The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-09-25
FALL MANlJRING.
An Excellent Time for Applying Fcrtiliz'
ers to the Soil.


A great mistake is made by many
farmers in the use Of manure in the fall
by leaving 1t in heaps IN the field until
II can be spread over the land. II Is
quite common to see these manure heaps
thus lying for months exposed to the
weather. This is great waste. The
rain washes the soluble part of the
heaps into the soil, and this portion Of
1t is of far the greatest value, what Is
left being bereft of almost all its fer
tilizing elements. Consequently few
spots of the field arc made exceedingly
rich while all the rest Is scarcely
manured mt all. The wheat or rye in
the manurcI places is too rank, and will
fall down and yield nothing, while the
remainder is starved for want of food.
Thus the crop is damaged instead of
benefited and the land Is no better than
before.
In spreading manure for the wheat
crop it is convenient to drop it in small
heaps, as by this means it can be meas
ured out accurately over the land. But
it should be scattered as it is dropped.
There is no extra expense or loss of
time about this, for 1t must be done
some time, and there is a great gain, rs
has been shown in doing It at the right
time. There is no loss in spreading
manure over the land ut any time II 1t
is scattered evenly, or with due regard
to the needs of the land. There is often
a marked difference in the quality of
the land in the same field, for various
reasons, and this should be taken into
account in the manuring. The less
fertile portions of the land should be
brought up gradually by giving them
more manure than the remainder until
the soil is of even quality all through.
Manure that is exposed to the weather
loses its soluble substance and when it
is not spread where it is to be finally
used. When heaped in yards 1t loses
fully one-fourth of its value in three
months, the greatest part of the loss
being in the nitrogen, which is changed
into nitric acid or ammonia, and either
| is washed out by the rains or escapes
into the atmosphere. There is also a
loss of the inorganic portions of it,
chiefly the potash. which is washed out
by the rain as it is developed by the de-
composition of the organic matter.
When the manure is spread on the
fields no waste occurs, at least when il
is spread evenly. because every thing
most good and where it is wanted.
Many farmers, knowing this and having
opportunities to do so, spread the
manure rs it is made on the fields, and
thus use it with the greatest economy.
But is it evident that thecommon prac-
sice of top dressing wheat fields in the
winter is not desirable practice and
that the manure is far more beneficial
to the crop, and far more economically
used when it is used in the fall When
the land is frozen it can not absorb any
thing because the water which may fall
| upon the surface flows off at once and
necessarily carries off every thing which
is held in it in solution. Hence there
| is much loss of valuable matter caused
| by the washing of manure that is spread
in the winter, and the common prac-
tice of top dressing grain fields at that
season is not to be commended.
In the fall use of manure it is by far
the best way to plow it in the soil; not
to bury it completely but to lap it in be-
tween the furrow slices from the top to
the bottom of them. 1t is then csm-
pletely mixed with the soil by subse-
quent narrowing, and can be quickly
reached by the roots of the young
plants. Moreover. the inert plant food
in it is very rapidly developed by the
active oxidation of the organic matter
in the soil, and this process is all the
more effective and rapid as the
soil is made finer by good cult
ure and tillage. Porous substances have
the power of causing the oxygen of the
air to act with exceedingly rapid effect
upon carbonaceous substances. This is
shown by the very common spontane-
GUS combustion of saw-dust, cotton
waste, woolen rags and similar SUBJ
stances which are saturated with oil; the
oxygen is condensed in the interestices
of the porous matter and so rapidly
oXidizes it that it heats and finally in
flames. Precisely similar action
takes place in porous mellow
soil, and the manure in it
is quickly decomposed, (decompo-
sition is slow combustion, and moth
ing less or more,) and brought into a
useful condition for the plants to feed
upon. Hence the fall is an excellent
time for applying manure to the soil
and plowing it in and distributing it by
narrowing, and the more the soilis pull
verified the better results are secured for
the crops.-M Y. Times.
ASS