Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-07-11

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, even at the low
price of grain, to buy and use them on grain
lands, especially when being seeded down to
grass, and when the land is too thin TO make
set of grass a 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 a much
heavier sod to turn under when the land is
broken up. Now If II pays to purchase these
fertilizers at from twenty-five dollars to nine
ty dollars a ton, beside paying freight on
them and hauling them from the depot how
much better it would be for us if we could
manufacture our fertilizers Mt home at one
fourth the cost once heard gentleman,
who had had years of experience in this line,
say that pure Peruvian guano, even at ninety
dollars to one hundred dollars per ton, is the
cheapest of all fertilizers. Now, unless l 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.
l suppose the birds that made this guano fed
on bugs, fish wild seeds, &c. So do our
chickens feed on worms, grain, bugs, &c. We
thus have one ingredient at least equal TO the
best fertilizer known right on our farms, and
one that can be vastly increased with very
small additional expense. 1t is certainly of
vast Importance to the farmer to see that the
flock of fowls is kept up, and see 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 utmost care. 1 have known farmers to
build their hog pens on a hillside leading to
branch to let the hogs get water, and thereby
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 every.
thing that comes from the house-the liquid
manures are as strong as the solids. My plan
is to save all these things; pulverizing and
making them into q genuine fertilizer that
can be drilled, handled or used as are COM
mercial fertilizers. Sink in your back yard
vat that will hold say two hundred bushels.
Of one is not enough you can sink another
one.) 1t should be well made out of two-inch
oak planks, and have light lid with n good
handle, SO the washerwoman can lift the lid
and pour her soap-suds into it us easy as pour
ing it elsewhere, and where the chamber
maid should be required always to put into it
everything in her line. Now add all the hen
manure you can get all the night soil, and a
load or two of the best hog manure. Then
add muck, loan or plaster enough to absorb
all gases and stop all smell, so as to make it
perfectly inoffensve. When the box is near
ly full, add Off 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 reduce
all Jumps. You can then remove all sticks,
cobs, &c, that may have found their way iu-
to it with a coarse sieve fastened on a long
pole. When thoroughly mixed and sifted al
low ii to dry out, and if not dry enough when
you want to use, spread it on boards aud dry
thoroughly This fertilizer can be made at a
small cost per ton, and will be found good.
W f. T. in Country Gentleman.