330 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 
The Practice of Applying Dung to our Heavy Soils, 
SUCH AS Clays and Clay-Loams. 
Fallows. — On clay soils the manure is commonly applied to 
the fallows, and my own experience leads me to consider this to 
be a judicious practice. If, in some cases, lime is used as a 
substitute for dung, this will arise rather from the difficulties of 
providing an adequate supply of the latter than from choice. The 
combined, or rather consecutive, use of the two substances will 
generally be found highly beneficial. The time for applying the 
dung will depend upon the condition of the land, as well as 
upon the other and more urgent demands both on the supply of 
manure and the horse-power of the farm. After the cultivation 
of the wheat and bean crop has been attended to, the fallow-land 
and that under preparation for roots will demand attention ; so 
that however desirable the autumn application of manure to the 
summer fallows may be in an abstract point of view, practically 
these fields will rarely be clean enough to warrant this pro- 
ceeding, even if manure can be spared for the purpose. It is 
clearly impolitic to lay on dung in the autumn or early winter, 
unless we have been able to conquer the weeds, which, if undis- 
turbed, would gain strength and ascendancy from this supply of 
nutriment. Moreover, except in those few instances in which 
stall-feeding during the summer is carried out, the autumn stock 
of manure will be the product of the previous spring, and con- 
sequently become thoroughly rotten, and for this reason be less 
valuable for the fallow ground than for a crop. The condition 
of the dung has an intimate connection with its application, 
and the question may fairly be asked, Whether the condition 
must not regulate the time of its application ? To which we, 
however, reply that this condition is under our control, and 
may be made to accommodate itself to the general economy of 
the farm. 
Throughout the management of a fallow two objects have to 
be kept in view : — 1st, The improvement of the texture of the 
soil, so as to fit it for the growth and extension of the roots of the 
crop ; and 2ndly, The liberation and development of fertilizing 
matter for the nourishment of the plant. The strong soils upon 
which alone fallows have been found desirable are so close and 
retentive in their character that there is some difficulty in pre- 
serving a free passage for roots. This important mechanical 
condition of the soil is attained by various tillage operations, 
which w(; denominate fallowing, as well as by the use of manure. 
It will be evident, upon a moment's consideration, that the less 
decayed the dung may be the greater w'ill be its firmness and 
