322 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
growth of the grass, which in turn, will draw largely upon the 
atmosphere for its sustenance. We thus secure the aid of a 
powerful auxiliary, which were the manure applied directly to 
the crops, we should not secure, or not secure to the same ex¬ 
tent. If a piece of sealing-wax be exposed to the action of 
hot iron, it will gradually disappear through evaporation, which 
shows that manure should not be handled in warm weather, 
and not only that, but that it should be protected by sheds from 
the action of the sun ; for the same agency that abstracts 
moisture from the land, and from the ocean, will also absorb 
the valuable qualities of the dung-heap. It appears, therefore, 
that the proper time for the applying of manure, is the month 
of October ; if delayed much longer than that, it can neither 
be plowed in, nor spread on the ground. Many farmers are in 
the habit of drawing out their manure in the fall, and leaving it 
to be spread the following spring; but this plan, though some¬ 
what good, is liable to objection, inasmuch, as the loss from 
soakage must be considerable, and were this the only loss, one 
object of manuring would thereby be partially frustrated, which 
is, to -fertilize uniformly the whole field, and not particular 
spots of it. The generality of farmers, either from blind be¬ 
lief in the inexhaustable richness of their land, or from indo¬ 
lence which shrinks from exertion, do not appreciate manuring 
as they ought, and do not practice it as they should; but they 
had better take warning, that unless they will soon change 
their creed, and alter their conduct, the time will arrive when 
their broken down farms shall stop payment, and their owners 
become bankrupt ; for the laws of nature will not bend from 
their course to satisfy the whim or negligence of man. 
But, though the farmer’s main reliance for manure must be 
upon his own yard, yet he may, with advantage, apply to his 
land more specific fertilizers, such as plaster, lime and guano. 
We are, perhaps, too distant from the sea-board, to profitably 
use the latter article, to say nothing of the difficulty of obtain¬ 
ing it pure. Lime might be applied to advantage on some of 
our wheat-lands. Such is the value attached to it by the 
