The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-17
If covered in any other way than merely
being rolled in.
Autumn Application of Manure.


The application Of manure In autumn,
when IL can be properly done, has some
special advantages over spring manuring,
says tho Country Gentleman. l. The
ground Is not so much like mortar; ,. the
wagon wheels do not cut deeply into the
soil; 5, 1t is not parched and hardened into
clods; 4, the autumn rains carry the soluble
parts Of the finely-spread manure down into
the soil, among the particles Of which it is
more finely and intimately diffused than
could be done with pillow or harrow.
These and other advantages are so valu-
able thst farmers have found falI-spread
manure worth nearly twice sc much for the
next corn crop as when the application was
postponed and the manure applied in spring.
1t Is, however, important, and should be
distinctly borne In mind, that the manure
should be finely broken and pulverizsd, so
as to become Uniform stratum over the
ground, and not be left in Jumps, in which
condition it would be of little benefit A
Kemp spreader, when it could be used
would of course do the work perfectly.
Applied to grass land Of any kind. the ma
nure will be more perfectly diffused through
the soil than on a bare surface. The numer-
Gus aud fine roots Of the grass extending
downward give a somewhat fibrous charac-
ter to the soil, through which the liquid ma
stratum OF bare earth.
Another advantage of fall spreading is
that coarser and more hbrous manure
may DO used than would be admissible for
spring work, the rains and melting SHOWS
dissolVinR nearly all the richest portions
and conveying them among the soil parti~
Giles, and leaving the partly decayed straw
on top to be turned under by the next plow-
ing. But in spring it must all be fine
enough to become thoroughly intermixed
by the harrow or else be nearly useless
Still another benefit is the protection which
it affords to the grass plants, particularly
in Il newly seeded field, thus serving as a
winter mulching.
Il may therefore be laid down as a nearly
invariable rule that any manure manufsct
ured in autumn should not be left unap-
piled through winter, especially if there are
any grass fields in the farm. The accumu-
Lotions from the horse sable, and the drop
pings in the cattle yard should be thus with
out failure brought Into valuable use; and
there are other smaller sources of manure
which should not be overlooked. In this
connection it il well not to omit pulverizing
the Jumps and heaps from the droppings of
cattle in pastures, by narrowing IL abund-
ant, or by hand If scattered.
The objection which is sometimes made
that winter-spread manure will be lost by
the washing of rains, we have never heard
from any person who has made a careful
trial. On the co trary, all the accurate
tests we have witnessed have shown that
the soil is capable of absorbing the liquid
portions as fast as the thawing snow and
washing rains bring it out. The very thin
stratum of manure, even when there are
twenty tons to the acre-only sixth of an
inch thick-has all its enriching portions
easily absorbed by the soil on which it rests
The only exception to the perfect absorp-
ton is in the bottoms of hollows where large
brooks are formed by heavy rains, but
these exceptions constitute a very small
portion Of the arabic or grass land of most
farms, and no good farmer will spread his
manure in such places.
Where there is danger that fall-spread
manure may not be sufficiently Incorporated
IL merely spread on the surface of plowed
or stubble land, it may be we'll TO give it a
thorough narrowing aftor it is spread with
any slant-tooth harrow which will not rake
it up, and will press il down into the mellow
soil IL will thus gradually become thor
oughly diffused, and be Of increased value
to the succeeding crop.
1t will be seen from the preceding re-
marks that most of the benefits mentioned
| will BIS obtained from spreading Ia winter
as we'll as in autumn, with the additional
| advantage some time of having frozen and
| hard surface over which to drive heavy
| loads Of manure for spreading. The work
may be performed daily or weekly as fast
as it is manufactured or accumulates. As
soon as the rain falls or the snow melts,
there will also be enough of the top soil
thawed to absorb and retain the dissolved
mamma