Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-02-23
AGRICULTURAL.
WILL cows MANURE RAISE HER FEED

WILL cows MANURE RAISE HER FEED!
"a. S. T." of Bethel, propounds the above
question, and says: "a great many practi-
cal results in farming are dependent upon
the yea or nay of it.
We answer the question first, broadly,
that the manure of any herbivoruus animal,
applied TO the soil, will produce feed enough
to support that animal We 60 further, and
say that any soil which will not give such q
yield with such fertilization, and keep i'm
proving all the time, until 1t Will produce
more than the animal can eat, is unfit for
cultivation. We 90 still further, and say
that there is not one farmer in ten, to-day,
in New England, whose stock Outside OF his
sheer do keed up, much less improve, the
fertility of the land upon which they are kept.
The reason for this, Is In the animal waste of
the manure, and especially of the liquid por-
tion of it. There are two practical ways of
saving this, one or the other of which is
open to every farmer, and when neither Is
practiced there is demonstrative evidence
that the farmer las President Buckbam said
to the Dairymen in Congress assembled)
don't understand his business" or else he
is too shiItless to live. One way land the
best is to have his stable over q cellar. and
the other is to have his floor paved and CO.
mented, use plenty of absorbents, and throw
his manure out, not under the caves, but un-
der shed.
But perhaps some of our readers will ask
how We know that the manure Of an animal
will produce its feed. We know it in two
ways /; one way is by experience, and the
other way is by reason. As we cannot COM
municate our experience to another, that be-
ing what each must get for himself, We will
give the reason, or philosophy, or science
oil the tbinn-Of the att Ill mad
arabic or pastoral land contains within it.
self the power of producing vegetation suit
able for the feed of domestic cattle. This is
Its natural fertility. When the animal takes
or We take for tits food from this land,
and all the manure goes back 10 the land, all
the elements of iertllity-plant food-go back
with il, except what IS retained by the ami
NAL for its growth, or to supply some product
such as milk or wool.
When man interferes with nature, and
takes away the herbage of field, if he takes
away in it more plant food than is annually
made available by the chemical changes in
the soil, be impoverlshes the land. But if
he returns the manure made from that herb
age, which contains all the plant-food except
what has been: distracted by the growth, or
the wool or milk, then the question is, has
the growth, wool, or milk retained I.I- - 10 .
land more than its natural gain by changes
in the soil, OF less
If they have taken more. then the soil will
become to that extent, each year, less pro-
ductive-if less, then the land gains annual
ly in proportion.
Now it is generally allowed that sheep dc
not take from any fairly good land near as
much plant-tood as the annual gain by chem
ical changes. Consequently, land improves
under sheep. Under dairy COWS, where but
ter only is sold, the improvement ought to be
even greater than with sheep; but 1t is not
SO, as rule. The main reason is that all
the sheep manure, liquid and solid, goes
back to the land on which they feed, while
much of the manure of the COWS is lost by
bad management OF stolen from the pasture
for the tillage land by yarding. Generally
both these causes of impoverishment are 60
ing on together.
0ne-half, at least, Of the plant-food in th'
feed Of our horned stock and horses IL evac
uated in the urine, and Just in proportion Al
We fail TO save this and return it undiminish
ed to the land, Just to that extent are we run
ming out our farms and are unworthy occu
piers OF the soil. If We do save 1t, dIvldln!
1t fairly between our pastures and our mead
ows, land devoted to dairying will rapid,
improve, and be able year by year, to carr.
more stock. The whole secret OF runnlnl
out or improving farm lies in this matter Q
saving all the manure, properly caring for 1t
and intelli8ently applying it to the produc
tion of crops. Lots of farmers are standin
in their own light and growing poor ever
day, because they do not, OF will not. under
stand these main points. Watchman.