The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-06-19
The Greatest waste Of the Farm.

The greatest waste of the farm con-
sists in the unnecessary loss of manure,
and chiefly the liquid portion of it. OF
the food consumed by an animal ninety
FIVE to ninety-siX per cent. of the nitro
genous part of it is elected as waste in
the excrement,~ only about four per
cent. being utilized in repairing the
waste of the systeui and about seventy
three to seYentY-pine per cent. out of
this ninety-fYe or ninety-six per cent.
exists in the urine. And yet on. very
large proportion szof farms probably
ninety out of every hundred no proc
vision at all is made for saving this
liquid manure. To save and utilize it is
quite easy. There is no necessity for
tanks and pumps and barrel-carts for
spreading it upon fields; very simple
provision for gathering it where-it may
be absorbed by fine dry litter is all that
is needed. There is even no necessity
for manure cellar, although this is a
great convenience. A tight gutter,
drain, and cemented waterproof BASIN
in the ward, protected from the wash from
the roofs, are all that are required,
and in this basin the finer dry mat.
ter maybe made to absorb all the
liquid portion. There was once. a man
named BONNER, who has been called q
crank, because he made a hobby of this
very matter of saving the valuable
liquid manure, but who was wiser than
many who cast aspersiOns upon his
good sense lie reduced his. theory to
a method or system, aud published a
valuable Title pamphlet descriptive Of
it. 1t is remarkably simple and ex-
ceedingly valuable and perfeetlyprae7
ticable. He made pit at the center
of sloping basin of suitable size,
made it water-tight, placed some logs
across the pitt and covered these with
rails. Upon the rails he placed the
manure mixed with everything useful
for manure that could be raked and
scraped together; sods, leaf-molds
weeds, (without their seeds} swamp
muck, etc. A simple wooden pump
was fitted into the pit at the side Of the
heap and the liquid brought from the
stables and pens in drains to the pit
was pumped up and spread over the
heap until it was saturated, and this
was repeated as might be necessary TO
dispose of the liquid, or keep the solid
matter in q good condition and moist
enough to heat and decompose rapidly.
Every farmer can see the ivalue of this
method which is known as BONNER s
method and deserves to be rescued
from neglect and oblivion.
The most valuable point of it is that
the manure is equahzed in value, and
Peter is not robbed to pay Paul in any
part of the farm Some farmers known
to us have taken great pains to save
and use the liquid manure in way we
consider unwise. The liquid is saved
in a tank, pumped into a barrel cart,
and carried and spread upon the fields.
This Is well as far as it goes, but it does
,r,Ao h. nF4Cf II
There are the pit and the pump, but
there is the barrel cart, and this last is
an unnecessary expense. But this is
the least objection to it. The urine con-
tains five-sixths of the nitrogen Of the
| food which has been used and nearly
| all of the potash. BY spreading the
urine alone a portion of the land is IN
| duly, and yet insuficieptly, enriched;
| it gets nearly all the nitrogen, all the
potash, ana none of the phosphoric acid;
| while the remainder of the field gets
the Impoverished solid manure which
contains chiefly the phosPhoric
| acid of the food. This is exceeding y
1 wastefuI, because however much nitro
4 gen and potash we may apply to a field,
| if phosphorie acid is wanting, no useful
/ effect results; and however much phOs-
/ phorie. acid we. may furnish it viii be
| unavafling II it is not accompanied by
a necessary supply of tire otheraa ele-
ments. 1t is as great mistake as a
/ hunter might make who carried with
| him his-gun and his sh9t-bag and sent
his companion off In another direction
with the poTvder-fask, and would ex-
| pect between them to come home load
| ed down with game. One alone could
| do nothing, however well supplied he
| might be with has ineffective materials,
| totally useless, however, unless in eff
| fectiYe combination. And therefore il
/ is that it will not pay any farmer to take
| pains to save the liquid manure unless
| he makes suitable provision for min
Cling it usefullY-wfth the sohds.-M +
Times,