Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1869-05-13
kCRAv. AND DOMESTIC
PRAIRIE; NlANUEsENG,

GRNrLEMEN:--I cannot too warmly
express my approval OF Your efforts to
induce our prairie farmers 10 give
more attention to the subject Of ma
nurcs In common with nearly all OF
those who were amongst the first to
i,-cale in the West, | was firm be-
lever in the ineXhaustibility of prairie
soils. The idea OF applying manure
10 them, seemed SO absurd, that it was
never tor a moment entertained by
,rAirie farmers. The possibility OF
these deep, black, rich soils ever be
.e,ning sterile. was not to be thought
"!. and happy in our blessed ignorance,
We pursued our way rejoicing, only to
come to grief at last \ number Of
years ago. | adopted the principle Of
giving my sol--which is naturally a,
good as any l know ot---all the ma
nure made on the farm. The results
have been seen year after year. | have
lad crop failures to be sure, but not
rs frequently as my non -manuring
neiGhbors, while the average yield OF
wheat ard corn has been greatly in
advance OF theirs may, at some tu-
,ure day, have more to say on this i'm
por,ant subject, but will content my
self for the present with requesting
,hat you will do your prairie farmer
readers the favor OF publishing the toll
owing extract from an article on "Prai-
s.e Knoll Manuring,' by writer in
one OF the agricultural papers l re-
csive:
IN OF many years ago was farm
ing III y oodford county, in partner
ship with my brother Our farm was
rolling prairie, and knobs were of ire
quent occurrence, the soil of which
was often shown by short crops
especially corn, to be considerably
poorer than elsewhere. We commenc-
"a blowing field OF stubble in the
tall, and not being able to finish the
glowing. left till spring All unfinished
land" the end of which was square
snd came out right on one of these
ta,olls. We had some manure, enough
ne thought, to bother 4 good deal
about the stable; and, although we had
ard it said 1--WE We're new comers)
AT prairie soil was 'rich enough
$ ithout manure, we concluded to run
&c risk OF "spoiling" the land, and &C
.arding,y hauled out the "useless stuff
the manure. We determined ID put
somc Of it on the end of the uniinish-
4 Land, which was on the summit OF
ne knoll, as it was near the stable.
Ne adlnin;st cred it pretty freely to
he hungry soil, so much so that we
sand il necessary to put it into the
i'rrows in order to p!ow it under.
Zone was given to the plowcd part
Fc planted the field in corn The
,,rn came up, and soon gave evidence
81 the beneficial effects OF the manure
The consequence wasa strip of corn
from one to two feet higher than that
surrounding it, and marking out with
astonishing accuracy the size and
shape to hill, the MANFRED portion.
Inc same contrast was conspicuous in
both the yield and the quality OF the
grain. The manure did it, as no such
difference occurred in any other part
O. the field where circumstances were
vlua!.
After that experiment we were
never afraid OF beng bothered with
manure about the stable; nor was
lnere any serious danger OF our ever
hacoming converts to the plan OF NOV
ing the stable to get away from the
manure. Not much" - journal Of
the Farm.