HINTS ON SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 41 
even when handled with the utmost efficiency, 
is not a complete or perfect fertilizer, it is im¬ 
portant that the farmer bring up to as high a 
standard as possible the manure which he ap¬ 
plies on his land. This he can do by feeding 
his animals efficient rations having a sufficient 
quantity of protein in the feeds, and when ex¬ 
ercising care in preventing losses through 
leaching, as has just been described. 
There is another quite common method of 
handling manure on the farm, and that is the 
practice of hauling it out to the fields in piles. 
This method, while superior to the old method 
cf leaving it in the barnyard all winter, has 
its faults, however. The field in which the 
manure is piled will be uneven the next year, 
as the liquid will leach to quite an extent in 
the particular spots where the piles are located. 
This method also involves a rehandling in the 
spring, although the time consumed in this 
case is not as great as when it has to be hauled 
from the barnyard. One can easily pick out 
fields, during the summer time, where this 
method has been employed. The spots where 
the heaps of manure had been piled produce 
much more abundant, rank crops than the sur¬ 
rounding area, thereby causing difficulty in 
harvesting. 
It is certainly interesting bo observe the 
methods of some of the European countries in 
their fertility problems. In these countries, 
especially in France, the manure is piled on 
solid foundations, to prevent leaching, and 
many other materials are constantly added to 
the pile during the year, such as leaves, stub- 
