San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-01-22
The Cheapest Manure,
American Cpltivator,

American EQItlNdtolt
The manure question will not down
In any discussion of what is most
needed for the progress of American
farmers. The best way to procure
cheapest fertil cation of the soil is
more important than any other issue
that can be raised. Whether it is TO
he by the purchase of commercial fer
tiIizers, by the blowing under of green
crops grown on the laud, or by feed
ing these crops to farm stock, are
each questions to be answered by the
farmers of different localities, differ
emily circumstanced. No one answer
can be eeusl for all. Each one mus {
answer for hinls elf.
Its this fact that the selection of
different methods of fertilization Is
enforced upon farmers and gardeners
that makes their decision an act of
Individual thought. and thus adds to
its dignity and Importance. The
farmer, gardner or other soil fertil-
izsr is placed by this necessity under
obligation to select the best and
cheapest method of manuriDg. If he
succeeds he continues in his business.
II he fails he goes out of business
with record of failure that follows
him through subsequent life. When
the Importance of this decision Is
fully recognized it at once becomes
the pivotal issue OF farm manage
ment. One way lies success. The
other way lies failure. 1t is a matter
of good judgment in either case. It
is also a matter of farm management,
as every good farmer understands.
Without any question thousands Of
farmers are now making from the
produce of their land much more than
its market value by feeding 1t to the
stock they have grown expressly for
this purpose. In this way they get
the manure made from such stock
free of cost, aud it is much the cheap.
est fertilizer they can use. But it
has the draw back which prof ia BILE
business operations anywhere in
volve, that it requires not only
considerable capital TO begin
with, but more than average skill
and intelligence IN its management
It is not every farmer who can make
money byHkeeping the best bloOded
stock, II he have only money, with.
ont skill and intelligence he surely
cannot do it.
The fact is less understood than it
ought to be that to make the most
from the best stock demands more
thought and skill than it does mere
~ to keep poor stock. The latter can
be cold usually for all, and perhaps
more, than it il worth in open mar
ket 1t requires skill and intelligence
to market blooded stock at anything
near its true value.
Often Ii is sold for much less than
it ought to command. 1t is part of the
business of the successful stock breed
er to buy in well bred stock that for
any reason sells below its real value.
What he thus makes lessons the cost
of the manure he max es and uses on
his farm.
There are localities distant from
market where the blowing in of green
manure makes the cheapest fertilizer.
But something is wrong when this is
the fact. There ought to be a profit
i'm feeding. Commercial fertilizers
may be profitable, but they ought to
be mainly of use In growing larger
crops to be fed on the farm, and thus
increase the bulk and value of stable
manure.
The incidental use of mineral fer
tilizers to be fed out on the farm
is by far their most valuable
use anywhere. 1t may pay In other
localities, but wherever the crops
it produces can be ted and turned
into manure with profit the gain
is sure to be greater than it
possibly can be anywhere else. If
stock is OF the best then stable man.
ure is the cheapest, and most surely
SO when judicious use of COMMERCIAL
fertilizers has added to its amount.
The two supplement each other. Most
farm produce produces manure rich
in heterogeneous matter, but deficient