Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-01-25
Coos and Essex Farmers Club.
Monday Evening, Jan. Is, Is7a.
ESSAY BY carr. J.I. WILLIAMS.

-FOUR Executive COMMITTEE nave APP
pointed me 10 read an essay to YOU this
evening ON the application Of fertilizers,
in connection Wits the subject nUw under
discussion, Wis GLOW Ia maze Farming
Pay" In complying whEs thefr request
1 much regret that cannot embOdy in
this essay more OF peFseRal experience.
must therefore request that should
advance any theory, or state rs taets Eny-
thing that may be questioned by II mem
Der Of the club, he will at once call for
proof, so that we may aflow no state
ments that are erroneous, or conclusions
that may be detrimental ii acted upon,
to receive your silent approval. 1t Is
too often the case in meetings of this
kind that we hear farmer say afterwards
that he knew from actual trial that such
and such views there advanced were false,
but said nothing either from fear OF inter-
rupting the speaker or from difiidence.
Among the many requisites OF good
farming are soil, manure and proper care
and Judgment in cultivation. As regards
soil we may give ourselves but little con-
Germ. Notwithstanding ali that has been
written and said regarding its analysis,
ETC., the conclusion of the best theorists
universally has been that soils with
very few exceptjons( contain enough oil
all the mineral elements for the growing
of any crop. Manure forms the first and
constitutes the main element OF success
over which the farmer has control. On
its intelligent use all the profits of the
years work hinge. In times past, and /
fear too much in the present we have made
farm yard manure the saving panaeca of
all the ills OF the farm; we strove like
the quack with his patent medicine to
make it heal all the wounds we had in
ficted on our farms by shallow, sloven
cultivation, and repeated exhausting crop
pings. 1t has fulfilled our expectations
in surprising manner, and sustained
our soils against system of treatment
naught else could have done, and it is to-
day and will be in the future our main
reliance. Only by strictly investigating
the properties OF the different animal
manures derived from our farm yards,
only from closely studying the best modes
Of their preservation and application to
the soil, also their adaptation to the
different crops, can we row look for
future profit from our farms tor the orig
inah fertility which had been for ages ac-
cumula.ing in our primeval forests is fast
being exhausted.
Manure acts upon the soil in two ways
1st, by communicating to 1t those juices
which nourish the plant. I'd, by chemi-
cal action on the soil, decomposng its
com ,Oncnt substances and recomposing
them under other forms, thus fitting them
to be absorbed by the suckers of the
plant. In addition to the elements formed
in the soil or drawn from the air, veget-
able life and fertility depend wholly on
Il substance called by chemists GENE, and
the salts. Geine having the power by its
mere presence of converting and simu-
lating the silica and salts OF the soil into
vegetable growth, is the great element OF
all fertility. There are two sources rom
which it can be obtained, viz: animal
manure and decomposed vegetation. In
yard manures it exists (according to
Dana) in the following proportions: cow
dung, geine, thirteen one-hundredths
horse manure, GENE, twenty-seven one
hundredths. The amount of gcine, or
richness of manure, depends much upon
the quality OF the TODD, and condition OF
the animal, the excrement OF poor and
starved cattle being hardly. worth saving.
Manure OF sheep, swine anil night soil
may be classed together rs being more
rich in salts and ammonia and requiring
more care in their preservation.
Three sheep will manure thoroughly
an acre of ordinary land. The urine oil
all animals is yet more valuable. Uric
acid is II powerful stmulant to all vegets
ton. The urine of Il COW is estimated by
Dana at ten dollars year; that of Il
horse little less yaluables that of Il pic
and man containing phosph,tes is much
more valuable. Thus we see we have d
mine of wealth in the animal manures Of
our farm yards, ii we do not suffer it to
run to waste.
The geine and all the salts contained in
the manlres are easily absorbed and
washed out by water, so that it is abso.
lutely necessary that the manure contain
ing them should be protected from snow
rain, ana running water. The urine should
be absorbed by vegetable or earthly sub.
stances which will retain it without fer.
mentation till applied to the soil. Again
\ the ammonia contained In the excrement>
OF all animals, especially of the horse, is
very volatile and should be excluded
from sunlight, and nlDistened sufficiently
to prevent excessive fermentation or fire
tanging. The best plan can recommend
is to have pit or box under your horse
stalls into which the urine which is not
absorbed by the bedding, will run; thi;
to be dipped or pnmped on to- the manure
heap every few days. also> sprinkle the
= manure heap every few days with sui
phate OF lime (plaster of Rarisl which
has great affinity for the ammonia. There
is probably no way in which plaster can bt
used with better result than by literally
sprinkling it ON the excrements, OF botE
cattle and horses. The manure OF sheep
hens and the privy should be kept dry
and sprinkled frequently with dry earth
road dirt or sand. Let every farmer
draw during the dry days in August the
dust from the road. or fine sand from
some knoll or bank and store it under ;
shed; let him use 1t ON the floor OF hi.
horse or cattle stable, in his sheep sheds
under the hen ro0sts and in the privy; h,
will thus obtain Il large supply OF tertili
zers, worth as much or more than the
commercial phosphates that are sold fo
$50 per ton, and at the same time avoit
those nauseous smells that too frequent,
abound in our farm yards.
Again, whatever you may use for bed
: ding or absorbents ina your stables
always bear in mind that they must b'
decomposed and reduced so fine that they
can be absorbed and carried by water be
f fore they can be of any avail to supper
plant lite, therefore it is profitable to Gu
the straw as fine as possible, also shove