The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-07-03
NO. Is.
Making Our Own Fertilizers.

Having studied the subject OF fertilizing
our lands when it is impossible to manure
with stable manure, and watched the effects
on different kinds Of land, have come to the
conclusion that when commercial fertilizers
are honestly made it pays, ever at the low
price OF grain, to buy and use them on grain
lands, especially when being seeded to grass,
and when the land is too thin to make set
of grass certainty. My experience has
been that the money will be returned out of
the grain. The set of grass will be always
improved; the benefit will be felt while the
land is in grass, and there will be much
heavier sod to turn under when the land is
broken up. Now if it pays to purchase
these fertilizers at from twenty-five dollars
to ninety dollars atom, beside paying freight
on them and hauling them from the depot,
how much better it would be for us il we
could manufacture our fertilizers at home at
one-fourth the cost! I once heard gentle
man, who had had years Of experience in
this line, say that pure Peruvian gnano,ev
at ninety dollars to one hundred dollars per
ton, is the cheapest of all fertilizers. Now,
unless | am mistaken, Peruvian guano is
simply rotted bird manure, and must have
lost some Of its strength by being exposed
to the air and sun. suppose the birds that
made this guano fed on bugs fish, wild seeds.
DC. So do our chickens feed on worms,
grains, bugs, &c. We thus have one ingre-
dent at least equal to the best fertilizer
known rioht on ot,r far sapd ono that oo,,
be vastly increased with very small addi-
tional expense. 1t is certainly OF vast i'm
portance to the farmer to see that the flock
OF fowls is kept up, and that not one ounce
Of manure is wasted. Another thing is the
hog manure. This is certainly a splendid
fertilizer, and should be saved with the ut
most care. I have known farmers TO build
their hog pens on hillside leading to a
branch to let the hogs get water, and there
by lose nearly all their manure. 1t may
not be equal to Peruvian guano, but it is
certainly half as good. Another valuable
fertilizer is wasted on nine tenths of all the
farms in the country. This is the night soil,
and everything that comes from the house
the liquid manures are as strong as the sol.
ids. My plan is to save all these things;
puverizing, and making them into a real
genuine fertilizer that can be drilled, han
died or used as are commercial fertilizers.-
Sink in your back yard vat that will hold
say two hundred bushels. Of one is not
enough you can sink another one.) It should
be we'll made out of two-inch oak planks,
and have light lid with good handle, so
the washerwoman can lift the lid and pour
her soap-suds into it as easy as pouring it
elsewhere, and where the chambermaid
should be required to put into it everything
in her line. Now add all the hen manure
you can get; all the night soil, ard load
or two of the best hog manure. Then ada
muck, loan or plaster enough to absorb all
gases and stop all smell, SO as to make it
perfectly inofensve. When the box is near
ly full, add Gf there is not enough already
enough liquid to make the mass mix easily,
and with long pole thoroughly mix, and
keep stirring for several days, so as to re-
duce all Jumps. You can then remove all
sticks, cobs, &C., that may have found their
way into it with coarse sieve fastened on a
long pole. When thoroughly mixed and
sifted, allow it to dry out, and il not dry
enough when you want to use, spread it on
boards and dry thoroughly. This fertilizer
can be made at small cost per ton, and will
be found good.-W. r. T., IN the Country
Gentleman.