The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-09-29
SawduSt as an Absorbent.

A correspondent of the Mirror and
Farmer tells bad story about sawdust.
He says that on the farm of Il. w.
Pierce of Topsham, Mass, where " are
kept one hundred head of cattle and
twenty horses, they had used until
within two years one hundred cords of
sawdust annually for litter. In cOnnec-
ton with this farm is an extensive
greenhouse. For long time there
had been great difficulty here in the
propagation of plants. They failed to
produce vigorous growth, became
stunted and nearly void of vitality. One
manager after another would be tried,
with always the same unfortunate re-
suit Finally new man was obtained
who reversed the order of things. His
first observation was: The sawdust in
the manure is killing the plants. 1t
propagates fungus and vermin.' BY
his order the plants were taken up and
all the soil removed from the green
house. New soil was substituted en-
riched with manure uncontaminated by
sawdust. The plants were then put
into this and the result was they at once
sprung into new life, and for rapid
growth and elegance of bloom this
greenhouse has since then had no SUI
perior. Upon the result of this expert
ment the use of sawdust on the farm
was abandoned; for, it was argued, if
manure impregnated with sawdust
would destroy the growth of plants in
the greenhouse it would have CORE
spending effect on vegetation wherever
applied on the land. Loan and sand,
therefore, were substituted for litter
for cattle, with straw for the stable.
We cut the above from the agricul-
tural department of the Brattleboro
Ph@niG, the editor of which remarks as
follows:
Sawdust is extensively used by our
farmers for bedding cattle. For that
purpose ii is one of the cleanest articles
that can be found. A cord of hard
wood sawdust contains ten or fifteen
cents worth of mineral fertilizers; not
nearly so large quantity as an equal
weight of straw or refuse hay such as
is not used for litter; but it costs little
or nothing except drawing, is clearly,
and is much used in the stables of
farmers in this neighborhood. If it is
as in furious to manure as this writer
represents, the fact should be better
known. A few have always believed it
had a bad effect, while others have
thought that it was of some value of
itself, besides its value as an absorbent
and as a divisor of the solid portion of
the manure. Carefully-conducted eX-
periments are needed to test its effect.
Well, Brother Howe, we have been
conducting just such experiments for
a great many years. Mr.. Pierce, like a
good many fancy farmers-and good
many, too, who are not-is too hasty in
jumping at a conclusion. He commits
the very common error of generalizing
from too small a collection of facts, or
rather from single fact. (By the way,
there is no "Topsham " in Massachu-
sets, but perhaps Mr.. Pierce lives in
Topsfield.)
The same trouble that Mr.. Pierce's gar,
dener experienced from the sawdusty
manure he would surely have expert
ence from any manure containing
vegetable matter that had not been sufli
GENTLY rotted. Most sawdust rots much
more slowly than straw; but when thor
oughly rotted it is as safe for the propa
eating bench as any other form of mould
We suppose that the fact that the