The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-07-10
Manures-Natural and Commercial.

At the May meeting of the Maryland
State Society, Mr.. Sands made the fol-
lowing remarks:
Mr.. Sands said that whilst the farm
yard manure could not be dispensed
with, it was most materially assisted in
its operations upon the crops to which
it was applied by the addition of other
means Of fertilization to its bulk, or in
connection with its use-the condition
of the manure, too, was an important
consideration. Some of the barn-yard
manure was deprived of the necessary
ingredients of fertilization by being ex-
posed to the washings of the rains, it's
richest parts being carried off and lost
to the owner. He said that it had
been proved beyond doubt, by careful
experiments of the best practical farm
ers, that where manure in the barn
yard was carefully preserved from those
washings and put into heaps with plas-
ter sprinkled over it occasionally, and
covered with shedding, the result had
been found to exceed in the products to
which it had been applied, double the
value to that which had been managed
in the slovenly way which is so gener-
ally adopted by our farmers.
These propositions were enlarged
upon by the speaker He reminded
the farmers present of the fact, that
although the straw and fodder and
husks from the grain crops were re-
turned to the land in the shape of
manure, which had been passed through
the stomachs of the stock on the farm,
or trodden under feet by them, yet there
were essential elements of almost every
crop that are removed from the prem
ises of the land holder which must be
replaced, otherwise a deterioration of
the soil would inevitably be the result
in course of time When we sell off
our wheat and rye, our oats and corn,
our milk and hay, although we may
return all the offal Of the cereals again
to the land, that will not supply the
loss occasioned by the removal of the
grain. The stalks and leaves, &c, may
be furnished in the succeeding crop to
secure an abundant return of the same
material, but these will not supply the
waste to the soil by the abstraction of
the grain tEerefrom. What little of the
oats and corn and hay that may be fed
on the farm, will in some degree return
the means of recuperation, but the linn
tied amount in this respect is evident
to every one familiar with the subject.
What then is to be done in the prem
Uses, is the great question which is now
agitating the minds of the farmer, to
supply this want. The aid of science
has been brought to bear upon the
question, by men of research and prac-
tical experience, who have made great
progress in the attainment of the object
within the last few years. Some short
time since, the discovery of the value
of Peruvian guano was supposed to
have solved the intricate question, but
after a while it was found that, valuable
as it undoubtedly was for the resuscita-
ton OF our WORKOUT lands, its effects
were but temporary, and the ceasing to
supply the soil with organic manures,
such as that derived from the stables
and the compost heap, in connection
with which the guano could operate,
the constituents still in the soil were
soon exhausted, and it was evident
there was something more still neces-
sary other that the ammonia of the
guano to supply the necessities of the
farmer. Phosphoric acid in the form of
bone dust was about the same time
introduced to aid in the work of reno
walton, but for long time but few
could be induced to test its virtues
and whilst English agents were in our
midst gathering from our old fields the
bones which were bleaching thereon,
our own farmers not appearing to know
or care as to what was going on else
where, were witnesses to the daily alb
straction, right under their eyes, of the
most important means of replenishing
their lands. Had they read the papers
of the day devoted to their business,
they would have learned that their
brethren across the water were sending
to every quarter of the globe, gathering
up the bones of animals, and that even