The Forrest City times., 1891-08-07
TIE FARM AND FIELD.
INTERESTING SUBJECTS FOR
 RURAL READING.
Preservation of Manure--Plants that Flavor Butter--HilllnR Po-
 tatoes--Depth of Good SoiL
Preservation of Manure.

Preservation of Manure.
 The June bulletin tNo. 32) of the
 New York Agricultural Experiment Station contains great deal of sug gestive information with regard to va
 rious kinds of fertilizers In the pages
 devoted to the barnyard manures
 there are two or three sections relat. ing to the fermentation of such ma,
 nnres, and the proper methods ol caring for them to prevent the loss oi fertalizing constituents. That there is Q vast amount of indifference-not to say yignorance-amongf farmers with regard to the losses they suffer in con-
 sequence of the heating or teaching oi their stores of manure is too painfully evident to those who have looked in. to the matter.
 Blu. the conditions under which farming is now conducted in this coun- try in all the older States, and even in many of the newer sections, are such that wiser methods are becom-
 ing imperative. Farmers cannot longer afford to cart "the ghosts of their manure piles" as an English
 writer expressed it, into their fields, for the stored up fertility which gave them fair crops in spite of the mock cry of fertilizing material they labor iously applied to them is largely ex- hausted. They must learn to hus- band all their fertilizing resources and utilize them to the best advan- tage in order to maintain unlmpaired the fruitfulness of their farms.
 The suggestions of the agricultural station bulletin are, therefore. of great value, even If they seem trite to those who have learned, years ago, that waste in the barnyard means poverty in the barn
 There are two principal ways, it says, in which stable manures com monly loses some of its fertilizing con- stituents-first, by improper methods Of fermentation, and, second, by teaching In regard to the first point, more or less nitrogen is lost by al- lowing manure to ferment without sufficient moisture; especially IS this apt to be true in the case of horse manure, which decomposes very rap- idly. A strong odor coming from a manure heap indicates that wasteful fermentation Is takingpace.
 This source of loss can be avoided by keeping the manure heap moisten- ed with water or by sprinkling land plaster about the stables to be mixed constantly with the accumulations or
 by using dry earth as an absorbent. Only nitrogen compounds can be lost by vaporlzation. By teaching there
 will be a loss of not only nitrogen
 compounds, but of potash and phos- phoric acid also.
 The common method of storing farm-yard manure for several months | under the caves of the barn often, il | not generally, results in a loss of one | half or more of the fertilizing consti.
 tuents by teaching; and, moreover l the materials thus leached out by rain | are the more easily soluble portions of the manure, and hence the more
 valuable portions.
 Another point of great importance | in connection with the preservation i of stable manure is the saving of the
 urine, The common practice Is to let this go to waste, But, as shown 1T
 one of the stables of the Bulletin, ths liquid Is. in most instances, much l. 1.~s sl, Thus the solid fresh excrement o cattle contains only half as much nitrogen and about one-fifth as much potash as the fresh urine
 The difference between the solid
 manure and the urine of the horse is greater still, while the fertilizing con | etituents of the urine are entirely solu' | ble, and therefore more readily avail l able for plant food than those of solid
 excrenent. To let the former go to
 waste. therefore, while utilizing the
 latter Is much as If an orehardist | should carefully pick out for sale ths l rest to rot on the trees.
 The main object in caring for barn yard manure IS to prevent the loss o1 | compounds containing nitrogen, pot
 ash and phosphoric acid. When the
 manure is kept for some time before
 being carted afield, the three princi pal points to be observed are these: 1. Save the liquid manure by means
 oi litter, using in addition land plaster
 or some form of dry earth, such as peat or muck.
 ?. Keep the manure heap in stuff l ciently moist condition.
 3. Protect carefully from teaching | " rain.
 With regard to the first point it it suggested that the use of too much
 litter diminishes the relative value O.
 manure and add to the cost of handl
 ing; but enough litter should be used
 not only to absord and retain tho
 urine, but also to absord any am
 monia that may be formed in the pro
 cess of decomposition.
 Hilllng Potatoes,
 Experiments made by us, 20 years au<> and r,nra chouaJ <hak &ha anx,1