Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-02-08
MONEY in TUBAUUU STEMS
Prof. Massey Says They Consti-
tute One of the Most VaIu-
able of Fertilizers Known.

A correspondent asks if 1t will pay
him to buy tobacco stems for manure
from the stemmeries at 81 per ton.
We answer yes, decidedly. If the plant
food in the stems was al! available as
In well prepared commercial fer
tilizer, they would be worth over SIS
per ton at the commercial rate for nj
trogen, potash and phosphoric acid, for
the stems contain 2.35 per cent of nj
trogen. $40 per cent of potash and 10
per cent of phosphoric acid. They
only lack due percentage of phos-
phoric acid to be well balanced fer
tilizer. They have a larger percentage
of nitrogen than the average CONNER
cial fertilizer, except the highest grades,
and far more potash than the ma
jority Of commercial fertilizers. Hence
they are still cheap at 81 per ton.
Years ago in North Carolina tn
stemmeries We're glad to get rid of
them at So per ton, but the expert
ment station demonstrated their value
and the demand increased so that the
price has advanced
Like all organic matter they must
decay and pass through the nitrifying
process in the soil before the nitrogen
becomes available and the potash is
released.
But, like all other organic matter,
they add humus- making material to
the soil, which the commercial fertiliz-
ers do not. Hence, though not so
quickly available, they are still we'll
worth buying at the price named FL"
In the long run they are even more
valuable than the commercial fertilz-
ers because of the humus- making ma
terials carried in them. AS a COM
posting material with stable manure
they will also have a great value.
adding potash that this lacks to a
great extent.
Recently | came into possession of a
large pigeon house, with yard and
flying place inclosed with wire netting.
found this house in rather neg
lected state and very consid srable
accumulation of pigeon manure, the
value of which every gardener knows
| found, too, that the nests had been
made with tobacco stems, probably to
prevent the mites. On top of the
stems there was thick accumulation
of the droppings, for we all know how
pigeons Will foul their nests.
The nests were all cleaned out and
the floor scraped, then with a spade
chopped up the stems and the dry
droppings as fine as l could and used
the compost for manuring my lettuce
frame.
The way that lettuce is growing
shows the value of the pigeon manure,
and after awhile the decaying tobacco
stems will be keeping up the feeding
of the plants. l found long since that
to grow good lettuce one must have
plenty of manure and fertilizer, both,
for neither of them alone will give
the best results in this crop This is
largely because the lettuce in the
sandy soil it prefers needs liberal
amount of potash. and while a good
application Of well-rotted manure will
give it a send-off and keep it growing
well there is needed an extra amount
of phosphoric acid to make the lettuce
head well. Now, / believe that the com
bination / have in the pigeon manure
and the tobacco stems will answer all
the purposes of manure and fertilizer
At least / am going to test the mat
ter
OF course if one has to buy the
pigeon manure he had as well buy
the fertilizer and the ordinary horse
or cattle manure that cam be had more
plentifully and cheaply. The soil of
my lettuce frame is very sandy. but
dark in color, showing that there is a
considerable amount of humus in it.
wish that I could get tobacco stems
for 81 a ton. I believe that it would
pay to run them through an ensilage
cutter and chop them up SO that they
can be more easily spread and would
be in a condition to more quickly
decay
There is another product of a waste
character from the factories where
tobacco is made This is to-
bacco dust. 1t is not. of course, all
tobacco, for a great deal Of 1t is the
sand and other impurities that are
sifted from the tobacco. 1t, therefore,
varies considerably in character
Formerly l bought the dust for so
cents a packed barrel, but it is now
higher in price. This dust has pretty
nearly as much value as the stems and
is in such finely comminuted state
that 1t decays very rapidly and soon
becomes available to plants | have
put 1t on lawn so thickly as to al
most hide the short -mown grass, and
it soon settled down and decayed and
the grass grew most astonishingly
The stalks of tobacco-that is, the
main stalks Of the plant-have much
higher percentage of nitrogen than
the stems stripped from the leaves.
having 3.71 per cent of nitrogen, but
the stems from the leaves have
larger percentage of potash and phos-
phoric acid, though the phosphoric
acid is deficient in both But with
horse dung showing only IA per cent
of nitrogen in the fresh state and .35
per cent of potash, the value of the
stems and stalks can be appreciated,
for the dry pigeon manure has $50
per cent of nitrogen, as compared with
2.35 per cent in the stems and 81 per
cont IN the Sta1kS Of tphoo,o