 ready been discussed under 

 crop management and rota- 

 tion on preceding pages. 



B7 



1901 Wheat 

 'ai Gtdbs 

 '03 Grass 

 ~0t Wheat 

 '05 Cult. Crop 

 '06 Wheat ' 

 "07 Oats 

 'OSCultCrop 



1901 

 'OZ 

 '05 

 "01- 

 '05 

 ■06' 



'or 



"08 



Wheat 



W/hear 



Grass 



Grass 



Wheat 



Cult Crop 



Wheat 



Oats 



1901 Wheat ISA.-PflSture lOA 

 ~0Z Cult Crop' 

 '05 Wheot"^ 

 '04 G-rass 

 '05 Brass 

 '06 Wheat - 

 '07 Cult Crop- 

 '08 Wliear '^^ 



Offts I8A- Risture 7A 



Wheat " 



CultCrop 

 Wheat- ' 

 Grass 

 Grass 

 Wheal- 

 ■■_ Cult.Crop 



1901 CultCrop IOA(0<>«J'* A- , 



'03 Oats 



'04- Cult Crop 



'05 Wheat/ 



'06 Grass; 

 , '07 Grass, 

 \ 08 \Nh.eaf[ 



Fig. 133. 



Plan of fann before (below) and after (above) laying out into regular fields-, 

 also plan for systematic rotation of crops. 



