296 



Farmyard Manure. 



choice but to employ the dung on meadows or pastures, and on 

 such farms it would be bad practice not to cart out all available 

 dung in autumn. Of course, the dungstead will again fill up 

 during winter, and on the whole it is probably better to distri- 

 bute this additional supply in spring than to leave it in the 

 heap, subject to waste and yielding no return, till the following 

 autumn. Late spring dressings, however, unless the dung is 

 very " short " — e.g., dung made with moss litter — interfere with 

 the work of the mowing-machine, though this can be avoided 

 by chain-harrowing and raking the roughness off two or three 

 months after dressing. 



In the case of green crops part of the dung may with 

 advantage be ploughed in during autumn, but only on clean 

 strong land in a dry district. But if foul and especially strong 

 land has to be cleaned in spring it will be found that autumn 

 dung, by holding moisture, retards the getting of the land into 

 condition in spring. In any case the work of the cultivator 

 brings much of the dung to the surface, and this, being collected 

 •with the weeds, is carted off the land again, or possibly wasted 

 by burning. Farmyard manure ploughed in during autumn 

 will decay more rapidly than if left in the dung-heap, so that a 

 relatively larger proportion will be available for the use of the 

 first crop. But just on this account the succeeding crops will 

 not get so much benefit, and this fact has to be borne in mind 

 in estimating the respective advantages of autumn and spring 

 dressings. 



