Fresh mulching was piled near all the young fruit trees, to be applied
as soon as the frost was out of the ground. Several hundreds of loads of
manure were hauled to the fields, to be spread as soon as the snow
disappeared. I always return manure to the land as soon as it can be
done conveniently. The manure from the hen-house was saved this year to
use on the alfalfa fields, to see how well it would take the place of
commercial fertilizer. I may as well give the result of the experiment
now.
It was mixed with sand and applied at the rate of eight hundred pounds
an acre for the spring dressing over a portion of the alfalfa, against
four hundred pounds an acre of the fertilizer 3:8:8. After two years I
was convinced that, when used alone, it is not of more than half the
value of the fertilizer.
My present practice is to use five hundred pounds of hen manure and two
hundred pounds of fertilizer on each acre for the spring dressing, and
two hundred pounds an acre of the fertilizer alone after each cutting
except the last.
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