Vol. LXIV. No. 2899. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 19, 1905. 
WEEKLY, ¥1.00 PER YEAR 
WHEN SHALL WE HAUL MANURE? 
Get If Out at Once. 
What is the relative value of Spring top-dressing com¬ 
pared with Kail top-dressing upon old meadows, using plenty 
of well rotted stable manure? ’ b. f. H. 
Slight Loss from Leaching. 
I firmly believe the loss in manure from leaching and 
in other ways, in most cases, is much less than when 
taken directly from the stable to the field. If a man 
has a covered barnyard with cement bottom, and 
tne manure is well trodden by the stock, he can hold it 
without loss generally, but with all others the loss will 
be much less when taken directly to the field, unless the 
land is overflowed hy streams, or on a steep hillside 
which is covered with ice. An experience of 20 years 
in hauling manure directly from the stables to the 
fields, on hillsides and other places, has convinced me 
the loss from leaching and evaporation in the field is 
very slight, and nearly all farmers in this vicinity have 
adopted that plan which they find very satisfactory. 
New York. d. p. witter. 
Hauling Directly to the Fields. 
The practice of hauling manure directly 
to the fields is ideal. There can be no 
gain, but always loss, in storing, even un¬ 
der the most favorable conditions; and 
under unfavorable conditions the loss is 
far more than is realized even hy many 
of the most painstaking farmers. But, 
like everything else connected with the 
work of the farm, judgment on the part 
of the individual, as to time and place 
of spreading, should be used. The first 
consideration of course is whether, if 
there is slight loss by washing, this is not 
more than counterbalanced by the loss 
from leaching, or from fermenting in the 
heap, when storecl. For years our prac¬ 
tice has been to haul our Summer manure 
to the fields, beginning as early as pos¬ 
sible after the work of harvesting is com¬ 
plete, and to spread it evenly on land that 
is to be broken in Spring for the next 
season’s crop. 1 f the spreader is not 
used, the manure is spread directly from 
the carts, as evenly as possible, and at the 
close of each day’s work, a heavy brush 
harrow is run over it, thoroughly fining, 
and mixing it with the stubble. We have 
found this to be a good practice upon a fairly level 
clay-loam field, and as far as loss is concerned, wc 
should not hesitate to spread it daily through the Sum¬ 
mer months. There are places in this field that are 
somewhat rolling, and careful watch has been kept to 
observe any possible loss from washing of the manure 
into the lower places. I should certainly urge the 
wisdom of spreading in this manner, even on quite roll¬ 
ing land, if the manure is fined by running through the 
spreader, or if the brush is run over it. I believe there 
is more loss of actual value from our manure piles, than 
we at first suppose. In the first place, as a rule, there 
are not enough absorbent materials used to absorb and 
hold the liquids, and keep them in a permanent mixture 
with the solids. Then, the piles are allowed to become 
peaked, and from their sides much of this most avail¬ 
able portion of the manure falls, and either settles by 
itself at their base, or finds it way into brooks ana 
rivers, or goes' on to portions of the farm where it is 
not needed. There is another loss which may he far 
greater than this, and that is the burning up of the 
organic matter by fermenting. This loss too often oc¬ 
curs in the best manure sheds and basements. The fact 
is rapidly becoming known that there is more of value 
in farm manure than its actual content of plant food; 
that its organic matter is of value to add to the humus 
of the soil, and to assist it in storing nitrogen and re¬ 
taining moisture, and therefore, whenever any portion 
of this material is lost from manure, the loss is as real 
as though actual plant food had escaped from it. When 
manure is once spread evcidy on the land, there can be 
no loss except from washing, and this loss will, I am 
very sure, be small. 
The only time I would not advise the daily spreading 
of manure is when the snows of Winter lie upon the 
fields. It would, of necessity, be left in lumps, and 
when the snows are melting in Spring, there might be 
quite a loss from washing. This, I think, would not 
hold true if spread upon the snows of early winter. 
I should therefore advise that in sections of country 
where snows do not fall deeply and whenever the work 
can be made consistent with the seasonable work of the 
farm, the manure be hauled directly to the fields as fast 
as made, even though the land is quite rolling, provided 
the spreading is done thoroughly either hy the use of the 
spreader or of the brush harrow. I presume it is not 
necessary to say to readers that the pernicious practice 
of dumping manure in small heaps from a cart, these 
heaps to be thrown about with a fork at some future 
time, is conducive of much loss. Ideal manuring con¬ 
sists in placing a particle of manure in contact with 
every particle of the soil, and this cannot be accom¬ 
plished except by most painstaking effort, spreading di¬ 
rectly from the cart, or hy the use of that almost indis¬ 
pensable farm implement, the manure spreader. 
Maine. b. walker mc keen. 
Handle It with Common Sense. 
I am one of those brought up to draw the manure out 
in the Spring, or haul it in Winter to large piles, and 
then reload and spread later. When it was first advo¬ 
cated to draw it direct to the field and spread on frozen 
ground or snow I thought it altogether wrong, and that 
there must be a great loss. After watching the methods 
of a neighbor for several years and carefully noting his 
crops, I was surprised to find that he had best yields 
when the manure was put out in Winter. I then began 
drawing it direct to the field from the stable and spread¬ 
ing on the land. For T think the most foolish man is 
the one who persists in a practice simply because it is 
his or his father’s, and is not willing at least to try if 
there is not “a more excellent way. After 18 years’ 
experience of drawing direct to the field I am ready most 
heartily to recommend it, in the great majority of cases. 
Like everything else, one must use common sense. I 
would not draw and spread it in the Winter on a steep 
hillside, where it might be washed down bodily. On 
such land in any case the sooner after it is applied I 
can incorporate it with the soil the better. Neither 
would 1 spread on land not so steep but rolling, when 
there was a heavy body of snow or ice on the ground, 
that might in a sudden thaw carry some of the manure 
off with it. Neither do I spread it at such times in my 
bottom lands, that are liable to overflow in the Winter 
or early Spring. There the cases too where one may 
want to use a large amount of manure for seeding in the 
Fall. In such cases it must be held over. For this I 
prefer to keep that in the sheep pens or box stalls, and 
that must be held in long, but not deep piles, away 
from the eaves of buildings. Better yet, cover such piles 
with earth. 
I find 1 get less loss, quicker returns, and more perma¬ 
nent benefit applying it to meadow land or where I am 
to plant corn or potatoes than to hold for seeding or 
top-dressing. I find many are very much exercised 
about the loss in the field, and never think of the loss 
in the stable or yard. I don’t suppose 
Solomon had manure in mind when he 
said, “there is that scattereth and yet in- 
creaseth, and there is that withholdeth 
more than is meet, but it tendeth to pov¬ 
erty”, but he would have been sound if he 
had. I am afraid some make the fear of loss 
in the field an excuse for unwillingness 
to put forth the effort to haul it in the 
Winter. It is much easier on a cold day 
to throw it out of a door or window than 
to take it to the field, but think of the labor 
saved in the Spring, and the damage often 
done to the land by going over it when 
wet and soft. On the home farm the 
writer has made since November 1 (ex¬ 
clusive of that in the sheep pens) about 
300 two-horse loads of manure, which, 
except Sundays, has gone direct to the 
field. Most of the time the teams that did 
this would have been idle otherwise, and 
except when for a little time the snow 
was very deep, we could get anywhere 
with care, with a heavy load. 'When the 
manure is in a pile the liquid soon oozes 
out, and if it is not frozen, it heats, and 
valuable parts are lost. If the piles are 
where the roof drips on them, there is the 
washing too. Does it not wash and leach 
on the ground in the field? No, not to any extent. If 
the ground is frozen or covered with snow and the ma¬ 
nure is spread thin, it at once freezes. Then there is no 
heating, and even if it is rained on there is little loss. 
True after a rain or thaw there will often be seen dark 
colored liquid running from the field. Most of this is 
simply tannin or coloring matter, and such water has 
been found to contain but little plant food. A very dif¬ 
ferent thing when water falls on a pile of fermenting 
manure, which is just in shape to lose its volatile salts. 
Never put it in little piles in the field. Then it will heat, 
wash and lose plant food. edward van alstyne. 
Haul Every Day in Year. 
If there is any one farm question about which I have 
but one opinion, and that unalterable, it is the immedi¬ 
ate application of every forkful of manure, from every 
animal on the farm, no matter what kind, every day in 
the year that a team can get to the field, from January 
I to December 31. There will sometimes be a few days 
in the Spring, when one would do harm upon the land; 
with us but few days are against us. We find a place 
near the barn, anywhere, no matter whether we really 
need it in such a place. I know it will not have to be 
handled again, and that the loss will be the least pos- 
FRINCESS KORNDYKE MANOR DE KOL, NO. 62256. Fig. 258. 
See Page 616. 
