Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-10-19
How to Increase the Manure Pile.

The soil unmanurcd, will often produce
good crops for year or two, or more, and
then it demands rest in order to recuperate,
and gain soluble, ash ingredients enough
for another series of crops This period of
rest it was early found might be much
shortened by frequently stirring the soil by
the plow and harrow and moreover, it be-
came known !hat the addition of certain
substances to the soil, such as the dung of
animals, the ashes of trees and plants. etc,
not only operated in the same way, but en-
tirely did away with the necessity of fall
lowing. Thus, long in advance of the phil
osophy which we now recognize as account
ing for these facts, farmers knew what
would restore lost fertility and what course
OF treatment would keep up their land
Man, indeed, does nothing without some
kind Of reason, and so in old times the
farmers had philosophy which answered
as well for them as ours does for us, so
long as it did not conflict with known facts.
Nowadays we have so many facts, and
they are SO we'll systematized, that our
philosophy must be very nearly right il the
main, though still there are many points
upon which the Doctors disagree.
Manures supply to the soil what the
plants require as food, and that which 9TH
er crops may have removed. They also
cause chemical action to take place, by
means of which plant-food, in the soil but
not available to the plant, becomes soluble,
or otherwise available Besides, they pro-
duce other desirable effects, such as max
ing the soil more friable, porous, absorbent
of moisture, and more tenacious, or less so,
etc. Good tillage without manure NAV
produce several Of these effects, especially
in conjunction with the action of the air,
rains, sunshine, frosts, etc, and it ALWAYS
greatly assists the action of manure.
In all civilized countries in which the
soil has been long enough under cultivation
to show decline in fertility, manure is
valued for all the reasons Just enumerated
The questions of Inquirer" of Barrysburg,
Pa, whose letter we quote, are to the point
He says
am anxious to know in what way tc
increase my manure heap. | have only &c
acres of land and am working every foot
OF 1t. Of straw, have not even enough
to bed my stock with. | keep five horses
two cows, and generally feed two oxen
through the winter. My manure heap is
nearly always smoking, being SO hot. and
turns gray, or looks mouldy inside. How
shall | proceed to prevent ii, and what shall
| do for materials Spent tan-bark | can
get three miles off; sawdust none about
here | can get but a very small quantity
of leaves, and for these have to pay very
high muck have none on my land, and
have nothing, indeed, but gravelly soil
Will some one please give me advice as to
what | am to do"
1t is now autumn, and our friend will not
do well to collect much, if any, vegetable
matter which can contain weed seeds in
any considerable quantity. Still it is pro-
bable that good deal of such things as
potato tops, swamp grass, rushes reeds,
bogs, etc, may be obtained. His soil is
gravelly were it not for this, we would
recommend him 10 use good loarny, or even
sandy soil, for bedding for his stock. Moth,
ing is better 10 bed cattle, or horses upon,
than about barrowful of soft loan, free
from stones and sticks, covered with a very