The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-11-25
ynteQigel1tet. E.
Application Of Manure.

.
the farmers of this section, than making
and saving manure; and, from what we
can see and hear, there is nothing upon
which our farmers need more hght ano
knowledge, than. the proper application OF
manure. II is only few years ssincethat
nanure was considered an lncumbrance !;
and it is in the memory of many OF our
readers that farmer of this County built
his stable over o stream, so that the ma
nnre may be washed away without giving
him the trouble of hauling it into the gull
lies or river:
Light is beginning to dawn upon us,
and we are constantly asked to publish
something practical upon making and ap-
plying manures.
The following upon the application OF
MANURE we find in the RardL CaroAnadn
for November, and coming from the pen
of Mr.. E. E. Evans, gentleman we per-
sonally know to be one of the most intel.
kgens, reliable and practical farmers OF
the South, We commend it to the careful
study of the farmers of Western North
Carolina:
But 1 consider, secondly and chiefly,
the application of manure with reference
to the efficiency of this action. The idea
is generally entertained that it makes lit
tie difference, as far as the effect is con-
cerned, where we place our manures in
the soil; the chief anxiety being to pre-.
serve it from loss, and hence the general
habit of blowing under, more or less deep
ly, manures of every description. But ex-
perience of late has gone far to establish
the fact that manures placed upon or near
the surface are far moro efficient in their
action than when deeply buried in the SOIL
The practice of placing manures upon the
surface has beon adopted by many Of the
best practical farmers, and is sustained by
the authority Of Boussingault and others.
Upon what principle does this depend !!
i think the chief explanation can be found
in the physiology of plants. The analogy
between the appropriation of food by an
imal and vegetable life is by no means per
Feet In the one the appropriation is made
direct, in the other through the agency of
moisture; where moisture is absent the
plant will perish, though surrounded by
every. element of food. This should teach
us the Importance of so placing our ma
nures in Tire soil that tho descending rains
may pass through them, dissolving and
bearing their -fertrlizing matter directly
to the roots of our crops. We should re-
member that plants feed mostlyanear the
surface, and for this reason, the foregoing
very high authority (BonssingaulD re-
CARDS it as very important that the manure
should be diffused through the superficial
soil. Now it is evident that if the manure
be deeply buried it will require not only
more thorough saturation of the soil TO
make it available TO the plant but at the
same time the moisture which dissolves
the manure will descend still further be-
low the roots, and, upon some soils, never
to return. This view is sustained by the
striking effects which attend the applica-
tion of liquid manures In China, where
necessity imposes the highest production,
and in the more intelligent and thrifty
husbandry of Flanders, manure is used in
scarcely any other form, and with results
so striking as to challenge belief 1t might
be suggested that the application of or
ganic manurcs at or near the surface was
in conflict with due regard to their pre-
servation. But we should remember that
the preservation of manure is an object
subordinate to the efficiency of their ac-
ton. We use manures, not to preserve
them, but for their effect.
consider, thirdly, tho application o!
manures, with reference to the proper
time of their action. Ordinarily, it is used
IS food for crops, and, as such, the time
st which we desire its action is throughout
the entire period of growth, and especial
ly at the time of fruiting. To effect this,
Il is obviously proper todiffuse the manure
through the soil, either in the drill or
broadcast, or if it be of a very volatile
character, it should be applied at the
latest period practicable. But manure is
sometimes used as q stirpulant, to impart
on early and vigorous growth; for this
purpose it should be applied in close prox-
unity to the seed, and at the time of plant
ing. Very remarkable results have some
times followed its application in this way.
When the drill machine was first introdu-
eed into England, it was found that COM
paratively small quantity of manure
drilled in with the seed was productive of
better results than much larger quanti-
ty applied in the usual way. This result
seemed for awhile to unsettle the whole
theory of manuring- The idea Was adopt
ed that larger quantity of manure had
hitherto been used than was necessary:
and that, consequentlyr-a u larger breadth
of land might be manured than had for
merly been done. But q more extended
experience has led to the opinion, that
manure thus applied did not owe its etfi-
cacy to the amount OF plant food furnish
ed, but to it's early stimulating effect
thereby placing the plant in condition to
appropriate the resources Of the atmos-
phere and the SOIL In this view it is cvl-
dent that this mode of application must