Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1870 — How to Apply Manures. [ARTICLE]

How to Apply Manures.

Under certain circumstances, the best storage place for the manure of the stable is the field where it is to be used. If the I land is so situated, and the soil contains a ; fair amount of clay, and is in such condl- ! tion that the water of heavy rains will wash the soluble parts of the manure, not | off from, but into the ground, the surface jof the field is the best place for it. We can in no other way distribute the nutrij tive parts of the manure among the parI tides of soil so thoroughly, ss by allowi ing them to be washed m among them by I the falling rains. The only loss sustained in this practice will be by a very slight | evaporation of ammonia—very slight, be--1 cause the formation of volatile ammonia will almost entirely cease when the ma- ! nure is so spread as to become too cold ; for rapid decomposition. The soluble ; ammoniacal salts, and the soluble earthy | parts, will be washed into the soil, of j which the clay aud decomposed Organic matter have a very strong absorptive action, and which will hold all fertilizing ! matter that may coat its particles—vorv ! much as the fibre of cloth holds the color - 1 ing matter of dye stuffs. To coutinue the j comparison, the coating of the particles ! of soil is not a “fist color,” but is removed ; by the water of the sap in the . roots of I punts, and is appropriated to their use. 1 The recommendation to spread stable | manure directly upon the land as soon as j it is made, or as soon as it can be hauled out, applies only to such soils as are in a | condition to receive and retain its soluble j parts. On steep hill sides, very leachy, lands and over-wet clays, the practice would often, no doubt, result in loss. When the ground is locked fast with frost, the manure would run away with the water, that, unable to gain entrance, 1 would flow over the surface in times of heavy rain. In the case of thin sandy soils, there is danger that it will be washed down too deeply to have Us best effect On steeply-sloping land, of course, the water of heavy rains would flow off over the surface, and some of the manure would go with it To state the case simply: Wherever and whenever the water of rains and melting snows can find its way into the soil, the best way to use the manure of the stable is to spread it broadcast over the surface, except on ver, light sandy soils. Where the inclination is too steep; where, from springs or want of drainage, the water would be kept out of the soil and would flow away over the surface of the ground, such use would, probably, be about the worst. Where the snow lies so deep as to prevent the freezing of the ground, and where, as It melts in spring, it will all, or nearly all, soak into the toil, it is a good plan to spread the.manure upon the show; but it is a very bad plan to do this when, from the frozen condition of the ground, or from its rapid inclination, the melting snow would run over the surface.

The principle upon which the advantage and disadvantage of the practice depends is, that the manure will go with the water in which it Is dissolved. If it goes into a soil containing a fair proportion of clay or organic matter, it will be distriouted in the best places and in the most complete manner; if it runs away over the surface, it will be lost. Coarse, unfertpented manure should be spread upon the ground before plowing, and turned well into the soil, where its decomposition will be more rapid than if harrowed into the dry surface, while its best mechanical effect will be more completely and more lastingly exerted. In the H&3e of thoroughly rotted manure, although there are good arguments in favor of plowing it in, I am "inclined to very strongly recommend that it be spread upon the furrow—after rolling, if the roller jsused at all; if not, after once harrowing, and then be thoroughly worked into the surface with the "cultivator, Shares’ harrow or common harrow. 80 treated it will lie where the earliest roots of the crop will 'feel its effect, and its constituents will be more deeply covered.— Handy Book of Husbandry.