The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1882-02-15
The Value of Stable Manure.

The Value Of Stable Manure.
". I Chamberlain, in Country Gentleman.
n ] promised your readers the results
of the analyses of muck aud stable
compost made by the chemist OF the
Ohio State Board of Agriculture.
The samples, as l think / mentioned,
were furnished at my solicitation by
Mr.. T. 3. Terry, OF Summit county,
to whose success III high farming l
| have more than once referred in
these columns The samples were
we'll mixed and fairly drawn from
his large pile, prepared Tor use on
his own farm, and the careful saving
and wise use of which, together with
thorough tillage, are the basis OF his
success in farming. l asked the sam
plies, had; them analysed, and pub
lished the results III our October
Crop Report, with the analyses and
valuations of commercial fertilizers,
from The belief that the information
would be of value 10 the farmers of
Ohio.
The stable compost was made up
about in the proportion OF IL parts
by weight o. dung, 8 of urine, l part
wood ashes, and 10 of muck and
straw, the last two being used part-
ly in the stable to absorb the urine,
and partly afterwards in the large
compost pile to absorb ammonia, las the
Enass was decomposing, or making"
Mr.. Terry had 40 head of grown cat
tie, 6 young things" and 4 horses
so in all. They were kept for five
months on good hay and wheat
straw--enough corn meal and oil
meal being fed with the straw TO
make it equal to good hay. The ma
nure and urine from these SO animals,
all carefully saved with water-tight
floors and cutters, and mixed as de~
scribed, made over 600 tons OF mas
nure like the sample analysed The
analysis showed 0.9S per cent. OF am
monia tpotential), 0.4l pc: cent. of
phosphoric acid, and OIL per cent.
OF potash, the ashes considerably in
creaslng the per cent of potash. The
ANN onia IN the urine, and part OF
that in the dung, is readily available
as plant food, and may be reckoned
at Is cents per pound, on the basis
OF values OF commercial fertilizers.
The phosphoric acid may fairly be
rated at s cents per pound, and the
potash at 6 cents. This would give
the following valuation:
Ammonia O.9s 1876 lbs. at 15c 1924
Potash OH 14.2 do. &c 81
Total estimated value per ton 81 "A
And so the 600 loads would be
worth 1864, or about $4,000 after
deducting the value OF the muck and
ashes used in composing. OF course
the immediate effects on land would
not be so great as that Of the appli-
cation Of the same value in good SUI
perphosphates, but the effects are far
more durable, as we all know, and
often gives continued heavy crops fol
90 years or more, These figures agree
very well with those, it may be re-
membered, | gave some two years
ago as the result of the weighing and
analysis Of one days solid and liquid
manure from % cows and 5 horses
which was, as l remember, over S..
1t evidently pays 10 save and
promptly use all the manure, boil
liquid and solid made by our domestic
animals. We are annually spending
hundreds OF thousands OF dollars to-
commercial fertilizers, and wasting
or neglecting to save, lar more il
value within our own reach and OIL
our own farms. On many farms tn,
urine is entirely wasted. If it will
not leak through the cracks, hole
are bored in the stable floor. AnC
yet, pound tor pound, the urine i
worth probably.more than the dung
And even The dung on many farms i
, thrown out beneath the caves il
, winter TO be drenched in rain, or let
in fence corners and by>places, wher
| 1t will wash and waste and be OF lit
, tie valne.
a word in regard to swamp muck
The Boston Journal Of ChenaiStr.
has made quite stir lately by Civ
ing the opinion that it is hardl,
worth the digging and handling. 4
sample was lately analysed by GU
State chemist aud gave Al per cent
of potential ammonia, and 024 pc
cent. of phosphoric acid. 1t wa
thoroughly rotted muck, formed o