Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-02-06
Blood az a Fertilizer.
Western Stock journal.
ny HON. JAMES WILSON

l have corn field that has been un
der cultivation about ten years. The
yield Of corn at frat was forty to fifty
bushels an acre varying with the sea-
son but, continual cropping without
any returns to the soil results in do
creasing crops. Ono twenty acre
corner Of the field is so situated that
we cannot reach it with barn-yard
manure, readily, owing to q soft
slough. The rest of the field needed
all the manure the farm-yard accumu-
lated and / observed the corn crop
turned offabout thirty bushels an acre
on this particular corner, while we
kept up the average of tifty and some-
times sixty bushels on the rest of the
field.
paid as much tax on one part of
the field as another; as much labor
was needed 10 cultivate the one part,
as the other but, the yield was almost
fifty per cent. greater on one part than
the other. l intend 10 seed with cul-
tivated grasses and pasture the whole ;
and it need not be called dispensa-
ton Of Providence if ono produced
twice as much grass as the other, pro-
vided, I made no effort to put the
acres on an equality.
knew bone dust would do it; SO
would guano but, tho former is scarce
here, and the latter costs 5000 ton
at the seaboard. noticed in the pa.
pers that Mr.. Sinclair, the pork pack.
er of Cedar Rapids, advertised dried
blood for sale. This article Is consid.
cred so valuable that it is shipped to
the Eastern and Southern States and
to Europe, to form the basis of num-
erous superphosphates. The South.
ern planter buys an article composed
of ground mari, from beds of deposit
at Charleston, and dried blood. He
pays S125 ton for the compound, and
l am positive the blood is the valua-
BILE ingredient. Thus, the blood of
Iowa swine forces up the cotton and
tobacco of the South. The Eastern
farmer applies superphosphates to his
soil to raise vegetables, for the fac
tory village. The British farmer hav-
ing secured the globe for bones and
other phosphorus producing materi-
ais, after exhausting the supply, soon
discovered that we did not know the
value of the blood of our animals, and
takes all we will send him, to keep up
the average yield of 20 bushels OF
wheat per acre that such generous
applications have enable him to
reach.
At first sight the cost seemed to be
too great to justify the experiment
but, the great value Of good grasses
to feeding steer, or milking COW,
and the certainty Of poor returns
from that part of the field, induced
me to venture on an experiment. ]
did not feel so much the poor returns
of corn, because l can buy corn about
as cheap as l can raise it, but l can
neither buy nor rent good grass lands
When once farmer pastures grade
steers on land well seeded and in good
heart, his lands are not in the market
l wrote Mr.. Sinclair to send me eight
tons. He replied that it would burn
my young corn. This delay wai
nearly fatal to the experiment, as the
land was plowed and it was planting
time. i wrote back at once, that
was familiar with the use of strong
manures and insisted on his sending
four tons on the next train, which hi
did.
put two tons on sixteen acres, my
father using the other two, that more
certainty might result from compari
son of observations. I sowed mint
broadcast after the land was plowed
marked and planted; narrowing af
terwards, just as the corn was coming
through. l could not see that 1t ha1
any influence till after the last plow
ing then the corn seemed q darker
green, where the blood was used.-
About the middle of September, whel
! looked for frost, I carefully exam
ined the field, and observed tina
where the blood was used the corr
ripened earlier, and the ears appeared
larger. On twelve acres the bloo(
was spread at the rate of four cwt. al
acre and on four acres none.
mono yielded thirty bushels an acre
where two cwt. an acre was spread i
yielded forty bushels an acre; wher,
four owt. an acre was spread fit,
bushels an acre, all by weight.
The blood costs SIS ton, on tn,
care, at Cedar Rapids. I spread thir
ty-two horse wagon loads Of manur
an acre on other parts of the field
and the corn it produced was, a. nea
as we could judge, equal to the yiel,
where We put four cwt. of blood 81
acre.
Ny fathers observation corrobor
ates mine. One cwt, Of blood costs
in the field nearly 81 90 and produce,
five bushels of corn.
| I am satisfied it will benefit tn
field for years 10 come. will usc
next year and put on FIVE hundre,
pounds an acre. In Eastern State
and countries five cwt. an acre o
guano Is considered equal to the usua
amount of barn.yard manure applied
to an acre. Guano contains II 100 pc
cent. azote, the same as dried blood
| There is no danger Of burning tn
plants. Father placed his around tn
J hills.
am satisfied the Iowa farmer ca
afford to buy all the blood dried q
Cedar Rspids, or any other poin
where swine are slaughtered in tn
State. The South needs It, and
want to see the South prosper-an
be cultivatcd-but would rather sc
. some other agent used than our fsr
1 tilizers.
): Our summer is short enough fo
corn. Every farmer has observe