The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1885-12-12
SOME GOOD RULES.
How the Most 10 70 Be Made Of Various
Ksnda al Manures.

How the Most 10 10 Be Made Of Vsrioai
Kinds Of Msnures.
As hogs are generally cared for very
little manure Is made by them. And
the little is generally thrown out on
ground, where it is washed away OF
left until 1t is wasted. There are two
proper ways to handle the manure
made in the pens. 1t should either be
mixed with bedding SO freely, with muck
or some other absorbent, that none Of
it may DO wasted; or else it should be
taken out Of the pen and put into the
compost heap or spread at once upon
the ground where it is to be used.
There is 50 little Of it when the manure
In the pens is limited to the. excrement
that many farmers think it Of no conse-
quence, and make no special effort to
preserve It. There Is q great loss
every year on this account Of the most
| valuable fertilizing material. The ex-
crement from hogs while being fat
tened on grain is worth more pound for
pound than any superphosphate. 1t has
the advantage Of greater permanency.
besides being equally as good in imme-
date effect. Farmers forget these facts,
and fall back on commercial fertilizers,
for which they pay a higher price than
the hog manure can possibly cost them.
We have our hog manure in the fatten-
Ing pens wheeled out and deposited in
the center Of the big manure pile, and
in this way lone Of it is lost, either by
washing or evaporation, as 1t is cover
ed over by the manure from the horse
and cow stables in which there Is more
or less litter which acts as an abb
sorbent. The most satisfactory way to
feed hogs is in the field until the
ground becomes too wet or the weather
too severe. When this Is done both
the excrement and the urine are de-
posted on and in the ground where
they are wanted. The loss by evapora-
ton under this system is too small to
mention, as there Is no active Nrmen-
tation on account of the small amount
in any one place. There is, however.
. prompt absorption and a retention of
the constituents Of the manure and the
urine for plant food for years.
1t Is q good rule, which we always
follow II possible, to get any kind Of
manure upon and into the ground as
soon as 1t can be done. The system of
piling up manure in the barnyard and
handling it yer is always attended
with a great deal Of loss both by evap-
Grafton and washing, as well 81 involv-
ing a great deal Of useless labor. Some
farmers have a notion that manure
must be well rotted" before it is put
upon the land. This is not necessary.
The process Of rotting which carries
with it necessarily a large amount Of
evaporation should be carried on in the
soil. When spread upon the surface
and narrowed in the evaporation is
slow, and is carried down by the dews
and rains, as we'll as absorbed by them,
and also taken up by the growing
plants. This a not be the Ease in
the barnyard. A considerable por-
ton Of the manure which we
applied to our wheat last autumn, and
which gave remarkable results, was SO
coarse and unrotted that portions of
the field where it was deposited had to
be gone over by a man with a dung
fork and the punches made by harrow
ing spread around. The snow pressed
It down to the earth and made q capi-
tai seedbed for the grass seed, where it
not only furnished the requisite plant
food, but also retained the moisture
and kept the soil light and friable for
the delicate roots to penetrate. The
immediate effect Of manure applied in
. green state may not be SO active and
visible, but it is certainly more lasting
and economical. For these reasons the
barnyard should be cleaned out in
spring and as often al the manure &C.
cumulates. The floors Of all pig-pens
should be made of matched plank SO
that they may be water-tight. The
juices can be saved in this way, and
they should be conducted to a pile Of
sb~sorbents, or they should be taken up
by absorbents Of some kind put into
the pens. 1t Is not healthy for hogs
or any kind Of animals to be confined
over o mass Of manure.-CoL. Curtis,
in N. y. Tribune.