The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1872-05-04
Manufactured Fertilizers and the Home.
Made Article.

Every newspaper that has rural circu-
lation is certain to abound with advertise
ments of highly concentrated fertilizers,
said advertisements being in our opinion
so many lures to unwary farmers to dis
burse theiy hardly acquired dollars for ar
ticles that in the aggregate afford no cor
responding returns. Guano is highly
concentrated manure, is also costly one,
and serves only to push forward one crop;
it does not mellow the soil; neither does it
deepen it. Bone dust is of the same char
acter, only that bone dust in a given guam
tity contains more valueless material than
guiana does as all the gelatine portions of
bones are unstimulating in their nature,
the lime and phosphates contained in the
bone dust are the fertilizing portions Of it.
So might we write in regard to dozens Of
other materials, all offered to the public
with no other guarantee than the word of
the Sellers save now and again a reference
to some wiseacre of 4 farmer who was too
indolent to make the most of his own barn
yard manure, ana who to obtain crop
spent money on that which was at best but
the worst resource. What we would now
especially draw the attention of our read
ers to is the enormous annual waste of rich,
natural manure that is permitted all
through this country. Not only does the
ignorant rustic allow his barn-yard to pre-
sent spectacle of utter neglect, but
the wealthy land owner ignores the
necessity of neatness. Stables, cow-house,
pigseries, and hen-roosts are only cleaned
when dire necessity compels the owner to
do so, and even then the sweepings are
thrown ont and exposed to the atmosphere
so that all the stimulating gasses are evol-
va1 f
knew something of agriculture as science,
and would put it in practice, the first
object of attention would be the manure
heap. Another source of loss to the agri-
cultural community is the waste permitted
in city stablesand in rail- Dad cattle yards.
These two resources alone, if properly
husbanded, would rapidly enrich the lands
adjacent to them; whereas now the manure
made in these places is more than half run
out before it is applied to the crops. 1t is
not enough to clean up cattle yards twice
annually. They should be kept clean. and
the cleanngs should be Immediately plac-
ed under cover; then sold in large lots
If railroad companies did thus, cattle yards
would not he, as they now are, disgrace
to civilization, and the net profit from the
sale of rich, weil-made manure would prove
handsome item in the yearly accounts
One class of persons would be the losers
the dealers in guano, bonedust, plaster,
and similar fertilizers. BY no means do
we wish to convey the idea that highly
concentrated manures are uselss, but we
do wish to impress the truth on our read
ers that, as farmers do not possess unlim-
tied funds to draw upon, economy is vital
object with them. Therefore, to waste
barn yard manure, and to spend large sums
inv, prtc g.,
humbugs is a short sighted policy indeed.
The system of top-dressing with stimulat-
ing manures is analogous to the school sys-
TEN of examining" 1t is to obtain an
immediate result, without looking for any
future benefit. When old grass land be-
comes sour and needs top-dressing the /
proper treatment would be to under-drain,
break up and regularly cultivate in success
sional crops, adding good, well decomposed
barn-y yard manure. When meadow-lands
need to be top-dressed, then rich muck,
into which has been Incorporated much
animal manure, is the proper stimulant, as
this covers the roots of the grasses and
prevents the too rapid escape of the gasses.
Dealers in manufactured fertilizers would
recommend the application of some one or
other of the scores of nastinessess they
deal in, and farmers purchase of them for |
no other reason than that they have been
thriftless, and that, in consequence, the |
home manufactured article is poor lifeless !
mass, devoid of plant food; in place of |
being rich compost of many ingredients,
able to stimulate. to feed vegetable life and |.
to deepen and enrich the soil.
Notwithstanding the writer's opinion, as
in the above, Bone Dust-when
it can be obtained pure, such as the War
ings manufacture at Colora, in this county |.
is one of the best and most permanent |
fertilizers to be found. No manure is /
superior to it for grass. |