It is generally conceded that the best all-round fertilizer for plants is decayed _barn-yard_ or _stable manure_. It not only adds fertility to the soil, but by its decay it helps to make the mineral particles soluble and thus available as plant foods. As already indicated, it also improves the physical condition of the soil, making sandy soils more retentive of moisture, and rendering clay soils more porous. When applied in the spring it should be decayed or partly decayed, as in this condition it is immediately available for the use of the crop. If it is put on the ground in the fall, fresh manure may be used and plowed under. By the time that the planting season arrives it will be sufficiently decayed. If there is no objection on the score of appearances, stable manure, either fresh or decayed, may be applied in the form of a thin mulch (a layer on the surface of the ground) at any time when the plants are growing. The fertility is gradually washed down into the soil by rain, and a loose covering of this kind is of additional advantage in that it helps to prevent the loss of water from the soil by evaporation. This mulch must _not_ be worked into the soil so that it comes in contact with the plant roots, but should be left on the surface until it is dug under the following fall or spring. Discretion must be exercised in its use. Root crops, that are already growing luxuriantly, such as beets or carrots, or crops that are grown for their fruit, such as beans and tomatoes, would probably be harmed by a surface dressing of this kind. Barn-yard manure is rich in nitrogen, which is a great stimulant of leaf growth. If it is applied too freely to the crops just mentioned it is likely to result in an excessive crop of leaves at the expense of roots or fruit. A dressing of stable manure two or three inches thick all over the plot or at the rate of from three to five hundred pounds to a plot twenty by twenty feet is about the right quantity to use when the ground is dug or plowed. _Sheep manure_ is perhaps the next in importance of the organic manures and is more concentrated than barn-yard or stable manure. It can be applied at the rate of forty pounds to four hundred square feet. It is better to spread it over the surface immediately after the ground has been broken up, and thoroughly mix it with the surface soil by means of a rake or harrow. _Hen manure_ is still more concentrated and should be used in the same way, or as a top-dressing after the crops have started their growth. Twenty pounds to four hundred square feet is a suitable amount to apply. To facilitate its distribution it should be mixed with dry earth and kept in a dry place for a few weeks before it is desired to apply it.