The Charlotte Democrat., 1889-12-20
AGRICULr A d RAJ.
The Manure Heap.

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This is good time as any to commence
the process of manure making 1t should
Be considered that very large part OF
the elements of fertility that nave Deen
removed from the coil by the crops OF
grain, hay and other food crops consumeo
bv the animals of the farm, reappear In
the liquid and solid excrements. Inc
MAKING of domestic manure Consists NANNY
in procuring these elements OF fertility ana
restoring them to the soil whence tneY
were removed by the crops.
The growing of food crops, the saving
of their manure and restoring II 10 the
soil. is a beautiful illustration OF the law OF
compensation and restitution. An indi'
yidnal particle of phosphoric acid, lime or
potash may possibly make the circuit from
the soil, through the grain, into the hvlng
auimal tissue, thence to the manure heaP
and back again to the soil dozens OF times
in the course of farmers cultivation OF .
grain farm. First it 10 in the soil, partl,
Gle of inert matter; next 1t Is organized
into the constitution of the grain; then
becoming a part of the living bone, muscle
or other tissue, or passing through unsP'
propriated; then into the urine and drop
pings. Now if these excrements be
carefully saved and placed on the soil, and
the. latter be prevented from undue waste
of the store OF elements of fertility still
remaining, the process of exhaustion OF the
land must be comparatively slow. 1t 10
the duty of the farmer not only TO save, in
the form of manure, what has been remov.
ed from the soil, but to add to this recover
ed portion additional supplies of these
elements from other sources, both from
the deep recesses of the soil ITSELF. and
from sources outside the farm, as we'll as
by the cultivation OF such crops as have
the power to gather nitrogen from the
atmosphere, thus building up the soil and
increasing its productiyeness. In these
few words we have stated the theory OF
restoring, maintaining and increasing the
fertility of the soil.
Everything that has grown upon the
soil, and every thing that has once formed
any part of the animal body or has been
excreted from the body, is more or less
valuable as a manure. All vegetables and
animal garbage, then, that accumulates
about the farm building, stables, wood pile,
smoke.house, fowl,house, fence corners,
the leaves from the forest near by, not 10
mention cotton seed, should be considered
as containing the circulating medium by
means of which the various operations of
growing crops, growing aud tattening
animals, the production of milk, ETC., are
carried of.
After saving all these materials, resort
should be made to commercial fertilizers.
The latter contains nothing of value to the
soil that is not found in the materials We
have named. A good, complete CONNER.
cial fertilizer may be considered as stable
manure boiled doson, containing as it does,
the very same fertilizing elements. with
out the excess of sand, clay and water
that is always present, more or less, In
ordinary stable manare. Many persons
are of the opinion that the use of CONNER.
cial fertilizers 10 an Improbable and
unwise innovation. We do not propose to
discuss the general proposition-"Do
commercial fertilizers pay the farmer?" 1t
is no doubt true that some farmers fail to
find any substantial profit in the use of
them; and it is also true that the most
skilful are sometimes imposed upon, and
they themselves are at fault. But
the most convincing proof OF the
utility of commercial fertilizers is the
continued and annually increasing con-
sumption of them. This continued reliance
upon them must be the result of
profitable experience. We will add that
those farmers who succeeded without
fertilizers owe their success not to that
fact, but to the exercise of skill, economy
and industry in all the departments of
farm operations. They would probably
be even more successful if they would
make a judicous use of commercial or
concentrated chemical ferlilizer.-Soath-
ern C,tttivdtor. ..- "A