New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1891-07-15
THE FARM AND FIELD.
INTERESTING SUBJECTS FOR
RURAL READING.
Preservation of Manure--Plants
that Flavor Butter--Hjlling Po-
tatoeS--Depth of Good Soil,
Preservation of Manure.

New York Agricultural Experiment
Station contains great deal of sue-
gestlve information with regard to va
rlous kinds OF fertilizers. Inthe pages
devoted to the barnyard manures
there are two or three sections relat-
Ing to the fermentation of such ma
nures, and the proper methods of
caring for them to prevent the loss of
tertallzlng constituents. That there
is vast amount of indifference-not
to say lgnorance-amongfa farmers with
regard to the losses they suffer in con-
sequence OF the heating or teaching of
their stores OF manure is too painfully
evident to those who have looked in
to the matter.
But the conditions under which
farming is now conducted in this ooun-
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
MI ~ ~
tage in order to maintain unimpaired
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
monty loses some Of it's fertilizing con-
stituents-frst, 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. strong odOr coming from a
manure heap indicates that wasteful
fermentation is takingplace.
This source of loss can be avoided
:,by keeping the manure heap moisten-
ed with water or by sprinSling 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 mouths
under the caves of the barn often, if
not generally, results in loss of one
half or more OF the fertilizing consti-
tuents by teaching; and, moreover,
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
OF stable manure is the saving of the
urine. The common practice is to let
this 60 to waste, But, as shown in
one Of the stables of the Bulletin, the
liquid is, in most instances, much
more valuable than the solid portions.
Thus the solid fresh excrement of
cattle contains only half as much
nitrogen and about one-ffth as much
potash as the fresh urine.
The difference between the solid
manure and the urine of tl:> horse is
greater still, while the fertilizing con-
stltuents OF the urine areentirely solu-
bic, and therefore more readily avail
able for plant food than those of solid
eXcre.nent. To let the former 90 to
waste, therefore, while utilizing the
latter is much as if an orchardist
should carefully pick out for sale the
poorest OF his fruit and leave the
rest to rot on the trees.
The main object in caring for barn.
yard manure IS to prevent the loss OF
compounds containing nitrogen, pot
ash and phosphoric acid. When the
manure is kept for some time before
being carried afeld, the three princi-
pal points to be observed are these:
l. Save the liquid manure by means
Of litter, using in addition land plaster
or some, form of dry earth, such as
peat or muck.
2. Keep the manure heap in a suffi-
GENTLY moist condition F.
3. Protect carefully from teaching
by rain. >- F.. .....-. H.,
With regard to the first point it is
suggested that the use of too much
litter diminishes the relative value of
manure and add to the cost Of handl-
ing; but enough litter should be. used
not only to absorb and retain the
urine, but also to absorb any am
monia that may be formed in the pro-
cess OF decomposition
Killing Potatoes.
Experiments made by us, 20 years
ago and more, showed that the com
mon and almost universal practice OF
drawing the earth up in small hills