Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-03-13
FARM AND FIREsIDF.
- ST. 81 E1|
NJ e, d 81 ,!:is
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Something Ab01, hakIIe.

the most rapid process for decomposine
them without using horse manure, as |
would like TO procure an almost pure
leaf mold. 2. l am saving, separately.
horse. hog. COW and hen manure, and
wish to learn for what garden crop eac'
is most suitable according to the latest
expe dmepts and best authorities. 3. h
SAVING manure is it well to add ashes i'll
alternate layers, and what IS the most
rapid method of rottiug hen. hog and
COW manures, so us TO have them ready
fer use next spring. A. SUBSCRIBER.
Ans. /. Yes, sufficiently for Us i'll
flower pots or in the garden mix will
them small quantity Of fine wood
ashes and moisten the mixture occasion
ally A layer. Of powdered charcoal
mold, or earthly matter Of any descrip'
ton. spread over the mass, will absorb
aud retain any evaporating amonla. 2
It is neither customary nor advisable to
keep separate the manure from the
various sorts of animals on the farm
except perhaps, that from pigeons and
the different species OF poultry. Hog
and COW manure. are both cold and
somewhat slow in decompOsing, whereas
horse dung is hot and ferments readily.
and when cemposied with the Others
acts as leaven to the whole mass.
Moreover, when the weddings aud litter
OF the different animals are piled to-
Sethei, new chemical combinations
ts Ike place, the contents of the whole
heap are broken down more thoroughly.
made finer. and consequently more
soluble and therefore more readily
available for mapurial purposes for II
should be borne in mind that all ierti-
hzers must be reduced either TO a liquid
or gaseous condition before they can be
absorbed as food by plants. This pro-
baby accounts for tie fact that no one
has hitherto thought it worth while to
attempt to overcome the great difficulties
in the way Of making accurate expert
ments with regard to the comparative
effects Of the manure from different
animals on various crops.
just think for a moment ofthe arduous
nature of such an undertaking. The
crop to which each sort of manure
would have to be applied, nust be grown
on soil equally favorable to its special
requirements, receive relatively the
same degree of attention, and experience
weather equally conducive to its growth.
Moreover, each Of these dungs is sub
iect to great variations in efficacy on &C
count Of the age Of the animal, its treat
ment, the purpose for which it IS used.
the amount and quality Of the litter, the
length Of time during which the manure
has been kept. the way it has been pre-
served. aud, more than all, by th'
quality of the food upon which tie
animal has been fed. On the las point
all experiment made BY Mr.. LaweS, TIT
celebrated English asrculturisi,l highly
suggestive. tie found that while "a
given quantity of weddings from cattle
fed Oh co:tOn-seed meal was WORT
S27.gG; the same quantity produced
from carrots and turugs, was wort
only St cents. Accordingly before q
Just estimate could be made OF Tic rela
tive values OF the manures from dllrIehi
animals upon varlods crops, so many
circumstances would have to be taken
into account and provided for. that the
result would not repay the consequent
expense and labor and neither pracu-
cal nor scientific men are likely to incur
a great deal of either the one or the
other to gratify mere curiosity.
With regard to hen manure. however.
experience has shown that it is equally
good for strawberries. melons, quasheS.
sweet-cOrn. tomatoes. and, in fact, Tor
all bulbs and herbaceOus plants
Properly treated this is the most valu-
able manure produced on tho farm. 1t
may be kept mixed with mold, dry
muck, or coal ashes, or preserved
separate in barrels. In the latter case,
when about to be applied. it should be
reduced to a powder. and mixed with at
least four or five times its bulk Ofmold.
mack, or some other substance, for 1t
applied undiluted, it will burn and Kill
the seeds and prevent termination. Or.
just before placing it in the hill or drill.
il may be benefcially mixed with wood
ashes, but care must be taken that
fermentation does not take place before
the mixture is buried, otherwise there
will be proporhonate loss Of ammonia.
Moreover, to prevent injury to the
seed there should always be layer Of
earth, a couple of inches thick, between
the seed aud the poultry manure.
3. 1t is not advisable to mix ashes
with decomposing manure, as their &C
ton is 50 powerful as to cause a too
rapid fermentation and cOnsequcn.
escape of ammonia. Nothing accele-
rates the uniform decomposition of all
organic substances more than putrid
urine. or liquid manure; hence the ad-
vantage of a liquid manure tank in the
neighborhood Of a manure pit. More
over, BY pouring urine over the manure
heap, this valuable fertilizer becomes
Incorporated with the mass, vastly i'm
proving its quality, while danger Of its
being wasted is in this way avoided.
The fermentation of dung should not
Il -, G,~tbov tt,or, oLc,in4,1,