Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1901-04-05
FARM AND GARDEN.
Manures and Soils.

The practice Of hauling manure 10 the
field and spreading 1t as made In the
winter is fast gaining ground and is FOL
lowed by many Of our best farmers me
objection to this practice is not so much
in the waste or loss Of fertilizlng ele-
ments through Ieeching as through tne
loss of mechanical effect upon the SOL
which results from blowing under ifesn
manure from the stable or yard. Tnls Is
IN acme extent lost when the GROUND
unon which II has been spread during the
winter Is pIowed In the spring. we
,b,nh this mechanical effect from fresh
manure Moved under has been overesti-
mated but gladly give the opinion OF
successfu, farmer In the Ohio Farmer
upon the subject:
But what of its action on the SOIL wneh
plowed under as applied, in lberating
plant food, improving its texture, ETC.,
by fermentation therein? This beneh-
cial action, think, is almost lost by
applying in winter when 1t cannot be
plowed under. Walk over field In
April, where the manure has been evenly
scattered during winter, and how much
will be found in sight to cause fermenta-
ton when plowed under? Besides this,
we think 1t has an injurious effect or the
soil, making it soggy when plowed In
the spring, as any one may observe who
has clay farm. An example of what is
gained by applying and blowing at once,
we observed, several years ago. In the
month of November we applied all the
manure on hand and plowed 1t under at
once on part of field Of sod for corn.
The whole of the piece was plowed about
the same time. The part of it for which
we did not have manure to pillow under
was top-dressed with the same amount
and the same quality at intervals through
the winter. The result was puzzle to
me for long time. The yield Of corn
where manure was plowed under was
almost double that where it was put on
top after blowing. The difference could
be plainly seen at forty rods distance, the
stalks being from u to Is inches taller,
thicker, and nearly all bearing large ears.
The following year the whole field was
planted to corn, and the difference was
Just as remarkable. TO what cause shall
we attribute this great difference in yield,
if not to the action of the manure In the
soil? Taking these things into account
we think it best for those who can spare
it to draw out only as long as it can be
turned under at once, and apply the
other in spring as soon as it can be done
in this way. But If our best place to
keep it is a wet, muddy barnyard, or
under the caves of barn destitute of
spouting, then draw and spread on the
land as 1t Is made.
GREEN MANURE AND NITROGEN.
Swedish investigators have been en-
gagged in testing the Importance of differ
ent green-manuring crops in the economy
of soil nitrogen during the fall months.
Pot experiments were made with buck
wheat and yellow mustard, and with the
legumes, the field pea, common vetch,
hairy vetch, Roman vetch, yellow lu-
pine, blue lupine, white lupine, common
kidney vetch, serradella, Melliotus alba,
and red clover.
The pots were filled with soil of very
light character, poor in humus and other
fertilizng constituents, having been
taken from field on which crops of rye,
barley, three years pasture and oats and
superphosphate corresponding to the
contents Of potash and phosphoric acid
in good crop of clover was added to all
pots. The seeding and narrowing under
OF the green manure crops were done at
such a time and In such a manner as
would obtain In field work.
The results show that buckwheat
caused loss of 126 pounds of nitrogen
to the acre, and that yellow mustard
caused loss of 40 pounds of nitrogen to
the acre. The legumes without excep-
ton increased the amount of the nitrogen
in the soil.
The field pea added 13l pounds of nj
trOgen to the acre, the common vetch 60,
the hairy vetch Al, the Roman vetch 1874,
the yellow lupine %, the white lupine AZ,
the trefOil 40, the serrsdella 30, and the
melilotus SO pounds to the acre. Thus
the legumes supplied four to five times
as much nitrogen during growth as did
mustard and buckwheat, and left the soil
richer at the end of the season by an in
crease of nitrogen equivalent to Is loads
Of barnyard manure per acre.
The pots were placed under cover over
winter, and in the spring sown to six
rowed barley. The results obtained at
harvest time were rendered valueless
through an accident, but the appearance
Of the barley throughout the vegetative
period clearly showed the superiority of
the legumes as green manures, and the
small trops In the buckwheat and mus
tard pots were ripe while the barley
plants in many Of the legume pots, nota-
bly, the field pea and the common vetch
pots, were still large and green.-Prof.
Il. c. Larsen In New York Farmer.
On the campus of the Chicago Universi-
ty this spring will be set fifty large elm
trees, transplanted at cost Of 800