308 ILLIxNOrS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



yield little, and are then said to be clover sick. Wlien in 

 this condition none of the nsual manures or fertilizers can 

 bo relied upon to secure a crop of clover. The only means 

 01 securing a good crop is to allow some years to elapse 

 before repeating the crop upon the same land, for the only 

 conditions that can be relied upon in practice to cure clover- 

 sickness is "rotation." 



With us, next in importance to clover is barn-yard 

 manure. The manure pile has, with a good deal of truth, 

 been called the fountain-head of benediction. With us it has 

 never been fulh^ appreciated. It is a complete fertilizer, safe 

 and useful everywhere, and in it lies the great advantage 

 that the dairy farmer has over the general farmer for keeping 

 up or increasing the fertility of his land. If a farmer can 

 get all the good barn-yard manure that he needs, that is 

 enough. There is nothing on the long list of commercial fer- 

 tilizers which give so good a return for the money invested 

 in it, as good, well-made stable manure. Nothing whatever 

 that can aft'ord x>l«'^nt-food should be wasted. It is astonish- 

 ing how much that is generally allowed to go to waste about 

 the farm may thus be converted from a disease-breeding 

 nuisance into a source of health, pleasure and wealth. 



A good manure is usually estimated by its ability to 

 yield ammonia and this substance arising from certain veget- 

 able and animal decomposition is its very essence, is readily 

 dissolved in water and promtply lost by drainage or by evap- 

 oration into the atmosphere under the heat of the sun and 

 exposure to rains. Plaster absorbs it and retains it in the 

 heap, while lime sets it free and causes it to escape. We 

 have seen that barn-yard manure is a material which rapidly 

 undergoes change. When it is practical to haul the manure 

 from the stables and pens and spread it on the fields at 

 frequent intervals the loss of valuable constituents need not 

 be very great. When the manure must be stored for some 

 time the difficulties of preservation become greatly increased, 

 tliM strong odors coming from the mass indicate that the 

 nitrogen is escaping, and the dirty-looking water issuing from 

 th(i heap is proof that the valuable fertilizing constituents, 

 including potash and phosphoric acid, as well as nitrogen, 

 arc being leaked out of the mass. If this is allowed to go 



