Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-02-15
Farm Fertilizers.

The monthly meeting of the Farmers
Club, on Saturday. was largely attended.
The President, David Brown, called the
meeting to order promptly at I 80 P. N.
Before taking up the subject for discus
sion, John Watson offered resolution
embodying the views expressed at the
Wool Growers Convention in Columbus,
last month, asking that the tariff on
wool be maintained. After some dis
cussiOn, the resolution was unanimously
adopted, and the Secretary was ordered
to forward copy to Congressman Tay-
lor
The discussion of the topic, THE
Comparative Value OF Clover as Fer
tilizer," was opened by Andrew McFar-
land, in an instructive talk uf ten min
utes. While acknowledging the value
of clover as fertilizer, he was not will
ing to accept the conclusions of scien-
lists as to its superior value. lie con-
cluded by asserting his belief that sheep
house manure was the most valuable.
Henry Morgan followed, in brief,
practical, sensible talk, full OF valuable
experience and instruction.
A. T. Mckelyey prefaced his remarks
with the assertion that no farmer in
Ohio to-day could hope to successfully
prosecute his calling except by the use
of fertilizers, and i'll view of the rapid
ly increasing population, it would be ne
cessary. to cultivate our farms TO their
utmost capacity, ia order to sustain it.
This, he claimed, could only be done by
the use of fertilizers rich in plant food
and all plants, according to Prof Kedzie,
hl -.llH fnH ltIr ole ,tl nf
our. soil, viz: Iron, oxygen or air, hydro
gen or water, carbon or charcoal sill
icon or flint, sodium or salt, chlorine ia
gas containing the properties of salt)
calcium or lime, sulphur, magneSia,' pot
ash, phosphorus or phosphates or bone
dust, and nitrogen Or ammonia. or
these, the first tive-irOn, air, water, char
coal land Silica-nature furnished abund-
antly everywhere, and the next two,
salt or chlorine, we're usually found in
most soils in abundance, but here de
tcient they could he cheapy restored to
the soil 10y sowing top dressing of
common salt, at the rate of two bushels
per acre. When lime, sulphur or mag
nesia were deficient, naturally or by rea-
son of severe cropping, they could be
restored best by top dressing of plas-
ter, at the rate of two bushels per acre.
This would furnish lime and sulphur. di-
rectly and indirecly release insoluble
magnesia. Where plaster could not be
obtained cheaply, burnt lime would be
very beneficial. The only three remain
ing elements of plant food that could
not be obtained, then az slight cost
were the last and most. important, viz:
DIT aoi Il
and nitrogen or ammonia the latter
was the active principle in all manures; !;
indeed, the essence of life itself-it was
the nitrogenoHs matter we eat and feed
our stock-that makes blood, muscles,
flesh and brain, and Notwithstanding the
fact that four-fifths of the air we breathe
was nitrogen, plants could not drink a
particle of it, except i'll combination
with other elements. The value, then,
OF any manure, he asserted, must be de
termined by the quantity of bone dust
or phosphoric acid, potash, and ammonia
that it contained; and while admitting
that good commercial manures were
rich in these important elements. aud
ought to be used literally on all lun
down lands, their cost would prevent
their general use. Good stable manure
too, he said, contained all the elements
of plant food, but unfortunately much
of its strength was washed away in
LIQUID streams by the rains, and much of
the nitrogen vas liberated by the heat
of the sun. But husband it as carefully
as we might, no farmer could hope to
accumulate enough to crop our lands TO
their utmost capacity; and here he
claimed for clover its superiority over
all other manures. Messrs. Dawes and
Gilbert, the great English chemists, as
sert that an acre of good clover will
yield two tons and one-half of hay, which
if turned under will deposit in the soil,
in round numbers, 100 pounds of lime,
100 pounds of potash, 35 pounds of mag
nesia, % pounds of phosphoric acid, and
I0S pounds of combined nitrogen, or
enough phosphoric acid for two average
crops of wheat-enOugh potash for six
crops of wheat, and enough nitrogen for
four crops of wheat, and the CONNER
cial value of this manure would not be
less than $40 or $40; while an acre ma
nured by commercial fertilizers or barn
yard manure, containing the same guam
tity of plant food, would, if the stable
manure was purchased, have necessita-
ted an outlay of SIS or $50.
AT the conclusion of Mr.. McKelvey's
talk. Msssrs. r. l.. Riley, Emmett Gilfin,
J. Z. Young, Jos. Denham, Amos Faw-
cett. and others, commented OH the re-
marks of the opening speakers Mr..
Gifiin recommending the sowing of clo-
yer at the last working of corn, and in
Producing it as rotating crop to precede
a crop of wheat.
The subject for discussion next month
is Germ and Potato Culture.
The meeting altogether, was a very
profitable one.