Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-08-02
sfarin, Garaeu 4 aJullseIrold
ENRICH THE SOIL.


To gather up the fragments that nothing be
lost; to collect together and use for manure
all the waste animal and vegetable matter
that is no longer directly seryieeable to man,
should be the object OF every farmer who
wishes to reap plentiful harvest, and at the
same time improve the soil he cultivates.
And yet in visiting many farms it is not unu-
sual to see ashes and rubbish scattered about
or thrown into heaps, often the accumulation
of several years. A spot of land bare of veg
citation marks where barrels we're emptied of
their brine; while woolen rags, bristle', hair
and old bones disfgure what should be a well
kept yard
On visiting some back lot we shall find
mounds, where the carcasses of animals that
have died in the service, sheep, poultry and
swine, are buried, too deep to be Of use to
the growing vegetable. Too many farmers
seen to think Il they each spring cart out the
manure from the farm yard and stable, that
they restore to the land what was taken away
in the crop the previous year. but never was
there a greater mistake. The manure is what
the animal rejects. The most valuable por-
ton of the soil, that which is assimilated first
by the plants, and afterwards by the animal,
is found not in the excrements of the animal,
but in the animal itself. In this are found
all the elements for the highest organisms.
Hence we see the value of the blood, hair,
flesh and bones Of the animals; they restore
to the soil not only the materials for produ-
cling the vegetable, but they constitute that
portion Of the vegetable which builds up ami
NAL tissue Not only is the yield of grass
aud turnips greater when grown on soil ma
ured with animal refuse, but an equal amount
oft is more nutritious than that grown on
land which is not so treated.
1t is true that the amount Of animal refuse
which the farmer can readily obtain is very
small when compared to the mass of decayed
vegetable matter that is under his control.
But if he will industriously save what he has,
he will add to his soil substances which make
up in value what they lack in amount.
Hair, bristles, wooden rags and blood have
only to be placed on the ground and plowed
under. The parings of the hoofs of horses
constitute a most valuable manure, and eau
always be obtained at no greater expense than
the cost of gathering them up. The same is
true of the refuse parings of tan-yards and
curriers' shops.
1t requires more labor to render bones i'm
mediately valuable to the crop, than it does
the other portions of the animal, for if APP
piled whole, their decomposition is very slow. !
They require to be pulverized, and the finer
the powder, the better the results. As a top,
dressing for grain, grass, or turnips, there is
nothing that equals this kind of fertilizer.
Ashes are in one sense the bones Of plants; |
they contain all the earthly matter, and when
the wood is imperfectly burned, there is con
siderable vegetable substance in the form Of
charcoal. Their use as a top-dressing for
grass and corn in the earlier stages of its
growth, is always attended by the most hap
py results. All vegetable matter, and waste
or decaying substances; even the sitting of
coal ashes, chips rubbish of various kinds,
should be carefully collected; and wet from
day to day with suds slops of the house, it
win become Of great value. Too much atten
ton can hardly be given to this feature in
agriculture Prairie Farmer.