342 
TItc Application of the Manure of the Farm. 
some six or eight weeks before the clover-ley is going to be 
ploughed up. This encourages a rapid growth of the plant, 
both above and below the ground, by which the manure is 
secured — part being converted into vegetable matter, and the 
residue preserved by the organic matter thus produced. In this 
way the manure is preserved for the use of the crop, notwith- 
standing the deficiency of a preserving power in the soil.* 
The Use of Dung upon Sandy Soils. 
Summary. 
Crop. — I consider we are justified in stating that as the pro- 
portion of sand in the land increases, so does it become more 
important to apply the dung upon the artificial grasses, in pre- 
ference to its more direct intermixture with the soil for roots or 
corn. As the soil becomes more tenacious by the admixture of 
clay, and thus becomes either a sandy loam or a loamy soil, we 
may exercise greater freedom, and plough the dung into the land 
for the root-crop. So long as the soil has not sufficient tenacity 
of character to preserve the manure for the required period, it is 
clearly advisable to accept the aid offered by the artificial grasses, 
because they constitute the best guardianship which can be ob- 
tained under the circumstances. In addition to this valuable 
property possessed by these grasses, there is no crop which is 
better prepared to make a rapid growth, or which in its growth 
abstracts from the air more valuable fertilising matter. The 
latter property is not to be overlooked, for we have every reason 
to believe that the artificial grasses have a special power of 
deriving nutriment from the atmosphere as well as from the soil, 
and on this ground are worthy of our especial attention. 
Time of Apjjlication. — Whether the dung should be applied to 
* After repeated experiments on the application of manure, in November, in 
April, and in July, I have come to the conclusion that July is the earliest time 
when this work can be done with advantage on mndy soils, even when the crop is 
not mown. I have laid on first-rate London manure in November, and found but 
little good done to the spring-feed, and still less to the corn-crop following. I find 
the action of manure taken fresh from the yards in July so satisfactory that I feel 
no inducement whatever to keep back the more costly well-rotted manure for this 
purpose. 
With the uncertainty bow the season may alternate between showers and a 
powerful sunshine, I cannot wish the ammonia in the dung to be in a forward 
state of development. If the supply of food is small at first, but increasing as the 
herbage grows round, through and over the dung, waste will be most effectually 
prevented. 
If a small admixture of cow-grass and Dutch clover has been sown among the 
grasses, July is the season at which the development of these plants can be best 
promoted — plants which, besides producing superior herbage, contribute by ttie 
net-work of tlieir roots to the formation of that compact turf so valuable on these 
soils. The grasses run away with the chief part of tlie nutriment if the manure is 
applied in spring. In a word, with soils that have no buttoni a waitinrj nice is the 
safest.— P. H. F 
