Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-03-15
The Application of Manure.

MO vi
In the older States manure makes the |
crops. We at the West, says the Western |
Rural, are beginning to appreciate the
importance of manure In its manufac.
ture and application there is o wide field
opened to the farmer. We have repeat
edly written on the subject, and the sub
joined article, by correspondent of the
Nelo England Homestead, is timely and
suggestive
The value and necessity of manures to
successful farming is now universally ad-
mitted, but there is still much that is
faulty In the mode of applying them; and
while it is acknowledged that there is still
much to learn respecting Incorporation,
There are some principles that experience
ssaches are worthy of more notice than
has been given them. In our researches
upon this subject we find it difficult to
adopt any specific rule OF practice, be-
cause of the varied circumstances con-
nected with their application For in
stance, we attempt to determine the depth
it should be covered by soil, and we find
that the soil may be hard and unyielding,
or it may be porous and dry. The ques-
tion is forced upon us, Does manure pass
off from sandy soil by evaporation, or
does it descend deep into the earth with
the water
If a quantity of manure is exposed to
the action of air and rains, its value is
after while dissipated. While some of
the most valuable portions of the manure
are escaping in the form of gas, rains are
washing away valuable particles that are
not taken off in the atmosphere, till mt
length, by the combined process of wash
n n nd ic lpf "a
mass of inert matter. This same wasting
process goes on in greater or less degree
when the manure is deposited in the soil,
modified, of course, by the nature of the
soil and the depth to which it is buried,
For light and porous soil, q deeper
covering is required to prevent evapora-
| ton than would be necessary in one more
| compact, but the more loose the soil, the
| greater would be the liability of waste
| from the descent of manure by water
| On the other hand, the soil may be hard
and stiff; we may say perhaps there is no
danger of waste, either from evaporation
or the teaching process in such a soil, yet
if we bury the manure beneath ten-inch
furrOw the process will be very slow
The heat and moisture of the atmosphere
cannot reach it, and the crop is but little
benefited by the application. This class
of soils, as a general rule, have in them
some valuable elements of fertility, so
locked up by strong union with other sub
stances that plants cannot appropriate
them to their uses, unless something be
added which has the power to destroy or
break up the national combination, re-
lease the fertilizers existing in the soil
and render them accessible to the wants
of vegetables Under such circumstances,
it is of primary Importance that the ma
nure should be buried at just the right
depth to produce these results; but the
kinds of crops are so numerous, the cir
cumstances connected with their cultiva-
tion so varied, as to render it extremely
difficult to adopt any specific rule with
regard to the depth to which manure
should be placed in the soil. This must
always depend upon the kind of manure,
the nature of the soil, and the crop to be
cultivated.
At what season of the year manure
should be applied to the soil to secure
the most beneficial results, is also a ques-
tion of considerable Importance to every
farmer. In the Connecticut valley, how
ever, a very large per cent. of the farm
yard manure is used in the cultivation OF
special crops, prepared expressly for their
benefit, and applied at a time when they
will best promote the growth or perfect
the maturity of the crop, regardless OF
the effect upon the soil. The onion
grower will so compost his manure that
he may apply it in autumn without feal
of waste from evaporation, leaving it eX
posed to the ameliorating influence of the
winters frosts, to have fertilizing ele
ments distributed evenly through the sol
by the drenching rains of springtime
The tobacco UrOwpr au1pnVOrg n have hi
manure in condition to use in early spring
in such state of decomposition that il
will supply the largest amount of PLAN
food during these months when the mos
rapid growth takes place.
But the general farmer has to provide
for the wants of greater variety Of crops
his vegetables and tobacco, root and grair
crops, all call for manure. When thei
wants are supplied, and, perhaps, his stocl
of compost exhausted, then his grass anC
forage crops seem hopelessly to inquire i
there is nothing left for them. With hin
: there is scarcely a day in the whole yea
when there is not a demand for MANURE
If he strolls over his fields on a tour o
observation, or climbs to the Observatory
on his well ventilated barn, where he car
see all his landed possessions, every livin!
plant on that broad domain seems to cal
to him, "Manurel more manuren
This universal demand for manure, an(
the extreme difficulty with which any def
mite course can be mapped out with regart
to the depth to which it should be cover
ed or the time when it SHOULD be applied
should stimulate the farmer to study NOR
carefully its operation upon the soil AM
effect on the crop, that he may be able t.
act understandingly In each individual