Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-05-23

Why is it that agricultural writer's will
persist in telling farmers to draw out the
manure every day as fast as 1t is made and
spread it on the ground at any time and at
all times \ large share Of such writers
know that such proceeding is both i'm
practicable and wasteful and they simply
say it because some one else has - HdHches-
ter Union
Writing in answer TO the above, A. w.
Cheever has the following seasonable talk
in Grange Homes
Does the Union believe that a large share
Of the agricultural writers of America de
liberately aud repeatedly state things as
true which they know to be false have
a better opinion Of men than that would
sooner believe that men make wrong state.
ments because they know no better. The
paragraph quoted from the Union is false,
but do not believe the writer knew it to be
so. | more think he knows nothing about
il
The belief was formerly very general
that stable manure. when hauled to the
field, must be ploved under Immediately or
great waste would follow When there was
not room for 10 at the stables farmers hauled
their store Of manure 20 the field aud put
1t in large piles to prevent waste. When it
was again handled ID was deposited in small
piles over the field 10 prevent waste. There
was little fear of waste so long as the ma
nure was IN piles, large or small, but there
was more waste then than if it had been
spread evenly over the ground " hen first
drawn out 1t is wAsteful labor to handle
manure more than Is necessary. 1t is waste
ful 20 place manure IN the field in such Il
way that the soluble portions will be min
InH ht. mn. la
he evenly spread the distribution of the ma
nurial elements will be uniform to the ad
vantage Of the succeeding crop, but if left
in heaps the crop will show an over rank
growth where the heaps were and weak
growth over other parts of the field.
Spreading II scanty application of manure
From small piles over grass sod is one of
the meanrst Jobs farmer or his hired man
ever did. 1t Is hard work and seldom well
done
For many years have made it prac.
tice to spread manure evenly over the ground
direct from the cart, and know that the
practice is anything but wasteful 1t saves
labor, the work is far better DONE and
there is no appreciable loss or waste of ma
nure Careful experiments and Ubserva
ton have shown that field MANFRED one
half in the fall on in the winter on the
SHOW anu tlte plutl NAH III spring Just De
fore planting, produces the largest crop
from fall or winter manuring. This is not
only my experience, but it is the experience
of many other agricultural writer's who
know what they are writing about, and who
do not write as they do simply because
some one else has
"Of course | would not haul manure
when too rainy to work out doors, nor when
the roads are blocked with snow, or the
weather so cold as TO freeze the manure
solid to the cart. Under such circumstances
hauling would be impracticable. The best
time to draw manure to the fields is when
there is some TO draw, when the weather
aud roads are favorable, and when there
are fields to be MANFRED. The best wav tC
dispose of it in the field is to spread it even
ly over the ground, whether bare, frozen
or covered with snow. The only possible
exception would be in case of snow on
very steep side hill.
The ordinary dsagreeable odor from sta
BILE manure is of no more mauurial value
than the fragrance of flowers on pure all
itself. The valuable gaseous element il
manure is ammonia, which is set free only
when the manure is in condition to be de
composed by fermentation. Manure spread
upon the surface does not ferment, conse
quently there can be no loss of ammonia.