The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-06-26


what we must in some form. apply 10
our soils that are depleted and run down
J if We hope 10 raise profitable crop.
I now come to the second question 70
be answered: How can they be obtain
ed?
With regard to lime, il is needless that
! should say anything to an audience
composed Of Western Pennsylvania
farmers We have it here in such abund-
ance that we need but put forth our
hands and possess it. To secure the 9th
er three indispensable elements in the
quantities we need them, is not so easy Il
matter. They are all found in barnyard
manure in about the following proper
lions IN every wagon load of one ton
there Is about three poundsof phosphoric
acid, eight pounds Of nitrogen, and ten
pounds Of potash. Manures from the pig
pen and poultry-house are richer at least
in nitrogen and potash. This is one
source from which they can be obtained.
Anothersourceo of supply isaiforded US in
the commercial fertilizers manufactured
in every part Of our country. It is true
we need not depend upon the manufact-
urers Of these fertilizers for the supply
necessary TO make up what we lack in
bsrnyari manure, for if we wish to sup
ply ourselves with the machinery neces-
siry, there is no reason why we may not
( purchase the raw material and manu-
Eatcure them ourselves but, without
having tried the experiment, am dis
/ posed to think that the large manufae-
tories, with their superiorappiances and
advantages TO be derived from purchas-
ing and shipping material in large guam
titles can supply them to as at a profit to
themselves for less money than we can
make them
The third question to be answered to
reach solution Of the problem am to
solve, is How viii the cost Of these
fertilizers compare with the amount of
benefit we may hope to derive from
them?
This, as lawyers say, is "the pinch Of
the whole case or, the knotty question
Of the problem. We all believe that it
pays to use barnyard manure. have
talked with men who say that it pays
richly TO purchase it at 81 so per wagon
load Of ton, provided YOU can get it
near enough your home to haul it and
spread it upon the ground at the cost Of
another dollar per ton. This viii make
your barnyard manure cost when applied
to the ground Or crop, 50 per ten loads,
the amount usually applied to an acre Of /
ground. l have serious doubts as 10
whether this viii pay Indeed, l am /
sure that those VINO say it does pay, must |
succeed in raising better crop and get
ting it to better market than we do in
Somerset county. But it is no part Of the !
duty assigned me 10 ascertain whether it
pays to purchase barnyard manure, for
so far as many of ns are concerned. we
could not purchase it if we wished to
hence, 7 have only introduced this mat
ter for the sake Of comparison. In one
ton Of good phosphate, and take as an
example the brand l used myself last
fall, there is about six and one-fourth
times as much phosphoric acid as there
is in ten tons of stable manure. and Of |
potash there is about one and one-half /
times Us much, and of nitrogen or its
equivalent, one and one-fourth as much /:
so that it is difficult 10 make the conpar-
ison. 1t is noticeable, however, that in
the element Of which the manure fur
nishes the lowest quantity, the phosphate
furnishes the highest. while in the other
two elements they are more ne lrly equal; /
hence, to use this fertilizer in connection /
with manure, or upon land in which the
elements Of maunre recently applied Z
have not been exhausted, it is perhaps
safe to say that one ton costing $50 would I
prove Of as much value as thirty tons Of /
stable manure at a cost OF s75 50, that
if manure will pay, which have already
said is questionable, at the price named, /
the phosphate or commercial fertilizer
must also pay, as the equivalent of the /
ten tons Of manure would cost but Sl0
But, perhaps should not speculate
upon this subject. Possibly the commit
tee appointed to prepare our program
wished me to give the result Of some Of /
my own experience, which will cheer
fully do.
The spring after purchasing the farm I
now occupy, seven years 500, broke a
field Of fourteen acres for corn. The sod (
upon the field indicated only tolerably 4
fair condition of the soil This was ell /
had from which to judge came to the +
place the fall previous, and as the pre-
ceding summer had been unusually dry, !
had no means Of determining what the i
field had produced the year before but,
while was plowing. the gentleman from
whom purchased said to me one day
that he feared | was making a mistake.
"You have no mannre, said he, "and J
am afraid hat field will not produce
corn" answered that It must be placed
under cultivation at any rate, or it would I
never become any better. Il was well
plowed and the ground thoroughly pull
verized When the corn was planted !
used fertilizer in the Lill, selecting what
I considered the best phosphate | could
get for the price, sS3 per ton, putting it
on at the rate of 200 pounds to the acre.
The season was favorable one for
corn, and my crop, measured in the
wagon bed, was a little more than 100 |
bushels Of ears. Ny reighbors who
knew the field were astonished at the re-
suit, and VAS well satisfied On 6 acres
Of the first, followed the corn crop with
oats. again using 30O lbs of phosphate to
the acre; this time however the phos-
phate was ef a different manufacture.
and cost $40 per ton. While the oats
was growing. whenever I came near the
field, could distinguish he corn rows
Of the ycar ts fore by the lsrre g.ovih Of
oats in the hills whore The corn bad
grown, and where The ground had
double application Of the phosphate
When the oats was harvested and
lhreshed, / had 326 bushels measured
from the machine, which vas considers
bly, over weight 10 not now remem-
Der what il weighed, but ] suppose the
u busbafe r..r acre. rne.az4traI from the