Productive farming . n-sidered in the use of barnyard manure. First, it is rich innitrogen and has some of the other elements. Second, it iswell supplied with bacteria which are very helpful to thesoil. Third, it supplies the soil wiih humus. The manure of the farm should be spread on the highestparts of each field, because they are usually the poorest soilsand some of the fertility naturally washes down toward thelower soils. 80 PRODUCTIVE FARMING A light dressing of manure on each field every year isbetter than very heavy applications less frequently. This isparticularly true if the soils ar
Productive farming . n-sidered in the use of barnyard manure. First, it is rich innitrogen and has some of the other elements. Second, it iswell supplied with bacteria which are very helpful to thesoil. Third, it supplies the soil wiih humus. The manure of the farm should be spread on the highestparts of each field, because they are usually the poorest soilsand some of the fertility naturally washes down toward thelower soils. 80 PRODUCTIVE FARMING A light dressing of manure on each field every year isbetter than very heavy applications less frequently. This isparticularly true if the soils are light. Large applicationsof manure are saved better by heax^^ soils than by light soils. Fresh manure has a forcing effect on the crops. If largeamounts of fresh manure be applied to light soils there isdanger of the plants suffering from drought in dry seasons;the soil may be made too open and loose b3^ too much freshmanure at one time. Soils containing much clay will notsuffer from larger amounts of fresh Fig. 46.—.\ manure spreader at work. machine can be regulated to .spreadthe manure tliick or thin on the held. The spreader makes the best use of the manure,saves labor, and produces the most uniform crop. Some root crops, such as potatoes, may be injured by theuse of fresh manure. Scab disease may l^ecome worse. Onfields where such crops are to be gro^^ir a large amount ofmanure may l^e used one jear before the root crop is planted. Composts.—For gardens, flower-beds, and greenhouses,it is sometimes a good thing to rot the manure before it isused. How to do this mthout wasting its plant-food is aproblem which many farmers do not understand. The useof a compost heap serves the purpose very well. A good compost heap is made by spreading a layer ofbarnyard manure, then a layer of tough sods from a meadow,or a layer of leaves, on each of these two layers is sprinkled SOIL IMPROVEMENT 81 some lime or wood ashes. The layers are repeated untilthe manure is all
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu, booksubjectagriculture
