Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1881-01-21

SPEED THE PLOW.'
Buying Manure.

with the request that l answer thro'
The Farmer. He says:
81 have bought some manure at the
livery stable in my village, one and a
half miles from my farm ; am to pay
rs cents a load, with the privilege of
hauling as large loads as I please;
there is considerable sawdust in the
manure Will it pay me to haul it :?
If you advise me to haul it, how am l
to manage it? Will it lose its strength
if I spread it? or would it be better to
put it in piles?'
The question of buying manures is
one to be determined by the circum-
stances under which a man is placed.
l live at such distance from the viii
lase that four loads of manure is a
days hauling, and for many years l
bought all could get time to draw.
For the last five years l have not pur-
chased manure, but have grown more
wheat and clover and paid more atten-
ton to rotation of crops, and am keep
ing my farm up better now than when
I bought manure. l never bought
manure for less thon SO cents . load,
but [ know that brought home ma
ny load that did not pay for hauling
and again I have made a single load
of manure pay me more than SIS 90
the first crop I used it on. Ny e1-
perience with livery manure, where
sawdust is used for bedding, is unfa-
vorable. Horse manure is of such q
heating nature that when mixed with
sawdust it soon heats and drives off
the ammonia and becomes Of little
value. l remember one winter heavily
top-dressing a timothy meadow with
this kind of manure, and ] saw very
little effect from it. Ivalue soft wood
sawdust, or even beech or maple, as it
decays quickly, but doubt if oak is
worth using. But to get the benefit
OF sawdust want, when use it as an
absorbent, to have the COW manure,
which is not of heating nature, mix
ed with that of the horses then 1 al
30 want some long litter straw, or
stalks mixed with this, or if this is
not done it must be spread out SO as
to prevent to violent fermentation.
If anyone draws manure long dis
lance the quality of it becomes mat
ter Of Importance. | have seen many
a load of manure that was nothing but
stained straw, or burnt sawdust which
is hardly worth throwing on she wa
ron and off again; and again, l have
\ ,und manure in some stables where a
orse has stood for weeks without the
Pstall being cleaned, and all the liquid
had been absorbed by the solid, one
load of which was worth ten Of the
first named. Whether it pays to buy
and draw manure depends somewhat
on what crops it is to be used on. At
the low price corn sells for in Ohio, 1
think the case is rare where it will pay
to buy and haul it that distance for
corn. l should estimate at least if
teen loads per acre as little enough for
this crop, and if you could make five
loads day, and allow 81 so per day
for hand and team, it would cost to
manure one acre, even at rs cents for
the manure, $11 IS, which would call
for heavy increase Of crop to pay for
the manure.
am not satisfied with the result of
manure nnless | get we'll paid from the
first crop. Now to get the greatest
benefit from manure on ordinary farm
crops, / use it on wheat and then SOW
clover with the wheat and follow with
corn. In this way | have never failed
to get paid for my manure from the
the wheat crop, and then get much
better crop of corn from the clover
than l would if l lad planted it the
year it was MANFRED. In fact it was
pet theory of mine that manure, IN
less used for gardening, should always
be applied with view to growing, in
addition to crop of grain, fertiIiz-
ing crop.
am aware that / have not answer
cd the question as to whether our cor
respondent can afford to buy and haul
this manure, ard do not think or
anyone else can answer such a ques.
ton intelligently unless more is known
about the matter than his letter states.
But perhaps the general principles
laid down will enable him to determine
for himself whether or not to buy it.
In reply to his second question. as to
whether he shall "spead his manure
Is it is drawn, or put it in piles" there
are several things l should need to
know before attempting Ito answer
We can, however, lay down some gen.
eral rules which should guide in this
matter. LIST. Every handling Of man.
ure adds large per cent. to it's cost
therefore if our manure is in suitable
condition for the land We save expense
by spreading it at once. On the other
hand, manure is available and yalua-
BILE in proportion to its fneness and
solubility, and it is by handling that
we get it in this condition.
In closing l will say to friend Tho,
mas, that if the manure he speaks of
is moderately good, he can without
doubt afford to buy it in the winter
when the teams would be idle, and