The Democratic advocate., 1879-11-15

Perhaps 10 no better way Is the progress
Of agriculture illustrated than in the maner
of applying manure now, and the course
Of practice of a century ago. No ono
thought Of applying manure on the surface
Il was dead vegetable matter and must be
buried and like all dead things the sooner
it was put out Of sight the greater profit
to the living plants. Morton, in his cy-
clopedia Of agriculture, well puts the belief
in the past when he says athe quicker farm
yard manure is buried the better"
This is not true. Any cyclopedist who
would write thus would not command tho
respect Of intelligent readers. There is
some difference Of opinion among some Of
our best farmers as 10 how near the sur
facs the manure Is to be put; but no one
iayors burying II. Some will have It that
il is best just above, some prefer It Just
below; but thai it should be somewhere
near the surface all believe.
The great argument used for burying
manure BY people Of the past was that 50
much Of the valuable matter escaped in
the atmosphere. So much benefit has been
found 10 result from surface manuring.
that many argue that what escapes is no
great loss. But this is probably an error.
IL is now known the reason for the great
fertility which follows dry season Is ow-
ing to the absorbent power Of dry earth
which takes in from the atmosphere the
nitrogenous particles which have escaped
from tho decaying vegetable matter This
shows that the atmosphere is mine Of
richness, and that we add to this mine
every time we expose our manure heaps
to its influences. Ii we can save this to
ourselves--if we can hold it from passing
into this airy nothingness--it must be our
advantage to do so.
! The advantages which have flowed from
surface-manuring are not probably because
there is no loss, but because the roots Of
plants can make better use Of what is left.
. If we dig out young tree VIC find that
most Of its roots are just beneath the sur.
/ face; an inch or SO deeper there are fewer
roots, and as we so deeper there are still
' less. We may find some roots six feet Ol
more down, but the bulk are Just beneath
the surface. The food 10 this surface
4 manuriDg system is therefore just where
y the mass Of roots can profit by it, Thi
/ is no doubt the plan In this way th'
!. surface advocates have won their vietory
4 in spite Of the loss, and because there i
a no loss Of good plant-food by the exposure
v This is the principle on which so mucl
!. good has been found to flow from mixin,
e dry earth with manure IL Is stated tha
a one Of the best farmers Of New York haul
: under cover during summer large quau
e tity Of dry earth, which be keeps dry an'
$ that during the winter season be adds thi
to his manure heap, about load for load
~ The result he says is that this load Of ad
4. ed earth is equal to another load Of stabl
il manure. Ii takes up the gases which h
N says would have gone into the atmosphere
n 1t has not added anything to the manur,
Of but simply saved what would have bee
A. lost.
le These are all things bearing on thl
ID question of deep-manuring. The soil b.
ID low is never very dry, and hence cam,
"a take up much. When near the surfas
Is the law comes into play The surfac
10 roots, surface-feeding and dry surface cart
les all argue against the deep deposit Of m
m. nure = Grmantoica Telegraph