There has been many heated debates here over the past year about manure, how it burns, how it overwhelms the plants etc so I thought you may like to read how it was done 200 years ago. The writer of the newspaper article below considered himself foremost in his field, but a collegue (in another field) consistantly produced far greater tonnage.
April 2.—Mr. Herod, observing by the papers that very heavy
crops of mangel wurzel had been raised, resolved to be, as he
says, " one pf the first among them." In 1817, he manured,
with twelve three-horse loads of rotten dung an acre, and raised
the plants on ridges. This crop weighed only sixty tons an
acre. In 1818, manured as before, and sowed the seed broadcast ;
produce the same as last year ; was then thirty tons short
of Mr. Phillips, who had grown ninety tons an acre. Recollecting
that gardeners trench their land deep, in. 1818, he trench-
ploughed an acre eighteen inches deep, first laying on ten three-
horse cart loads of dung, fresh from the farm-yard, which settled
to the bottom of the trench. In March, ten loads more
were laid on, and ploughed in twelve inches deep. In April it
had a third dressing, as before, and ploughed a little more shallow.
In the middle of May it was ploughed and sown broadcast.
The plants were hoed out at 12 inches by 12. In September,
the tops being large and heavy, were rifted off, and
given to the cows and pigs. In November another crop of tops
had grown. The whole were then taken up, and weighed 80
tons 5 cwt.; still short of Mr. Phillips's near 10 tons.
That's at least 60 tons of fresh bullshit an acre the year after feeding 25 tons per acre. AND still he was beaten.
I thought I was heavy with the muck?
