Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-12-24
MANURE IS AS 5000 AS GOLD !,
One of the Most Valuable By
Products, but Too Often
Absolutely Wasted.
BY W. MILTON KELLY, NEW YORK.

OF her workers no more than she fur-
nishes them ample means to accom-
plish
When we remove two tons of hay or
so bushels of corn and two tons OF
slower we are removing a large guam
tity of the valuable fertilizing ele-
ments contained in the soil.
Is il reasonable for US to expect as
large crops in the future unless we
supply that soil with some Of the es-
sentials that have been removed by
taking off those two crops?
The great law of successful farming
| Is to return to the soil an equivalent
Cor the crops removed from it.
BY rotation we grow good crops for
a number Of years. but we are only
prolonging the battle with Nature and
| in time she Is sure to win out.
Some will say subsoil and deep pillow,
but these are only another remedy to
hasten the fertilizing elements into a
| form that is available for plant food
Some of the spellbinders will preach
dust mulch, some lime, and some COM
| mercial fertilizers, but when we get
right down to common sense and con-
slider the matter in a true and prac-
| teal manner we will not be long in
discovering thatsrthe stable manure is
| the only logical way for the farmer to
build up his land for future crops
| A careful study of the methods pur-
sued by the farmers in the east and
west has convinced me that we as q
| class of agrculturists are fighting Ma
| ture at every turn, and an occasional
old rundown farm is conclusive evil
dence that Nature has won the battle
and that the owner has surrendered
| the fort.
Now let us see how Nature sets
about to restore this land to produce
! tiveness.
| First she grows a crop of weeds
which in turn give themselves up to
fertilizing the succeeding crop; thus
| we see that one of the little fertilizing
atoms may serve the same purpose for
long series of years, nothing taken off
and each years crop improving the
land on which it grew; but Nature
is a slow worker and it takes ages for
her to bring about these changes when
| left to herself
| 1t is upon working in harmony with
her that depends the success of farm
| ing.
! We arrive at the conclusion after
studying Nature that there can be no
good farming without Nature, and
that we must plan to save and make
the best possible use of all the stable
manure that is made by feeding our
crops on our own farms.
| Such being the fact, it is obvious
that the manure, which is one Of our
SO called "by-products," is really the
bank from which we must draw our
working capital
What farmer would think OF put
ting his good money in any bank that
] was losing two-thirds of the money
that was deposited every year? Yet
| we have any number of farmers who
will allow the valuable fertilizing ele-
ments in the manure to be washed
away by the rain and snow and be
dissipated by the air until two-thirds
of the fertilzing elements are wasted
The stable manure, both liquid and
solid, should be saved by the use of
absorbents and tight cutters, and we
know Of many who have tried hauling
the manure direct to the fields every
day as fast as it was made and who
are having excellent results. In this
way all of the elements of plant food
as they are developed are absorbed
by the soil and we are not surprised
at the good results that come from
this method of hauling the manure di-
rect to the fields.
, The saving of liquid manure is
worthy of more attention than it has
received and should be given attention
on all farms where animals are KEEP
and fed in the stable during a larg
share of the year.
One of the reasons why liquid ma
nure has been neglected is because /
is difficult to handle, but our expert
f, ence has been that when plenty
straw and litter is used with Ian,
plaster, or ground Carolina rock, ant
1t is thus mixed with the solids W,
have an evenly balanced plant food
that is adapted to every cultivated
plant that is grown by man.
After giving the subject of manures
and their application great amount
of attention, we have arrived at the
following conclusions, which l think
will be found right in the MAN, al
though it is possible that some will
| find other methods better adapted to
their particular farms or line of farm
ing carried on by them:
Stable manure hauled direct to the
fields as fast as made is the hest
method of handling it. inasmuch as it
contains all of the elements required
to nourish every plant cultivated by
man.
That top dressing meadow lands is
one of the best and most economical
ways of using the manure crop
The manure spreader is one of the
most essential tools and has place
on every farm in the country where
stock is fed.
The best results are obtained by ma
nurng close to the surface and not
by blowing it under too deep,
We must depend more upon our sta
Bile manure and less upon purchased
) fertilizers if we make a profit from
! our lands.
; We should plan system of cove,
or trap crops to arrest and hold this
fertilizing elements until such time
as they are needed by growing crops
t Start the incubators for the carl,