1810. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
61 ^ 
WINTER HANDLING OF MANURE. 
Winter is here, and how shall we 
handle the accumulation of manure on 
the farm? It seems to be settled by all 
of our best writers and institute speak¬ 
ers, that the best place for manure is to 
spread it directly on the land, whether 
it is frozen, or even covered with snow. 
Some say it is hardly safe to spread it 
on a very steep hillside, but there is lit¬ 
tle danger of loss anywhere else. I re¬ 
member when a very practical man was 
speaking at an institute several years 
ago, he told the farmers how careful 
they should be to save all of the liquid 
with the manure, and "get it out and 
spread it on the land as soon as possi¬ 
ble.” He pointed out the fact that the 
first rains that fell on that manure did 
the land so much good, and when asked 
about the loss by spreading on frozen 
ground, he said not to worry if they 
saw some dark colored water running 
away; it was simply "coloring matter” 
and had practically no plant food in it 
Quite a number of years ago, when I 
was doing all of my chores alone in the 
Winter, I was very careful to care for 
the manure, and to save all of the liquid 
that was possible, but I have never been 
able to get help to take much pains, ex¬ 
cept while they were being told, and the 
next day they would need to be told 
again. I carried a large part of the horse 
manure, and put it into the gutter behind 
the cows, and found that a better ab¬ 
sorbent than all straw. The horse and 
cow manure were then mixed together 
and spread on the field (when the 
weather was suitable) as is so often ad¬ 
vised, but the Winter of which I speak 
the ground was free from snow, though 
frozen very hard. The ground was not 
hilly, although water that did not soak 
in would run off. The manure was 
spread with great care, each piece being 
picked to pieces with fork; in fact I had 
never seen a manure spreader at that 
time. Toward Spring, when a large part 
of the field was covered, a neighbor, who 
is considered a good farmer, came along 
while I was at work spreading manure, 
and told me I was making a mistake 
spreading manure on such hard frozen 
ground. He said there would be a great 
loss when the Spring rains came. I gave 
him a rather evasive reply, thinking I 
had much higher authority than from 
anyone in this section, and feeling sure 
that I had accomplished a good work. 
The Spring rain did come, with a regu¬ 
lar downpour, that lasted a long time, 
and it came while the ground was frozen 
as hartj as a pavement and would not 
take in a particle of water. I at once 
thought of the field of manure that so* 
much time had been spent upon to save 
and apply. I put on a rubber coat, took 
an umbrella and started. In all direc¬ 
tions that the water ran from that field 
could be seen the very dark-colored 
liquid, a large stream going down the 
road, several streams going in other di¬ 
rections, and finally it came to quite a 
large creek. There it turned all of the 
water of the creek a dark color. I 
walked down the stream a long distance, 
and still it plainly showed the "coloring 
matter” that was being taken from my 
field. All observing farmers have no¬ 
ticed what a benefit such an application 
of manure is to a sod field (the one 
spoken of was sod) when the first soak¬ 
ing rain comes, provided the ground is 
in condition to take it in. The grass 
starts up at once, and how the crops 
grow when that sod is turned under! 
But how wonderful it is that when the 
ground is in condition to take it in it 
does such a large amount of good, and 
when the ground cannot take it and it 
all runs away, it is simply “coloring 
matter.” My labor and the plant food 
meant a lot to me at that time, and I 
watched the field, trying to think it was 
"simply coloring matter.” The rain kept 
falling on that manure until it was 
washed so the water that came from it 
appeared to be as clear as when it fell 
from the clouds; still the ground was 
hard to the very surface, and a very thin 
coat of ice formed on the cold soil in 
spite of the warm rain. 
Qnc trial is not sufficient to form an 
opinion; such a thing might not happen 
again, so it was repeated over and over, 
but never on so large a scale, and it was 
handled in other ways for comparison. 
When a portion of the ground thaws be¬ 
fore a rain, the loss will be small, but it 
frequently happens as it did with my 
field, and I have seen the very same thing 
repeated, and while it may be perfectly 
safe to handle manure in this way in 
some sections, I believe there is danger 
of heavy loss here. Now how do we 
handle the manure? I hardly dare tell 
you. You have seen those small piles 
that are just far enough apart to spread 
by hand and have them meet convenient¬ 
ly. Surely this practice has been con¬ 
demned many times, and has been called 
one of the most foolish ways of handling 
manure. There is no doubt that it is 
best to spread it directly when the 
ground is not frozen, but we have found 
those piles a perfectly safe way to handle 
manure in the Winter. They freeze solid, 
and I have never known them to thaw 
out until after, the ground did, and if 
spread just as quickly as the frost is out 
enough so they can be handled, I have 
never seen any liquid run away from 
them, or a more fertile spot left where 
they were piled. Besides, we get it on the 
field very early to get the rains when 
the ground is in condition to take them 
In, which I think is very important. 
Even if we had a good place to keep our 
manure until the frost went out, we 
could not drive on the field to get it 
spread as early as we can from the piles, 
as the ground is too soft to drive on at 
that time. marvin fellows. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
Early Melons. 
E. C. S., Sterling, III .—For several years 
we have covered our melons with a 14x14 
x4 box as soon as planted, and have gained 
at least two weeks’ advantage over ordi¬ 
nary method. We had intended covering 
same with glass this season, provided, in 
your judgment, we can gain a few days 
in earlier fruiting over our present method. 
Ans.—B y protecting young and ten¬ 
der plants as described by E. C. S. much 
can be gained in earliness. But the sun 
glass or box, such as those used in Eng¬ 
land is a decided advantage excepting 
frosty nights when some covering should 
be used to prevent frost forming on the 
glass. These covers are made on the 
principle of the hotbed, with a light of 
glass sloping to the south, and for gar¬ 
den use are a great assistance. 
New Jersey. t. m. white. 
The Only Harrow That Will 
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In ONE - W LIGHTEST WEIGHT 
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When you examine the construction of this 
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you will understand why it has always been the 
favorite and why it is recommended more than 
all other harrows combined, in books written 
by agricultural authorities. 
Not an inch of soil oscapesthe sharp sloping knives 
and these knives cut through to the undersoil, chop¬ 
ping the sod or trash burled by the plow and leav¬ 
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Sizes From 3 ft. to \ VA ff. Wide 
The Acme is tlio lightest riding harrow mado. 
Guaranteed against breakage, and will last a tlfe- 
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write to our Ceneral Agents for prices and New 
rree Catalog; also containing valuable articles by 
experts on “Preparation of the Soil.” 
GENERAL AGENTS 
KEMP & BURPEE MFG. CO., Syracuse, N. Y., 
and 
JOHN DEERE PLOW 00., Imiianapolis, Ind. 
Manufactured by DUANE H. NASH (Incorporated) 
137 Central Ave._Millington, N. J, 
The FARMERS' GARDEN 
Seed Drill and Whool Hoe is In¬ 
dispensable—not only in a village 
garden but on largest farms. 
Farmers should grow all mannor 
Of vegetables and “live on the fat of 
tho land.” Should provide succu- 
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made 
BATEMAN MFG. CO.. Bax 102-G GRENLOCH. N. J. 
Pumps Water by Water Pressure 
For supplying running water in country homes, 
summer hotels and for irrigation purposes ou farms, a 
NIAGARA 
HYDRAULIC RAM 
is tho ideal system. Pumps water without 
cost. Write for catalogue AG and estimate. 
Wc furnish Caldwell Tanks and Towers. 
niacaka HYDRAULIC ENMNE CO., 
140 Nassau Sfc.,N.Y. Factory; Chostor, Pa. 
Here Is the Only Roofing Guaran¬ 
teed for 15 Years Without Painting 
and the guaranty is stamped right on the roofing. Notice that, please. And 
notice that the year in which you buy it is stamped right on as part of the guar¬ 
anty. Every roll of Dickelman Extra you buy now must give perfect service, as 
specified in our guaranty, without painting, until 1925. If it doesn’t, you get a new 
roof for nothing or your money back. You will also get our 15-year, signed guaranty on. 
paper, for filing away and convenience, in case you need to hold us to it. 
This means that your roofing expense simply stops for 15 years when you have 
Dickelman Extra Galvanized Metal Roofing. No doubt it will stop forever, as 
long as the building itself lasts—but for 15 years we are responsible. But 
that doesn’t worry us. We know what 15 years of wear does to—~ 
DICKELMAN EXTRA 
Galvanized Meta] Roofing 
Rust-Proof, 
Fire-Proof, Light¬ 
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Building 
The End of 
Every Roll is 
Turned— Ready 
to Make Connec¬ 
tion and Crimp 
n 
:ti 
'itrTF 
w- 
After 20 Years Mr. Douglas Says: 
Dickelman Manufacturing: Co., 
Our mill is covered with your metal roofing: furnished to us over 
20 years ago. It is still in good condition. We think it is in nearly as 
good condition as when first laid. We believe we will get 8 or 10 years 
more of satisfactory service out of it, making an actual service of 30 
years and over. Very truly yours, J. C. Douglas. 
-^Douglas & Ash, Mfrs. of Electric Light Roller Process Flour, Forest, O. 
For 25 years we have been making 
this roofing, just as we are making it 
today. Our oldest roofs seem just 
as good today as our 15, 10 or 5-year-old roofs—not 
quite so bright, that’s all. Why should we be afraid 
of the next 15 years? 
And why should you take chances on experimental 
roofings, or pay a high price for shingles or waste money 
on the ordinary metal sheeting when you can get the 
fine looking, inexpensive Dickelman Extra—with a 25- 
year record back of it and a 15-year guaranty ahead of it ? 
There are several reasons for the Dickelman dura¬ 
bility. The metal sheet we use for our base is made 
by a special process which eliminates all undesirable 
elements, leaving the toughest but most pliable sheet 
it is possible to produce. This process gives us a 
sheet that is open-grained. It is slightly porous. 
Therefore, when this sheet is put into the galvan¬ 
izing pots,the spelter, or galvanizing material sinks 
into the grain of the metal, so that this coating be¬ 
comes an integral part of the whole sheet. Bend 
the sheet as much as you please—you cannot get 
the galvanizing coat to break, crack or flake off. 
Try it when you get our sample. Then get a sample 
of some other galvanized roofing and test it in the 
same way. That’s all we ask. You will order 
Dickelman’s. Because when you make a crease in 
oth^r roofings, you will see the coating crack. And 
when the coating cracks your roof is gone. The un¬ 
protected steel will rust right through in no time. 
Write for Free Roofing Book 
We want you to know all the reasons for the 
proved superiority of Dickelman Extra. Let us send 
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bother and worry of repairs. If you request it we 
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you to know how easy it is to lay Dickelman Extra, 
also. The end of every sheet is properly crimped to 
fit into the crimp of the next sheet, so as to make a 
double seam without effort—no turning or hammer¬ 
ing on the roof. Ask your dealer about Dickelman. 
Leading dealers all over the country have sold this 
roofing for years. They have built their roofing rep¬ 
utations upon it. When we mail you book and sam¬ 
ple we will give name of dealer in your locality. 
Send us your name and address so we can mail book. 
The Dickelman Manufacturing Co.. 62 Gormley St., Forest, Ohio 
