A WORD ABOUT MANURES. 307 



much pasturage, it will be well enough to run a subsoil 

 through it occasionally. This loosens the under sod, and 

 the narrow helve does not tear up the turf. Of course the 

 land has been, if required, well drained. In addition to ' 

 this, for the renovation of such lands, the application of 

 manures is indispensable. It should be applied immediately 

 after a cutting, as it will stimulate the roots, made weak by 

 being deprived of their foliage, to renewed growth, and 

 prevent much of it from dying. Of course it must be done 

 by top dressing, and by far the most efficaceous plan is to 

 apply it in the liquid form. It may be done by diluting 

 the manure with from five to ten parts of water, and using 

 a cart, such as is used for sprinkling streets. Another, 

 and the most common way, is to drive' through the meadow 

 with a load of good compost; such as we have described, 

 and with two hands in the rear of the wagon with shovels, 

 it can be scattered broadcast as fast as the team will walk. 



A few years ago, a machine for scattering manure was 

 invented, by John W. York, of Williamson County, and if 

 that machine could be sold at a reasonable price, it would 

 save the most tiresome labor of the farm. It should by all 

 means be so simplified as to reduce the expense, and place 

 it within the reach of every farmer. With such a machine, 

 scattering or drilling manure would be a work of no more 

 labor than drawing up a load of wood, not as much. 



Pastures treated to a top-dressing after every cutting, 

 could, like the English pastures, instead of three acres to 

 the ox, feed three oxen to one acre, and the meadows would 

 not yield a scanty ton to the acre, but we could continue to 

 cut until stopped by cold weather. An English tenant will 

 pay ten pounds ($50) rent per acre for meadows, and will 

 get always two, frequently three, crops per year, yielding 

 from three to five tons per acre. We could do this also 

 by following the same system of farming, and that is, to 

 run the manure wagon constantly. 



