The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1898-11-08
street sweepings as Manure.


The United States Department of
Agriculture has been conducting some
,nyostigations on the manurial value
~ street sweeping. The report says
in part:
The fertilizing value of street sweep
,ngs varies greatly with the nature
of the pavements, being practically
nothing in the case of the material
taken from macadamized roads, and
annroaching that of good stable ma
nure in the case of that collected on
the hand-swept and well-paved streets
of crowded cities. The regulations in
different cities governing the nature
of substances which may be thrown
into the alleys and streets, and thus
find their way into the material col
lected by the sweepers, vary so greatly
that there is consequently a CORE
sponding difference in the cost of sort
ing and preparing the material for
snreading on the land. It is believed
that the rapidly increasing sentiment
in favor Of the careful separation and
systematic utilization Of all forms OF
city wastes will tend to remove this
difficulty and thus increase the value
of sweepings, particularly of those
collected in alleys, where the percent
age of miscellaneous rubbish is now
often very great. In autumn the guam
tity and, in many cases, the quality Of
the street cleaners product is greatly
increased by the falling leaves.
Without a knowledge of the results
Of a large number of carefully con-
Quoted experiments, it would be hard
to determine from the results of an
analysis just what price per ton farm
ers can afford to pay for street sweep
ings in addition to the cost of hauling
and spreading them on the land. Us
ing the very conservative estimate Of
10 cents per pound for the nitrogen,
and disregarding the phosphoric acid
and potash, the poorest sample anal
yzed would be worth 81 cents per ton;
while the richest sample would be
worth $1.46 per ton. The material has
considerable value for many soils in
addition to the value of the plant food
it contains. Gardeners declare that it
is very useful for improving the me-
chanical condition of stiff and badly
aerated soils. It would also improve
the condition of very light soils which
are deficient in moisture holding ca
pacity because of the low percentage
OF organic matter which they contain.
The nitrogen of street sweepings is
not as readily available as the nitro
gen OF ordinary stable manure, be-
cause Of the smaller proportion of
urine contained in the sweepings. 1t
Is well established fact that the nj
trogen in the urine of animals is much
more readily available than that con-
tanned in their solid excrement. 1t is,
therefore, very difficult to make an es-
innate of the money value of street
sWeepings because Of the great varia-
ton in their composition, which is de-
pendent upon the nature of the pave
ments, the season of the year during
which they are collected, the manner
OF collection, etc., and because many
accurate field tests must be made be-
fore we can determine their exact val
ue as a source of plant food. Sixteen
cities reported the prices at which
street sweepings are sold to farmers
by their street-cleaning departments
or contractors. These prices vary from
Is cents to So per ton. The city of
Atlanta reports contract for the sale
of the sweepings of their streets for
$50 per year and an arrangement
Which gives the STRENGTHENING de-
partment the advantage Of a short
haul. This seems to be an excellent
arrangement for both parties concern
ed, as the average quality of the en-
tire product of a city for a whole
year ought not to vary greatly from
year to year. Moreover, the price can
be adjusted equitably from year to
year as the true value of the material
becomes apparent.