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ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
19 
The richer the food we feed the better will our manure be, and the differ 
ence in value, load for load, between the droppings of hiIlf and 
pooi y kept animals, and those of others who are generously fed and warmlv 
housed, is much greater than is generally supposed. Corn-meaT oats™ d 
bran, with good tame hay will make, I think, the best article that it?s possb 
ble for us to get. I would here recommend the use of straw or cut cor 
stalks for bedding; they will absorb the liquid manure which would other- 
se go to waste, and which is very valuable. There is also this advantage 
rnt where we pile our manure and use much straw that there is no danger of 
the aCidS produced from the fermenting 
‘ will hold all .he ammonia found in the heap. What we want is crood 
manure, and the richer it is and the bigger the pile the betted g 
Hie next point is to properly care for our manure, and this is a point thui 
needs to be well dwelt upon. This indeed may be *tfd to be our weak spot 
iy o us make large quantities of rich manure, and then through care- 
essness suffer it to go to waste. Fortunes have been lost in this manner 
fortunes are beipg lost by it now; the richness that would fill our corn-cribs 
ith grain, our barns with hay, our pockets with greenbacks Is beino- swent 
111 1° ou ^vers or absorbed by the air. Our cattle should not be alfowTato 
range all over the farm in winter. They should be kept, when out of the 
bain, m a close yard where there is an abundant supply of good water and 
heie all the coarse feed of the farm which is not fed in the barn should be 
brought to them. This yard should not be exposed to running water and 
the manure which will accumulate in it should at intervals be made into 
Lh?nf, P xr Whel ' e „ WiU f6rment and and become fit food for 
plants. Manure cellars and sheds I do not speak of, because I believe that 
roofs n* 1 6 11 ln our . yards or elsew here where it is not exposed to water from 
detiimenbd'io n T ama \ tbe natural rainfa11 will be beneficial rather than 
mass ’ y aSS1Stmg the decomposition and fermentation of the 
We now come to the appiication of manure to the soil, and here indeed 
we have a diversity of opinions. Some recommend to apply it in winter 
others in spring, others again in autumn. Some would plow under green 
others would top-dress grass lands with it, when well rotted. Those 
who advocate the hauling and spreading of green manure on grass lands 
den'ch 16 W1 , nte . r ’ argue that the surface of the land is protected from sud 
“r ft'caw 1116 W “ ter ’ aDd the thaw '-'ries the manure to the 
Ots wheie it causes a vigorous growth early in the spring. If the ground 
obeTbsorbe r d a bv the g T’ “ " a,S ° beneflted by hav * g ^ manure*™ 
w be absorbed by the soil as soon as the ground thaws; the seed as soon -is 
it sprouts, finds what it needs close at hand. ’ aS 
is slack* and that‘hv if “ ^ CheaiJei ' t0 hiMl1 “ during the winter ’ when work 
ack, and that by this course we escape the waste of manure in the vards 
?~r^d^fr aidtha f nthaWing manure frozen landmuch 
the land In h^n, P T g 7 rainS ’ particuIarly if there be much fall to 
ouanHiv m / g 0Ut green T™ “ is «>rtain we haul out a great 
y vvatei some estimate it as high as eighty per cent.—which is a 
