Washington sentinel., 1854-02-04

Men are divided as to the proper depth of
burying manure. Some hold that it sinks in
the soil, is washed downward by the teaching
rains, and shonld therefore be applied near or
at the surface. Others assert that its volatile
and most valuable parts rise by fermentation,
and that, ,consequently,it should be buried deep.
Nowit usually happens, when doctors disagree,
that both are partly right and partly wrong; ;
but in the present instance, they are both a
little i'll the right. and great deal in the wrong.
Manure usually stays very nearly where it is
put. Fburied near the surface it remains near
the surface; if buried deep, there it remains !;
fploughed under in large Jumps, it has but little
power to rise, sink, or in any other way to
intermix itself, and hence the reason that
thorough pulveri2ation or narrowing, before
manure is turned under, gives result in large
crops.
The power which clay has to absorb the fer
tilizing portions Of manure is very great. Soils
which possess q medium amount of clay or
loan, with medium degree Of tenacity, will
absorb all that is valuable in ordinary manure,
equal to nearly their own bulk. Forty loads
of manure to the acre form a heavy coating !;
yet this is only one load to four square rods,
constituting depth, when spread, Of only one
third Of an inch.
Consequently, when coating of forty loads
to the acre is ploughed under, the volatile parts
have only to pass onethird of an inch or SO
before they are all absorbed by the SOIL Hence
the error of supposing that they can possibly,
in ordinary soils, rise or sink to any practical
BILE depth and hence, also, the great import
ance of mixing manures very intimately through
all parts Of the soil, if plants are to get their
full benefit and not be overfed at one part and
their roots starved at another.
There are many proofs of the correctness of
the position here taken. We have made large
piles of compost, consisting of one-third rich
stable manure and two-thirds of loan and turf;
yet all the odor was completely retained, and
not the slightest portion passing off could be
perceived by the smell. We have buried large
dead animals with coating of only six inches
of loan, and not the faintest indication ofthe de-
composition below ever reached the surface.
On the other hand, the soil which forms the
bottom of manure yards is not found even
within few inches of the surface to be at all
enriched by the piles of fertility which rest up
on it.
The true rule for burying manure is to place
it at just such depth in the soil as the roots Of
the crop usually extend, which will vary with
different plants. Some of the grasses, for in.
stance, form a turf very near the surface, and
hence an autumn top-droppng will soak in suf.
fcient to benefit them essentially Glover
roots run deeper, and this crop is consequently
but little benefited by top-dressings, when Of
much size, except so far as they operate in
keeping the surface moist. The roots of fruit
trees are still deeper, and they derive but little
advantage, except from manures well spaded
or worked in. They, however, possess an i'm
portant advantage over ANNALS and per-
rennialrooted plants. By continuing in growth
for successive years, those roots which happen
to run into the region of fertility soon throw
out numerous fbres, and secure an amount of
nourishment of which annual plants, in conse-
quence Of their more limited powers of extern
sion, are not able to avail themselves.
There are, however, not many crops which
do not need the full depth afforded by ordinary
ploughing; Audience the best practice for nearly
all kinds of culture is to spread the manure
well, harrow it most thoroughly, in order to
break it as finely as possible, and at the same
time to mix it intimately with the surface; then
turn it under by ordinary ploughing, and the
lower half of the inverted earth will furnish
thoroughly enriched bed for the roots to pene-
trate. Ifa greater depth Of fertility is needed
than ordinary ploughing affords, the coat Of har-
rowed manure may be thrown under ten or
twelve inches, by means of double mould
board, or Michigan plough; and then another
coat of manure spread, narrowed, and ploughed
under by a light or gang-plough. The young
plants of the crop are thrown rapidly forward
by the upper stratum Of manure, and at later
stage of growth are equally stimulated by the
lower stratum.