THE WHEAT CULTUEIST. 



183 



Btkyixg Ma^sTee Deep oe Shallow eoe Wheat. 



]S"otAvithstanding all that lias been AA'ritteii on tlie sub- 

 ject of burying manure shallow, in preference to covering- 

 it deep, there are still some farmers who will contend 

 that it is preferable to scatter the manure in a deep fur- 

 row, to simply covering it with a thin sti'atum of earth. 

 It is far better to cover manure only two inches deep, for 

 Avinter wheat, than to bury it in a fm-row six inches 

 in depth. I may repeat what I have stated in another 

 part of this book : that manure for icinter grain should 

 always be kept near the surface of the ground, so that 

 the coronal roots of the wheat plant (or the winter rye, 

 or winter barley plants) may spread out horizontally, 

 rather than strike downward nearly in a vertical direc- 

 tion, as horizontal routs will keep the young plants fi'om 

 being lifted out by the freezing of the soil. (See the chapter 

 on ^Manures, in the second volume of my Young Farmer's 

 Manual.; 



For the purpose of testing the advantage of burying 

 manure shallow, some farmers in Pennsylvania tried an 

 experiment in applying manure to their wheat ground. 

 One farmer contended that manure should be tm'ned 

 under deep Avith the lirst ploughing ; and the other that 

 it should be buried shallow, with the second ploughing. 

 To settle the point as near as possible, these two agreed 

 to try one-half of each of then- fields each way, and let the 

 the rest judge by vote which was best. In both cases 

 one-half of the manure was hauled out as soon as the oats 

 were oft", and ploughed under deep ; then the remainder 

 of the field was ploughed to the same depth, well harrow- 

 ed and rolled ; the balance of tlie manure was then 

 hauled out, spread, and a portion (about one-fourth) of 



