Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-06-18
Make Manure.

There is probably no country on the
face of the earth where so great proper
ton of the elements of fertility in the ma
nure are destroyed by careless handling as
in the West. The inherent richness of the
virgin soil, the ease with which it may be
cultivated, the scarcity and high price of
farm labor, the large areas cultivated by
individual farmers, and the comparatively
low price of the principal crops on the
farm, have all tended to this. Neverthe-
less, says the Western Ruraz, we have con
stantly reiterated that it will pay to save
manure in the West, and the time is not
far distant when manure will become an
absolute necessity. The following by a
correspondent Of the Anerican Farmer of
Baltimore, Nd, although written from an
Eastern standpoint, where manure is alb
solutely the life of the soil, will neverthe-
less commend itself to every thinking
farmer of the West:
Ii the farmer wishes to make a good
crop OF hay he must manure his land
thoroughly. Two or three tons of timothy
hay per acre is good crop IF the farmer
wishes to make a good crop of corn, he
must manure his land we'll Good land,
well cultivated, in good seasons, ought to
make from forty to one hundred and thirty
bushels of corn to the acre. If the farmer
wishes to make twenty, thirty, forty bush
els OF wheat to the acre, he must have his
land in good condition. Large crops of
wheat are not grown on poor, badly-culti-
waited land. If the farmer wishes to make
large crops OF potatoes, sweet or Irish, or
line cabbage or tarnips, he must make his
land rich Poor land won't Weld large
crops Of potatoes or cabbage.
sable want of the farmer is manure. Ifthe
farmer can make or buy plenty of good
manure, he can have fine crops of hay,
without manure is discouraging, profit
less avocation. sa
To make manure, then, is the leading
idea of farmers life All farm stock,
horses, beef cattle, hogs, sheep, should be
stabbed or inclosed Certainly at night in
yards well Uttered with straw or weeds.
Every animal, all poultry, should contri-
butte it's quota to the manure bank. ALI
weeds, litter, loose dirt should be placed
on the manure bank.
Wet straw, wet cOrnstalks, ETC., are not
manure. Manure is a cOmpost-is yege-
table matter animalized by well-fed ami
mails. The barn ought to be on sloping
AAANAo>>O3 w
cattle might be in the foundation-th hay,
grain, ETC., be secured above. In this way,
grain and hay may be secured in the barn
and made into manure in the BARNARD.
Every horse and cow ought to manufac-
ture manure. Swine and sheep make the
best ofmanure. Hen manure is probably
the richest Of all manure, containing 8.4
per cent. of ammonia.
If the farmer were to make four or five
Or six fOur-horse loads of manure in one
year, for every horse, cow and hog on his
farm, his farm would improve rapidly.
This he may do by using straw litter, etc.,
freely in stables.
But in addition to the manure from the
barn-yard and hog-pen and poultry-house,
the farmer should SOW clover freely, let it
attain its full growth, and see that one crop
at least is left on the soil. The GOOD far
mer improves his land from clover-the
poor and thoughtless farmer NAV SOW
clover and impoverish his soil by injudi-
cious grazing. Some farmers use lime.
others buy ground bones, others buy phos-
pilates, the various alkalies etc. All are
good if properly made and properly used.