The Republican journal., 1870-01-27
COMMERCIAL MANURES.

Ut his excellent address on commercial manufeS,
Gently delivered at Augusta. This address ought
10 he in the hands of every farmer. oar limited
-pace prevents doing more than abiding TO its lead
~ points.
Formerly when BOYS stuck by the farm, and
hired labor was cheap, both ends could usually be
made 10 meet simply by using the barn-yard ma
uure. now when the boys desert the place and Ia
or is too costly to hire the farmer hears of ferti-
m, which NAV be bought used with little labor,
.. Weld good crops and leave margin Of hand
ue profits. Vet he finds much uncertainty as
.. ihe values OF these concentrated manures-some
.ruvng dear that are cheap, some cheap that are
I,:i Nc that liz is ut "A loss whether TO buy or not
New England soils lack three great clements
e. Nitrogen in some combination from which
iuts can get it, The source of this Is the nitrates
ammonia which Yields it,
!. Potash. Our soils contain enough Of it, but
~ is So insolubIe not to be III an available form,
nd SO requiring phoSphorie acid in some form to
render it soluble.
g. Phosphoric acid This, so essential as a sol
vent Of soil potash and to the growth of bones, is
tnt spargly present in most of our soils; so much
Sd, ,ha, often plants have a sickly growth, and ami
r.l. .uhsi-tng 1n them, bone diseases" And
NM tl. ,namer,iM fertilizers ly whatever name
.alcl from gu.noS Jo poudrrtte~ which are worth
lauro then ~ vent il lb.. owe their main value to
on, or the other or All of these same nitrogen pot
a,D nn4 pbo.lhofc acid.
The term commercial manures" simply mean
tlo,e whlcn are purchased is distinguished from
those 4 farmer makes.
LIME Til, is special not L general manure,
Useful or harmful according to many circumstan-
1i..lt ta stiff T,Ia tn sails
.l vet and iudolent, resembling the chronic thrift
lcS>ne-s Of some people, lime acts like a charm; is
also u>efal IN composts of peat and muck, to pro-
mote lie decay Of vegetable fibre and 10 destroy
SOM harmful compounds Of iron sometimes found
lu them.
HYrSUM Plaster Of Paris and ,ulphate of lime
~, It's other names. ON some soils this is the very
best and cheapest manure; worthless on others
Nobody knows how 1t operates Tried OH d small
s4lc j, the only who can tell whether your
sltt viii be benefited by it. With gypsum many
laul- viii produce abundant clover, and this will
produce corn wheat or grass; here don't stint
li, plaster and clover seed.
loNEs. Nearly A fourth part of these by weight
i- hos >phoric acid, in the form, mostly, of phos-
,horAte Of lime: contain also 3 to 6 per cent. of
animal matter Welding nitrogen Bones require
powerful machinery TO fine them; and about WORTH
less unless made tine. When not convenient to
grld them, break them as small as possible; mix
Ntl leached ashes and vet the mass better if
warmed. The difference between this and & sl-
lerhoS phate" is, This is merely u fine division of
tlie bones by dissoyng the cement which held their
PARTICLES together; while in the latter they are
.na,e soluable by means Of an acid; the ashes be-
luS not tling 10 dissolve but mill to grind
chem.
CuANu. This has small per cent. of potash
and about half much phosphate Of raw bone; ;
hut lis great value lies in it, nitrogen; and this in
form to be used by plants the dearest thing one
ha- to buy. Like other nitrogen mamlres its prn-
,pal use j, for grain and grass crops, and on lands
egh in mineral constitutes. Where these are much
wanting, is in New England gllano cannot long
Ie used without impoverishng the soil, unless the
uulk If al that Is produced hy it is used upon the
farm aud returned TO the soil as manure \ ma
nure richer III ammonia than the phosphate> is not
profitable; this il the case with Peruvian Guano,
while fish su;uo, or porgy- y-chum. so plentiful along
eur shores, has more phoSphates and less am
lpouI. and 50 is better and cheaper than the SIano.
This fish guano is not 50 well cured rs it ought TO
ha; when well dried Immediately on coming from
The press it is one half as valuable as Peruvian
stPEErnospuArEs. These mean It concentrate
I'd compost manure, having considerable soluble
pho,phoric acid, with more or less that is insolu-
hIc besides matters containing nitrogen, and is
tho kind most used in New England. Its phos-
phorlr acid is not expected to be chemically pure
for this would cost 50 b.. while % cents is all it
would pay as a manure,
To be II really good article, it should contain not
uol less than 80 per cent. of phosphates, onehalf
of ii in condition to be dissolved at once the other
hait As fast aS it may be required by the plants.
such an article made on large scale can be sold
wholesale, about three cents a pound. At this
irice, even on long transportation it will usually
pay, judiciously used. The trouble is as all de-
l"nds on the honor skill and fidelity of the manu-
lecturer, you can never feel sure whether YOU are
getting a good or bogus article and for this rci-
son great odum has come to attach tc the name
superphosphatcS; and so, like persons of bad re-
pue, they have changed their names into Ammon-
ated Guano, Soluble Pacific Guano, Phospho
Guano SC; The rogue changing his name as often
detected in his Swindng.
Never use amy of these when it is possible to OBJ
tain iarm-yard manurcs; and the great care of
every farmer should be to save all the excreti of
The stock, especially the liquids which are often
The most valuable part, by plenty OF dry muck,
rhrth, &c, 10 absorb them. And the eXcreta of
'he family, As we showed in an article on earth
'ioNetH last year, if properly Utilized in this way
VIII yield n large amount of the richest fertilizers
5ilt 1t Is often asked Is there no way of prevent
lhg fraud Ill these commercial manures so as to in
sure good and cheap article? Very difficult. All
your " rigid inspection laws" amount to nothing
for It IL only chemical analysis that can detect the
fraud and this requires costly apparatus and a
long time to test single specimen; add to this that
every parcel must 60 through this slow and costly
process and it will be seen that the cost of detect
ug the fraud would be more than the value of a
good article. The law passed at the last session of
the Legislature. requiring labels to be attached to
the parcels, stating the composition of the article
providing to recover much on every pound de-
eient therein, is hoped will mitigate if not cura
the evil.
Encouragement in the Use of all these patent
manureS is as often of failure as fraud in
them. The best way for all these is not to put the
whole amount in hills as is usually done, but to
compost twothirds thrcc-tourths of it with barn
yard manure if any of this is to be used, spread
ana harrow it in, applying the remainder to the
mis- If no other dressing is to be uscd spread
ana harrow in these Onp-haf or tWo-thr,Is mt.