The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-15
The Value of Barnyard Manure.

The value oil harvard Manure.
In a newspaper bulletin of the Ohio
Agricultural Experiment Station CNo. 172)
giving the results of experiments with fer
tilizers on the clay soil of one of its
sub-stations a table was given which in
Dictated that barnyard manure had pro-
duced increase of crop to the value of
81. 80 per ton of manure in the three crops
of a five-crop rotation, leaving the resid
ual effect on the two grass crops yet to
be ascertained.
BY an unfortunate lapse of memory,
however, the mistake was made of COM
putting only half the quantity of manure
actually used, as it had been used on
two crops in three years, namely,
corN land wheat, at the rate of eight tons
on one plot and four tons ON another on
each crop, making a total application to
the two GRIPS of sixteen tons and eight
tons, respectively, and reducing the value
of the increase due to the manure to about
$1.25 per ton
The manure used in this test had been
accumulated from horses and COWS in an
open barnyard during the winter and
summer previous to its application, and
was under, rather than above, the aver
age open yard manure In quality.
A similar comparison of manure and
fertilizers has been made at the central
station, beginning Immediately after the
relocation of the station in Wayne coun-
ty, on the same crops corn, oats wheat,
clover and timothy, grown in five-year
rotation. Four wheat crops have now been
taken in this rotation, three crops each
of corn and oats and five crops of hay,
the meadows thus far being mown but
once a year Five tracts of land are in
f,, h.. oh, ,faafra inc
thirty plots of one-tenth acre each, and
so managed that each crop will be repre-
scented each season after the first rotation
Is completed.
AT this stage of the work only partial
results can be given, as full rotation
would include five crops each of the ce-
reals and ten crops of hay; but 1t may be
useful to note the results already obtained,
which are as follows. the value of the in
crease being computed on the basis of 1913
cents per h8shel for corn, 25 cents for oats,
e628 cents for wheat SO per ton for straw
and slower and IS for hay: Plot No. is,
10 tons manure per acre in two applica-
tons; value of increase per acre, grain,
S3.SS; straw, SIT; hay, S12O7; total, ST.. Y.
Plot No 20, 8 tons manure per acre in two
applications; value of increase per acre,
grain, $2.81; straw, $136; hay, $50; total,
1926
1t Will be observed that in this test the
smaller application of manure has been
relatively the more profitable, but this
may not be borne out by subsequent re-
suits. At the sub-station there has been
but little difference thus far in the appar-
ent effectiveness per ton, whether used at
the four-ton or at the eight-ton rate per
acre.
The results show an immediate recovery
of about 1925 on the average in Increase in
crop al recent prices for every ton of
INT ba
periments of Lawes and Gilbert at Ro-
thamsted show that not more than one
half to two-thirds the possible increase
from barn-yard manure is recovered in the
first crops grown from it. We may, there
fore safely offset the residual effect of
the manure against the cost of application
and consider the immediate increase as
clear profit.
In another experiment at the central sta
ton potatoes, wheat and clover are grown
in a three-crop rotation, and In this test
the increase from manure applied to po-
tatoes has reached $3.50 per ton, potatoes
being valued at 1873 cents per bushel.
Barnyard manure is relatively deficient
in phosphoric acid, as compared with am
monia and potash, and the experiments of
the Ohio station indicate that phosphoric
acid is the constituent most needed on the
majority of Ohio soils, but that il only
produces it's full effect In the presence of
ammonia and potash The price of acid
phosphate has fallen during recent years
until 1t can now be bought for delivery
anywhere in Ohio at prices, which bring
it's actual phosphoric acid below cents
per pound and as the sprnklng of acid
phosphate or superphosphate on barnyard
manure Is believed to have beneficial eff
feet in preventing the waste of ammonia
from the manure, It would seem that the
use of acid phosphate in this manner might
serve the double purpose of preserving the
ammonia of the manure and increasing the
effectiveness of both its ammonia and pot
ash.
Experiments on this point are now in
progress at the Ohio station.