Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1859-06-08
S6RaGugGNRAg.
ya1Ure,s PIan of Manuring.

Much has been said of late, and not with
out reason, of following natures plan OF ma
nuring. by placing manure on the sufiace or
lightly pioughing them under the surface,
instead of the more general practice OF trench
ing, or plowing organic manures deep Ia the
soil It is very true that uudecomposed or
freshly composed stall manure. If piowed IN
deeply, may not decompose fast enough 20
feed the growing crop, its true pabalum, at
the right time; but on heavy clay ioam
have never found such manure to fail to briug
heavy corn and large wurzel beets particularly
If the season was warm and there was try
ing summer drought, as at that time such
manure decomposes fast and keeps up the
moisture OF the soil In the summer OF 1891
we had the most trying drought, perhaps
ever known in this country the crop OF In
dian corn, which delights IN hot weather,
while maturing its cereal yield, now rolled
its leaves and refused TO fill its ears. yet my
patch of that season was cue OF the
best ever grown the leaves rolled little BY
day, but they were always fully expanded IN
the morning. There eau be 30 douot that
this success, was, next to frequent hoeings,
due to the long green manure that had been
trenched deeply into the soil the fall and
winter before,
L take it that heavy. tenacious soil, no
matter how we'll it is underdrained, if it is
only top dressed with rotten manure and
lightly ploughed cannot receive the mechan
ical amelioration below the ploughing SO
necessary to make the subsoil friable and
absorptive hence with such surface treatment
a yearly application of manure is indespen-
sibe. But if fresh stall manure (the longer
the better) is ploughed deeply into such a
soil, in the process of its decay it amends the
soil below The surface chemically as we'll as
mechanically, aud the subsoil, before dry
and hard, now becomes absorptivc and a
darker colored, with its hygrometrieal power
much increased. But IS farmers make
much stall manure iu the spring months that
must be kept over for fall ploughing, or to
top dress meadows in the fall, such manure
must necessarily be decomposed during the
summer, which, if slowly done, without either
washing or overheating, will be most vaiu-
able amendment to top dress the wheat fall
low, if only narrowed. not ploughed ia
Hence | take it that both top dressing and
deeply ploCghing in manures should be prac-
tical according to circumstances and require
ments, not only of the soil, but the crops
and even where a soil is deeply amended,
little top dressing, if it is only in the drill
or the hill, will at least be quickner of the
crop, which, in slow seasons, is a great help
At any rate there is not as much waste o.
ammonia in top dressing with even semi-rot
ten manure as there must be in Peruvian gu
ano, because with the latter there is no mas
cent carbonic acid to save, or woody fibre tC
shelter and turn its ammonia from the air tC
the soil.
One great argument in favor Of top dres
sing is the absorbing powe, it produces =
Schubler's very interesting experiments show
''that one hundred pounds Of dry humus vii
absorb from an atmosphere saturated Will
moisture twslve pound Of water in seventy
two hours, stiff clay only four pounds,
caleareous sand only one-quarter of a pound
and a silecious sand. destitute of vegetabl
matter, none at all" No wonder then, tha
blowing sand ceases to produce, when
has not hygrometrical power enough to al
sorb and retain from the atmosphere singi
particle of plant-food; and hence it is tia
every amendment to a barren soil adds
it's capacity to feed itself from the kindl
plant food ever present in dew and rain
Ep. Post