Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-09-03
How should Manure be Used i?

y
William, that manure should be always
spread on the surface
so believe 1t Should l replied !;
but / am not the first by any means
who does not live up to his professions.
There are some occasions upon which
even the best men 90 astray, and l may
be excused lapse now and then as
well as they. Icould not help it. A
beginner on a pool farm must do many
things which he would not if he could
avoid it. The manure was fresh and
long, with some straw in it; the cellar
was full and required 10 be emptled, and
the corn needed it-what could do p
L think you did right, remarked my
old neighbor; manure ought to be well
covered. have always plowed it IN
and would now, but you. have talked
William over to your ideas, and he lcill
put it on the top and harrow it in, OF
put it on the Sod
Look over there said l. Across
the road was a meadow Of the old gems
tleman's which had been pastured in the
fall aud IN the spring, and it was spot
ted over with hummOcks Of tall grass
where cows dropplngs had fallen.
What makes those punches of tall
grass?'
Well; those are where the cows
haye dropped, he replied.
And the grass is twice as thick and
tall in those spots as elsewhere; it was
lop-dressed there, wasn't It:'.,
We'll, l guess so > he replied.
think that is enough, so Far as
grass is concerned,' said l. Now let
US consider about plOwed ground. The
purpose for which we manure our fields
is to feed the crops, and 1 think we
have agreed once, that if the crops, are
fed when they are young and growing
the most vigorously, they Will thrive
the better for it. If we don't feed them
then, they start slowly and become
stunted, and frequently never recover
through the season. When the plauts
are young the roots are small and near
The surface; if the manure is five or six
inches down, or a foot away upon one
side, it takes some time for the tiny and
weak roots to find or reach it, and this
operates the more disadvantageously
because roots are weak for want of food
and may actually perish, by starvation,
before they can reach the food. Sup
pose hungry man were told that sup
ply of food was buried 100 feet or more
In the earth, and as soon as he dug
down to it, he could eat and drink and
be filed. He would probably die be-
fore he could procure 1t. | think it is
just SO with plants; only the work they
have to perform is more exhausting, and
they are more likely to starve in their
ehdeavor to perform 1t than in the case
of the man,
There is another view of the case, ,
remarked DR.. Jones, The soil is
a'great oxidizer. There is no more ac>
tive disinfectant than earth, and the
process Of disinfecting is simply one of
oxldizlug or combustion. This was re~
markably well shown By DR.. Voclcker
in some experiments with the soil taken
from some earth closets,in which it was
found, that after the earth had been US
ed several times, and might have been
expected 10 have contained a large
quantity Of nitrogen from the accumu-
lated manure, on the contrary, it was
very little richer than at first, and the
nitrogen had largely disappeared. 1t is
q we'll known fact in chemistry that ex-
ceedingly porous bodies, such as chars
coal, earth. and especially spongy plat
mum, possess a remarkable capacity
for absorbing oxygen and other gases
from the atmosphere, cOndenslng them,
and causing chemical changes in them.
Now, while so far as regards the action
Of the soil, when it is in a minute state
OF division, upon nitrogen, hydrogen
and oxygen, we have not sufficiently
accurate knowledge to form a clear
opinion, yet we know that large por-
ton Of the organic matter in the soil
disappears, together with its resulting
chemical constituents;they 90 and we
cannot trace them. If this happens
with animal and vegetable matter OF
one kind, it must be so with matter OF
another kind, as common manure
Then you think the manure wastes
10 the soll?' said Mr.. Martin.
4 don't see how we can account for
the disappearance of the nitrogen in the
earth-closet soil, nor for other we'll
known circumstances, without such a
conclusion,' replied DIR. Jones.
L tried surface manuring and plow-
ing il in, SAID Mr.. Martin, and have
found it best TO adhere to the former
practice. don't know so much about
the theory, which seems very reasona-
bly,, but of the advantage of the prac.
tce have no doubt
I think you are right,'I remarked
and l am inclined to believe that DR.
Jones's theory has some good basis
The majority of good farmers, who arc
apt to note cause and effect, keep theil
manure as near the surface as possible
and that they may do this, tits necessa'
~ that the manure should be fine ant
easily broken up. If long straw is use(
for litter, it is necessary TO work ovel
the manure to get 1t into good condi