Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1907-04-26
Agricultural.
DEFECT IN BARNYARD MANURE.

There is no fertilizer that can DO more
proftably used on the farm than farm
yard manure-the resulting by-product
in feeding live stock of all classes. The
solid and liquid cxcrements Of animals,
together with the litter used as bedding,
constitute source of fertilizer which is
not generally appreciated as it should
be. The fertiizing value Of the ma
nurO may be increased very consider
ably by feeding such concentrates as
gluten meal, linseed meal and cotton
seed meal.
1t is for this reason that dairy farm
ers and those engaged exclusively in
live stock industries have been able to
maintain the fertility of their lands for
indefinite periods, and often conclude
that commercial fertilizers cannot be
used to advantage under their condi-
tons. This is frequently mistake, and
their land often becomes overabundantly
supplied with humus as compared with
the mineral elements of plant food which
are regarded as essential for the success
full growth and development of all farm
crops. As carrier of available plant
food, farmyard manure is not especially
valuable, as ton of it contains only
from 9 to Is pounds of nitrogen, A to
9 pounds Of phosphorus and 9 to Is
pounds Of potash
Its greatest benefit to the land is as
an indirect fertilizer. 1t adds organic
matter which provides humus, aus in
creasing the water-holding capacity of
the soil. 1t benefits the texture and
makes heavy soils, especially clays,
more porous. 1t tends to make sandy
soils more retentive of moisture by add
ing vegetable matter. Through its de.
composition it adds heat and increases
the heat-absorbing powers of the land
carbonic acid is also formed, and this
increases the solvent power of the water
contained in the soil. 1t is thus easy
to see that while farmyard manure is
not rich carrier of plant food, it exerts
80 many beneficial influences that it is
properly entitled to the measure of
praise which it has received in the past,
and should receive much more careful
consideration at the hands Of farmers
than has been the general practice ON the
American farm. 1t is also evident that
special effort should be made to save
and utilize the liquid portions of the
manure through the use Of large quanti-
ties of suitable absorbents.
That there is lack in farmyard ma
nure is shown by the facts presented in
the foregoing paragraphs giving the nu-
merous useful influences it has on the
soil, as compared with the amount Of
available plant food it contains. It is
evident. therefore, to all thoughtful men
that phosphorus and potassium in par
ticular should be and can be applied
along with farmyard manure with the
most advantageous results. For in
stance, six tons of farmyard manure
would supply the nitrogen needed for
40-bushel crop of corn; practically IL
tons would be required to supply the
phosphorus and 8 to 6 tons of the potash.
1t is thus an Unbalanced food, richer in
proportion in certain elements than in
others. which must be supplied in COM
merclal form in order to balance it up
properly
Floats can be mixed advantageously
with farmyard manure at the rate Of SO
to 100 pounds ton, or acid phosphate
may be used on land to which manure
has been applied in previous years ; rs
pounds Of muriate of potash will not be
too much to apply with each ton of
farmyard manure. In other words, SO
to $50 pounds of muriate of potash per
acre on land heavily covered with farm
yard manure will, as a rule, prove
profitable; on crops to which chlorine
is Objectionable use sulphAte Of potash.
Many farmers who have used farmyard
manure exclusively as fertilizer now
complain of their inability to raise large
. crops of Irish potatoes and truck crops
as satisfactorily as they formerly did.
This is due to the insufficient supply of
phosphorus and potassium returned to
the land by the manure. This ia mat
ter of far-reaching importance, and the
lack in farmyard manure, if more wide
ly appreciated, would enable farmers to
raise larger crops through supplying
the necessary elements of mineral food
which are likely to be deficient in the
soil.-Prof Andrew NJ. Soule, Vir-
plnia ExnArimant Station