The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-05-13
LOST FERTILITY OF SOIL.
Some of the Errors of Many Western
Farmers

Farmers.
AS a general thing farmers seldom
are CONCERNED about the fertility of
their soiS SO long as they raise good
crops. But just as soon as the crops
show decided signs Of failing they be-
gin to "get busy" in restoring the lost
fertility T. +c is ~ III ca E3r&!l' =
with lU lag l.;> sit.lu.e after the horse
has been stolen.
1t would be far more profitable and
considerably easier to conserve the
fertility than to endeavor to restore 1t
after it has been lost.
For years it has been the boast of
parts of the west that the fertility Of
the soil in those sections was so strong
that no manure was needed. But 1t
seems that today there is trouble brew
ing. An expert says:
"In many sections Of the corn belt
the day has come when farmers need
to pay more attention to maintaining
the fertility of the soil. This they
should have done years ago. They
should have learned the lesson nature
taught the farmers in the east and
south before the fertile prairies of the
west were opened to cultivation. That
they did not profit by the experience
of eastern and southern farmers
namely, that continuous grain culture
and continuous neglect of conserving
farmyard manure and applying it reg
ularly and in the most economical
manner to their soils-is evident from
the present lack of fertility in many
of the corn belt states, where the soils
at one time were SO productive as to
lead people to think that their exhaus-
ton was practically an impossibility.
It is pertinent also to here refer to
the trials conducted by the Cornell
AGRICULTURAL station to demonstrate the
losses to stable manure when exposed
to teaching and weathering. A pile
of manure that contained elements
worth $5.4S after being exposed for
five months was worth only SZ.O3.
Leaving manure in piles in the field Is
an antiouated method that should new
er be practiced for the reason that it
results in fertilizing the spots where
the heaps lie too heavily, giving them
fully three times as much Of the fer
tilizing elements as they need, while
three times as much ground receives
less than 1t needs or not enough to
make a showing. Where manure is
allowed to lie in heaps on field for
a few weeks or a month it is an i'm
possibility to spread it so as to get an
even distribution of organic matter and
of the elements of fertility. 1t is pref
cradle to spread the manure direct
from the wagon with a fork, although
this is by no means an up to date way
of handling it. For the most econom-
ical results manure should be hauled
direct from the barn as soon as 1t is
made and scattered over the fields by
means of a spreader. In this way, and
in this way only, can the full value of
manure be saved, provided, of course.
enough bedding Is used In the barn
to nicely absorb all the liquid excre-
ment, the plant food of which amounts
to nearly one-half of the total in the
manure and liquid eXcrement.
Carefully conducted experiments
show that the manure produced per
thousand pounds of live weight of the
following classes of farm animals Is
valued at from $25 to $50 per head
per year. The valuations given are as
follows: For cows. 500; horses $21
sheep, $26; calves, $24; pigs, $50. This
valuation takes into consideration only
the actual amounts of nitrogen. phOs
phorus and potassium contained in the
! manure from these animals, valued in
accordance with the present prices OF
these constituents In the form of COM
mercial manures or fertilizers. 1t does
not take into consideration the value
of the manure as q human builder due
to it's large organic matter content
From this it should be plain to any
one that the economical handling of
farm manure is one Of the very i'm
portant factors in maintaining the fer.
tility of our soils.