Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1865-08-17
The Collection, Manufacture and Preser-
walton of Manures. y


nis point to be doubted that millions Of
dollars worth Of excellent manure are wasted
and frittered away annually by the IMPROVE
dent habits Of our farmers. There is scarcely
any farm Of moderate size upon which sufil-
cieut manure might not be saved to supply
the loss sustained by the soil in the crops
that are taken from it. 1t were an easy mat
Ter for any farmer who would set about it in
the right way to qusdruple his annual stock
Of manure, and also to furnish it to bis land
in the strongest, richest and most soluble
form. We have an abiding faith in the
ability Of any farm that is properly managed
and is in reasonable condition of fertility, to
supply, as to- manures. all the wants OF that
farm. If however, such stock as is kept is
turned out into the highways and bye ways
for pasturage, and if nearly all the straw aud
hay are annually sold off the farm We have
no hopes either of the farmer or Of his
land To be really just to himself he must
be just to the soil that yields him support.
He feeds the horse that works for him, why
should be not also feed and feed we'll the land
that produces for him. The latter pays back
q generous interest for all that it receives, and
it is the height of folly to take all from it and
restore nothing or next 70 nothing to it. He
10 the best farmer who not only cares for the
welfare Of his stock but also the welfare of
bis land, we have yet to see the labor of such
q man thrown away. The use of commercial
fertilizers, excellent as they are in their way,
has had the effect in many instances, to bring
about the neglect of domestic manures, and
it Is with view to stimulating our friends to
the exercise Of more rigid economy in this
respect, that we urge upon them the advan-
tage they would derive from turning their at
tention more closely than ever before to the
production on the farm itself, of all the man
ure that it requires. In the first place, most
Of them will acknowledge that their barn yard
manure might be husbanded much better than
it is at present. In the generality of cases it
is carclessly thrown into the barn-yard and is
exposed to burning suns and teaching
rains for months together. When nearly all
the salts are washed out Of it, and much of it
is fre-fanged, it has become comparatively
worthless; and yet this is the state in which
it is usually applied to the soil. In some in
stances. however, it is carted out and spread
in its crude state, and this green manure,
consisting principally Of merely stained straw
is expected to perform all the Offices Of an
efficient fertilizer. How much better would
it be if the stock of u farm were housed and
soiled and all the manure thus secured, care
fully collected, beaped up. and protected from
the weather. How much better still would it be
if to this manure were added, from time to
time, the slops and wash-water from the
house, the wood and sifted coal ashes derived
from the domestic fires, the refuse weeds aud
turf of head rows, the scrapings of bitches
marsh mud, woods mould and decayed leaves
and, in fact. all the organic and inorganic
substances that the vicinity supplies Lei
these, as they are collected. be regularly
formed into compost with the manure to the
barn-yard, at the rate Of one-third of manure
to two-thirds Of the other substances. ant il
this work were carefully attended to and the
process of fermentation arrested at the righ
time, the entire heap would be reduced, wher
mixed together before carting out, to al
equal condition of fertility, with all its ele
ments rendered sufficiently soluble to affort
At once appropriate nutriment for any croI
to which they might be applied.
There never was a time at which, in the his
tory of our country, more rigid economy wa
demanded of our farmers, and in the manu-
facturc and conservation of domestic manure.
they will not only save the large sums o
money now annually expended in the pur'
chase of commercial fertilizers, but will furn
ish to ther soil those constituents which or.
most permanent in their effects. and, there
fore, of the greatest possible value. But il
the collection Of manures and in the manufac
ture of composts, it is not enough that the,
ere properly attended to in the first instance
They must also be adequately protected
against waste. We do not expect. from thu
smaller class Of farmers. that they shall b.
able to provide structures to shelter the heap
from the influence of the weather; but the,
can accomplish similar end by covering
them with a sufficient layer of earth, which
in process Of time will also be impregnatc'
with at least portion Of the virtues of th
manure it is designed to protect. Will GU
friends think over this matter? 1t is one O
vital importance to them, and with dee
ploughing, and by reducing the extent Of tn
hoed crops and increasing the quantity G
land laid down to grass and clover, we ar
confident they would find their labours muo
more lucrative. -Farmcr and Mechanic.