The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-03-11
LOST FERTILITY OF SOIL
Borne Of the Errors Os Msny wsstsrr
Farmers.

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Farmers.
A q general thing farmers seldom
are concerned about the fertility al
their soils 80 long Rs they raise good
crops. But just as soon as the crops
show decided signs Of failing they be.
gin 10 get busy" IN restoring the lost
fertility. This Il about on a parallel
with locking the stable altar the horse
has been stolen.
II would be far more profitable and
considerably easier 70 conserve the
fertility than to endeav0r to restore 4;
after II has been lost
For years II has been the boast Of
parts Of the west that the fertility Of
the sol in those sections was - strong
that no manure was needed, But Il
seems thaf today there II trouble brew.
inE. An expert says;
''ln many sections OF the corn belt
the day has come when farmers need
70 pay more attention 10 maintaining
the fertility OF the sol. 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 prRiries OF the
west were opened 10 cultivation. That
they did mot profit by the experience
o. eastern and southern farmers
namely. thar continuous grain culture
and continuous neglect Of conserving
farmyard manure and applying II reg.
ularly and IN The most economical
manner 70 their soils-is evident from
the present lack Of fertility IN many
Of the corn belt states, where the soils
ct one time were 80 productive a. 10
lead people to think that their exhaus
lion was practically an imp0ssibility."
II Is pertinent also 70 here refer 20
the trisls conducted by the Cornell
Agricultural station 70 demonstrate the
losses 70 stable manure when exposed
to teaching and westhering A pfc
Of manure that confined elements
worth S. 40 after being exposed for
FIVE months was worth only $203
Leaving manure IN piles in the fela is
an antiqugfed method that should new
or be practiced for the reason that II
results In fertilizing the spots where
the heaps lie loo heavily. giving them
fully three times as much Of the fer
tilixinE elements as they need, while
three times as much ground receives
less than 1t needs or not enough To
make q showing Where manure u
allowed = lie in heaps on e field Cor
q few weeks or q month 1t is an I'm
possibility 70 spread II SO as 70 get an
even distribution Of organic matter and
Of the elements Of fertility. Il Is pref. 1
cradle 20 spread the manure direct
from the wagon with fork, although /
this il By 10 means an un To date way
Of handling H. For the most econom-
icai results manure should be hauled
direct from the barn as soon as 1t is
made and scattered over the fields by
means OF snreader. In this war, and
in this way only. can the full value OF
manure be saved, provided, Of course
enough bedding is used In the barn
10 nicely absorb all the liquid excre
nent, 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 s25 10 500 per head
per year The valuations given are as
For cows, $50; horses, SIT;
sheep, Sc; calves, s24 pigs. $50. This
valuation takes into consideration only
the actual amounts OF nitrogen, phos-
Dhorus and potassium contained in the
manure from these animals, valued In
accordance with the present prices Of
these constituents Ia the form of COM
mercial manures or fertilizers. Ii does
not take into consideration the value
~ the manure ais human builder due
10 It's large organic matter content.
From this 1t should be plain to any
one that the economical handling Of .
farm manure Is one Of the very inn /.
1ortant factors in maintaining the fer.
.ility Of our soils.