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Show TO MANAGE NEBRASKA SOILS Manure Should Be Well Rotted Be fore Applied and Spread Evenly In Light Layers. "While 1 was inspecting some land 111 Scotts Eluff county, Nebraska, lasl summer, ! noticed that the majorltj of farmers had large manure piles ly lug about In their yards. It was only here and them that the manure had been hauled out. I ask.-d about the reason for this ami wa told that the sandy -soils In that county become too loose when manure Is applied to them and. In fact, that manure does more harm than good In that section. I observed that the corn crop was very small as compared with the crop in Iowii, which was undoubtedly due to the Impoverished condition of the solln. Can the Handy soils in that county be Improved? If so, how?" It Is a common opinion in the West that manure Is not good for land. Fanners believe It causes It to dry out ami the crops to burn up. This belief Is due to the fact that the manure ma-nure Is often applied, when not well rotted and Is put on In lare quantities quanti-ties per acre, and then plowed under. This method Is often practiced In more humid climates and often with beneficial effects for tho citHon that the manure. Is usually much better rotted In humid climates and because the land Is much heavier and the loosening effect of the manure Is bene-tidal bene-tidal rather than otherwise, but the most Important difference Is that In humid climates there would be sufficient suffi-cient rainfall to rapidly decompose the manure In the soil and compact It, while In western Nebraska there Is not enough rainfall to decompose this manure In the soil or to repack the soli after It has been plowed under. The result is that the inanuro remains re-mains in an underomposed condition In the soil for several years and keeps It In a very loose condition. It has been observed, however, that several years after manuring when It has become be-come well decomposed and Incorporated Incorpo-rated In the soil that the crops are greatly increased Just as they would be In Iowa soils. In other words, the manure Is Just as beneficial In western west-ern Nebraska as It Is In Iowa when It Is thoroughly decomposed and Incorporated In-corporated with the soil. In fact, the western soils are more In need ol humus than any other, due to the fact that there never has been a large growth of vegetation on this land. Extra precaution should be taken In the West to thoroughly rot the manure ma-nure before being applied to the land and then spread It on evenly In light applications, not more than 15 or 20 loads to the ucre. It Is also best to spread It on the land which has been plowed rather than to plow It under. If the manure Is applied In this wayi, the soluble, fertiliser elements will be washed Into the soli with tho first ralu and tho manure will also act as a mulch to the crop and prevent the blowing of the land. If these rules were observed by western farmers, they would find manure ma-nure Just as beneficial as do the Iowa fanners. |