Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-08-07
UTILIZING THE LEAvINGS.
One of the Principal Points In Good
Farming.

OAo VI INC ITInClpal FOlnC8 IN GOO0
Farming.
Manure is, and should always be, an
object on the farm, and in order to
IL this everything thatcan be used,
either as an absorbent or to increase
the quantity, should be utilized. Even
with the best of pains there is consid-
cradle let go to waste that might, un-
der different circumstances, be saved,
yet a little care taken will often add
materially to the quantity without
making the cost very much greater.
We burn up and destroy too much,
which, if saved and used, either as an
absorbent in the stables or %barnyard,
or applied in the manure heap, would
add not only to its bulk but also to its
value.
With the uncertainties of the seasons
it is always the safest plan to make
SURE of a sufficient supply of rough feed
for all the stock. Wheat and oat straw
Or corn fodder should be secured nos
only to make a good supply of rough
ness, but also to furnish a good supply
of litter. l dislike using corn stalks in
the stable, either feeding or using
them for a litter unless they are cut up
fine, as they are difficult to handle af-
ter they are trodden down. But in
the feed-lots or barnyard they can be
fed out to q good advantage and can
be used very proftably.
Too many farmers burn up whatever
surplus fodder or straw they have left
in the spring when they could be used
to a good advantage as an absorbent.
Simply allowing the fodder or straw
piles to rot down is a very poor way OF
receiving any espesial benefit from
them. Alone rotted they contain but
little plant food, but by using as an alb.
sorbent they can be made very valua-
BILE.
Many farmers who are very careful
to save all the solid IL fail to take
any especial pains to save the liquid.
OF course when 1T is possible it is best
to have your stable-tloors tight, with
cutters and a cellar to hold all the
liquid manure, but this is not always
| possible, and the next best plan to save
this is to use all this kind of material
that in SO many cases is allowed to go
to waste, as an absorbent, and if care
is taken to keep up a liberal quantity of
litter scattered where the stock are fed
and they lay. whether in the stables or
feed lots. Then this material is more
| easily got rid of-an old stack will be
two or three years rotting down and be
of very little value after it is, VIII lie if
used or removed where it can be tram
| pied under foot it will be ready to haul
| out by fall and be of considerable in
| creased value.
Every farmer has more or less ashes
every year. Many just allow them to
be thrown out without making any eff
fort to use them to the best advantage.
Old bones. hats and shoes are al
lowed to go to waste, while if they were
gathered up, the bones broken up, and
all dissolved it would make an extra
good fertilizer for spcc'a al crops.
Very few farmers make any special
effort to save poultry n or utilize
house waste, when they are the very
best fertilizers we can possibly secure,
and could be saved and used to the
very best advantage. / have used con
siderable of both, and while some care
must be taken because ct their strength,
yet l find them very valuable, entirely
too much SO to be wasted.
One of the principal items in good
Turning is to as much as possible in
crease the fertility of the soil, and this
can only be secured by turning every
thing OF value as a fertilizer to the best
advantage.--M.L Shepherd, in Westers
PLOun1un