The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1869-11-19

POSTS.
We have so often referred to the adj
vantage of making composts, that to re-
peat the story seems almost supcrAuous
Yet there is nothing more certain than
that the manure heap is the farmers
bank Of deposit, that home made ma
nurcs arc the most economical of any,
and that the quantity of these may be
vastly increased by giving due attention
to the making of composts, which shall
contain all or nearly all the fcrtilizing
Ingredients required by the soil. New
ertheless, in nothing is the foresight of
many of our farmers found more want
ing than in the preservation of his ma
nure piles. In large number of in
stances the liquid portion of the ma
nure, containing in a concentrated form
the richest fertilzing ingredients, are
suffered to run TO waste, whilst the solid
portions are thrown out into the barn
yard to be lcachcd by rains, wasted by
drying winds, and suffered to become
rc-fangcd and comparatively worthless
through nattention and neglect. Ev
cry acre fortified from the barn-yard is
an acre yielding larger profit at har-
vest, and every additional acre rendered
fertile by the application of organic and
inorganic substances, DERIVED from
sources outside of the barn yard, and
suppIemcnting the manure thus obtain
ed, adds not only to the general pro
ductiveness of the farm, but to the
market value ofthe land. We do not
underratc the advantage Of commercial
fertilizers, for we know that, in con-
centrated form, they furnish, when pre-
pared by the best and most Trustworthy
manufacturers, and amount of soluble
plant food to the soil. But commercial
fertilizers, when literally applied-as
they ought to be if their action is to last
through several season, and they are to
assist in the process of a permanent
restoratiow of the soil-such fertilizers,
we say, cost considerable amount of
money, and the main reliance of every
farmer who desires to economist his
means, should be upon barn-yard ma
nurcs and we'll made composts. Wher-
ever stock is housed, well fed, and kept
in good condition through the winter,
every ten cart loads of manure, saved
as il should be with all its enriching
salts, will convert twenty additional cart
loads ofrough ibrous material, woods
earth, &C., into a compost that will be
equal, load for load, to the barn yard
manure itself, and the properties of this
compost will not be fugitive, but will as
sst greatly in the permanent renovation
of the soil. Here, then, are thirty loads
of first-rate manure made upon the farm
out of every ten loads piled UP in the
barn-yard. There are few farms of re-
spectacle size, where reasonable guam
tity of stock is kept, that cannot turn
out two hundred cart loads of manure
annually, and this two hundred cart
loads may be made six hundred by col
lecting an adequate quantity OF materl-
ais for compost and converting the
whole by fermentation with barn-yard
manure into fertilizer of the best
quality. Does any man doubt this p
Let him read that admirable pamphlet,
aDana's Muck Manual" which, though |
isucd years ago, still remains standard
authority on the subject.
The process, too, is easy. ltilnvolves
no extra outlay of consequence. 1t is
simply putting TO excellent use the per-
manent hands of the farm, in collecting
materials for compost, and the horses OF
the farm, that might otherwise be stand
ing idle, in bringing those materials
home.
The following process, published by
the writer of this article nine years ago,
has stood the test, and, if strictly follow
cd out, will satisfy any farmer of its nm
questionable value. tits proper also to
add, that the suggestions were de-
rived from the Manual to which we
have already referred:
'In the first place, the barn-yard
should be so constructed as to retain all
the liquid portions of the manure that is
derived from the stables and cow sheds.
/ III ShOUlu DC tlOiIOWtO III tItO NNittiSI et''N'
the soil of which it is composed should
be made as compact and retcntlve as
nossible. 1t should have a firm broad
roadway cncircling the hollow provided
\ for the reception Of the manure, SO as to
allow the passage of carts and wagons
for convenience of loading, and also tor
the better accommodation of the stock,
when turned out either for water, or for
an airing. Ali the central portion of the
ward should be deeply beddcd with re-
fuse straw, woods earth, and every va
rioty of rough fbrous materials that it IS
possible to collect together, and upon
which the weddings of the cattle are to
be thrown. This underlying strata Of
rough material will serve to absorb the
liquid portions of the manure and thus
prevent il from running to waste. Near