Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1872-10-16
FARMERS col UMN.
The Manure Question.

There is in the whole range Of agricul
tural topics no problem more interesting
now than to bring up the fertility of ;
worn out soil. OF course there is Away
one answer-manure. But it is quit,
possible nay, it is often done-to spene
more on manuring than the crops will re
pay
What are commonly called city farm
ers often fall into the error of believing
that manure pays at any prics. They
have not the ripe experience which earl
and constant practice at farming gives
them. Abs rbrd in mercantile pursuit
while owning farm in the country, they
have enough owledge Of culture to ua
derstand that it does not pay to cultivst
poor land, and hence "John' ia instruct
ed to buy manure wherever lie can, on
the principle that manure always pays
for itself But it does not. We can
point to subniban farms of this class
which have been worked upon this prin.
eiple, which, so far as profits are concern
ed, have been failures, and which the
owners eventually gave up i'll disgust,
But suburban farmers are not the ouly
ones who make mistakes of this kind -
The practical man, Injured to farming
from hs infancy, knows as well as the
other that he cannot get good crops from
poor soil but he knows what hard work
j., and what the wear and tear of horses
aud implements comrs to. Hence he
will not bny stable manure at any price !;
but he does nearly the same thing on
special fertilizers and many a good farm
rr, especially in Delaware and Maryland
has ruined himself as 'ffeeualy in those
purchases as the celebrated city farmer
has in stable manure.
We have before US a treatise "On the
bet motho'2s q n4h'ny, .ow'Hs una ap
plying ma are but We confess that it
does not ailJrd much light on the great
problem. One of the prime recommen-
dations is 10 keep stock enough to make
manure but there are numberless farms
where tie stock would not pey for the
food they ate, even counting the ma
nure and the stock together. There are
of course some favored locations where
this would do; but as a general rule it
falls far short cf The answer which the
manure question requires. Then We are
told 10 save the hen manure; TO lock af-
ter the kitchen Stops; to dig out swamp
muck; to look after forest leaves 10
trample up straw in the stock yards all
these matters every farmer knows Of
They either are not worth the labor Civ |
en- to them, or furnish matters entirely |
inadequate to the wants of a large farm. !
After considering the whole field. we
doubt whether there is anything witch
better meets the general want than prop
or green manuring-that is the sacrifc-
ing of one crop for the benefit of the .
land We have in our eye a case in I
point. A. is a farmer who well under /
stands the value Of having his soil rich /
in order to yield profitable crops. From
a three acre tract of grass this spring he /
made four and half tons of hay-noth
ing to brag about. but then it was dry I
season. But later the warm rains cane,
and the second crop grew, so that it be- I
came a question whether it would pay to
NOW it again. 1t is proposed to put it
in corn next spring, and with As ideas
of of farming it will need heavy coat
OF manure, much of which he will buy. |
His first impression was to let it rot on
the ground but in view Of the high
price of hay, concluded to NOW it. He
could buy manure for less than the hay
was worth. We think lie made mis-
take in this decision. The cost of cut,
ting and curing this was certainly not
less than ten dollars, and rather poor
stuff at this. Not more than ton was
realized, worth, perhaps, twenty five dol
lars, and this not without considerable /
more labor in marketing, leaving not more
than ten or fifteen dollars profit on ths .
whole three acres. Now, the question
is, how far will ten or fifteen dollars go in |
manuring three acres of ground? 1t
will not, we think need much calculation
to show that not much was made by the
course adopted. AT the same time if the
second crop had been suffered to dIy up,
and waste away into the atmosphere, not
much better results would have been ob |
tanned. The wisest course would have
been to put about twenty bushels of
Stacked lime to the acre, and about the
end of August plowed the whole under
This would have made deposit of vege,-
able matter after being tolcrably well de-
composed, under the whole surface, of
some quarter of an inch thick, which, at
the rate at which manure sells about here
would be worth at least fifty Collars per
acre. This would cover the labor of
plowing, loss of hay, and still leave a
good margin to the credit of the fertility
of the soil.
We have little doubt that the final So
luton of the best way to renovate worr-
out land will lie in the direction of Judi
cious green manuring.- German 'oicn
Telegraph.