Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1884-08-20
Natural Fertilizers.

"A large aAOuAI VI valuable 1efCllZerS
annually goes to waste in most large
towns, or is used for filing up large
places. In some cities garbage and
manure are taken out into body of
water and sunk. In some it is dumped
into rivers and streams and left to be
carried away by the moving waters.
Most ofthe rich fertilizing materials in
towns and cities can be obtained BY
farmers without cost, and in some cases
parties are willing to pay something to
have it removed. Nearly all persons
who keep horses and cows in towns are
DESTROYS Of finding farmers who are
willing to remove the manure they
make at stated periods, providing they
will do it in satisfactory manner. All
persons who live in large towns have
ashes and the bones in the meat they
consume to dispose of. It is the prac-
tice of many city people to throw the
bones into the stove as the easiest way
of disposing of them. When this is the
case the ashes are very valuable as fer
tilizers. Many prudent housewives or
their servants would save these bones if
they were provided with vessel to hold
them and we're certain that they would
be taken away as stated. The amount
of bones that can be obtained at private
and public houses in town is very
large. Children may often be found who
will collect and save bones for q given
price per barrel. Bones can easily be
reduced by treating them with fresh
horse manure or with wood ashes, as has
several times been pointed out in this
paper: If one is raising fruit it will pay
well to bury bones under the roots of
trees and vines and leave them to the
action of slow decay. The roots of
grape.vines and apple trees will fasten
themselves to bones and gradually ex-
tract from them all the plant food they
contain. The fertilizing action of bones
continues many years.
Butchers have large amount of
bones and waste meat of various kinds
to dispose Of. A farmer who will OBJ
tain the bones and meat offal from
few butchers, and will treat and apply
them judiciously, will soon bring up
the fertility of his land to a surpris-
ing degree. Coal ashes are not very
valuable, but they are worth moving,
especially when they contain bones
that have been burned. The ashes
left when buildings are consumed are
very valuable, and should be collected
and hauled away before they are wet by
rains. Old plastering is also a good
fertilizer. Leather scraps that can be
obtained from shoe and harness MAX
ers contain very valuable fe1tilizing
materials. More valuable still are the
waste materials from blacksmiths' shops.
They consist of the parings of horses
feet, iron filings, and dung dropped by
animals while they are being shod.
Lime that has been air-slacked by being
kept too long or lime. that has been
Stacked by water for making mortar can
often he obtained for the trouble of
taking it away. The spent hops that
are usually thrown away by bre wers or
the sprouts of matted grains are good
fertilizers. If q farmer would make a
practice of taking back load of some
kind of fertilizers every time he goes to
town with wagon he would soon see
the beneficial results of the course.
Many of the substances that can be OBJ
tanned in towns at the cost of a little
trouble are worth more per ton than
those that are bought at high prices:
Combined with the dung of animals
kept on the farm and the growing
plants that may be turned under with
the pillow they will furnish all the ele-
ments of fertility that the soil requires.
Land near large towns should be kept
very rich and highly productive or it
will be poor property to the owners, as
it is certain to have large taxable
value.