Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-04-22
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T.. Lewis Sturtevant contributes TO Land
and Home the following article on muck:
Few men arr gifted With that oomprehen-
sivenes> that they can see the whole life of
the farm from season to season spread out
as on a chart. and the whole effect Of each
course Of procedure Hence fallacie, are
common. and receive so much countenance
from people more familiar with theory than
practice that they become established upon
pedestals difficult to oycrturn. Such ], the
idea Of cooking food for stock: another j.
the belief that cutting food for cattle in
fuences dicestibili,y a still greater lies in
the question OF deep oT shallow blowing be
cause based on the reasoning tina; deep or
shallow blowing covers the object, and moi;
the effect which j, j. desired to produce :;
another expensive fallacy is tina; muck and
dirt are manure. and that cord Of this stuff
mixed with a cord Of manure, vii produce
two cords Of manure But even more dan
gerous fallacies are those connected with
the use Of artificial fertilizers.
have been talking TODAY With a man
who made manure. and had certainly in
creased the bulk in the barn cellar to he
hauled out on the field, asked him
whether he would not prefer the same ma
;crial in half the bulk He replied that he
would. WHY, then. DO YOU haul in your
muck and stuff. and dilute the genuine
dung into double bulk ?" lie wanted ma
nure. $50 dc We. all Of as But did YOU
ever see more igurous growth of weed,
on your muckheap than ol~cw here ?" No
be hadn't. Did YOU ever put your muck on
field by itself. and watch It's cfcc; p" lie
had not Did YOU ever suspect that the
virtue ascribed to the mixed muck and
manure was produced from the manure
present and not the muck" Well be had
never thought Of 1t. Now" said !. Just
think little Your muck j. either good or
harmless, or else injurious. II good. il ough,
TO show some results used hy itself. # inert.
its use bs itself would demonstrate that if
bad. YOU would soon find i, out. In either
case. what do YOU gain by hauling i into
your barn cellar. " hen !, add. no more to
the manure than !, would 10 the field. and
has 10 be hauled out again.
There is no greater mistake than this.
that w can make manure By hauling in
bulk which is not manure, and undcrgocs
no chemical change which makes il, insulu-
bic constituent soluble. Understand me.
do not object 10 muck or sawdust, OF litter
as an absorbent. But decidedly objec; to
the use Of stuff which gives no evidence Of
value. protest, in the interest Of profta-
bic farming, of an educated agriculture,
against farmers working so blindly as not
to recognize whether or not costly oper-
alton is a gain Muck has a physical action
in the sod, but if this action j. needed. haul
the muck directly to the field when required
and save one shoyelihg and one hauling
Muck may be useful in dry compost. If
dry compost is desired. and muck i not too
costly TO obtain, then Use muck. Muck
may have fertilizing value; then use it. but
use II in a way that the labor viii not
amount 10 more than the fertilizing value
A shrewd and successful old farmer al
farmers club. where amateur farmers were
present, and the subject was how 10 make a
farm profitable. arose, and closing his eyes
tight enough to bring out the concealed
wrinkles Of his face, and pressing his stom-
ach with both hands, he drawled out the
neatest, shortest and most effective speech
of the season: You can't make a farm paw
when there's too many legs under the kitch-
en- table" think of this whenever see
amateur farmers hauling huge piles Of muck
with paid labor; and wonder how long il
would be before the accumulated expense
of running the farm viii open their ewes to
the fallacy Of assuming that you can make
manure by simply increasing the bulk Of the
dungheap.
Muck is good" shouts somebody who
has used it Granted that muck may be
good; but then it is for you to find out
whether il be good or not. Many an inferi-
or COW has been supported by the superior
cows in herd. the owner knowing that his
total milk yield was bringing in money but
not realizing the loss incurred in keeping
the poorer beasts whose products simply
added to the milk and reduced the profits
So generally good farmer NAV make his
farm pay, and still use muck unprofiably /;
but he should ask himself whether his pro-
fits would not increase if he cut off some
of the leakage in his farm practice.