It can be plowed under at once,
and left to ferment and decay in the soil. The process of
decomposition will tend to banish its cold, inert qualities, and
make the ground loose, open, and amenable to the influences of
frost, sun, and rain.
Does the owner of light, warm soils ask, "What, then, shall I do
with my stable-manure, since you have said that it will be an
injury to my garden?" I have not said this--only that it will do
harm if applied in its raw, hot, fermenting state. Compost it with
leaves, sod, earth, muck, anything that will keep it from burning
up with its own heat. If you can obtain no such ingredients, have
it turned over and exposed to the air so often that it will decay
without passing through a process approaching combustion. When it
has become so thoroughly decomposed as to resemble a fine black
powder, you have a fertilizer superior to any high-priced patent
compound that can be bought. Further on I will show how it can be
used both in this state and also in its crude condition on light
soils with the best results.
It is scarcely possible to lay too much stress on this subject of
fertilizers. The soil of the garden-plot looks inert: so does
heavy machinery; but apply to it the proper motive power, and you
have activity at once. Manure is the motive power to soil, and it
should be applied in a way and degree to secure the best results.
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