Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-01-14
Aliseellansuus Radins.
Hume FERTILIzERFJR THE FARM

Hume FERTILIZER Fur THE FARM
| Saving of Farm Manures Cuts Down
Expenses.
It is essential to their ultimate sue
| cess that the farmers of the south be
impressed with the Importance Of CIV
ing more attention to the saving Of
farm manures. The convenience Of
commercial fertilizers, the ease with
which they can be obtained (they can
! always be bought on creditD and the
fact that their use requires little fore
| thought have led most Of our farmers
| to forget or neglect the home supply.
Another reason why home manures
have been neglected is that owing to
the lack of Intelligent care of them the
results following their use have not
been satisfactory. If much good has
been obtained from them, it Is usually
reached only by their use in such large
quantities as it is difficult to secure
upon the average farm.
posing the intelligent and economical
use of commercial fertilizers. Com
mercial fertilizers have proved them
selves of great value and are destined
to play even a greater part in our farm
economy; but it is only when used as
supplements to the home product that
this will be SO. In the first place, they
are costly; and. secondly, their exclu-
sive use instead Of effecting a perma-
nent Improvement Of the soil actually
hastens the depletion Of that soil Of its
plant food. It is only when used with
green manures and barnyard manures
that the most permanent Improvement
can be accomplished.
Manure Not Properly Handled.
The small value frequently realized
from the use Of barnyard manure arises
from the fact that it is not properly
saved and handled and the manure has
lost the greater part of its plant food.
Barnyard manure may be regarded as
Just so much vegetable matter. 1t diff
fers, however, from the food from
which 1t is derived in that, having
been once digested, it's fertilizing ele-
ments are more available fer plants.
Available plant food means plant
food that is easily decomposed and SOL
uble in water. If the manure is left
exposed to the elements, the water
from rains easily and rapidly teaches
out the soluble plant food. On the 9TH
er hand, if the manure is allowed to
heat a large amount of the nitrogen is
driven off into the atmosphere; so in
order to get the most valuable ma
nure both of these sources of loss must
be avoided. There are several ways Of
accomplishing this. Probably the best
plan, where 1t is practicable, Is to maui
the manure direct upon the land and
plough 1t in-shallow on clay soils,
deeper on sandy loans. Again, espe-
cially with horse manure, etc, 1t Is
good to allow the manure to remain in
the stable, using plenty of litter. The
animals tramp the manure down, thus
excluding the air, and as it is kept dry
it will keep with practically no loss.
The litter used in bedding not only Is
itself of value as fertilizer, but serves
also to absorb all liquids and prevent
their loss. II not practicable to pursue
| either of these methods, then a cheap
sned can be provided and the manure
stored in il until ready for use.
There is one precaution that must be
observed when a shed Is used. and es-
| pecially if the droppings from horses
predominate. Under these conditions
| the manure is apt to heat. This should
be prevented by dampening 1t. For
| this reason it is a good plan to have a
| leaky shed-one that will not permit
the entrance of enough water to leach
| through, but will leak enough to keep
the manure moist. In case of protract-
ed drought there should be artificial
| means of watering the compost. The
question may arise with the farmer
whether it Is more economical to go to
this trouble and expense with his ma
nure or to depend upon commercial fer
tilizers. This question is soon answer
ed in the affirmative.
Bear in mind that while the farmer
may buy an equal number Of pounds
of plant food he cannot get 1t in as good
a form, nor do the commercial fertil-
| izers have as great an effect. They
do not add vegetable matter, do not
start soil fermentation and do not cor
| rect mechanical defects of the soil. A
ton of well-preserved manure from a
| well-fed horse contains about 9.S
pounds of nitrogen, So pounds of phos-
| phoric acid and SO pounds of potash
plant food that would cost S2.1S bought
as commercial fertilizer. This is on a
| basis of Is cents a pound for nitrogen,
cents for pnosphoric acid and cents
for potash.
Twelve Tons for One Horse.
A horse weighing 1000 pounds will
| produce about IL tons of manure in a
year, and this manure is consequently
| worth I 3-5 cents day, or about S27 a
| year. The manure from the average
cow is worth about 6A cents day, or
$500 per year. These values are based
on the presumption that the animals
are well fed Where the common ma
nure heap is used for all animals and
for all farm refuse. while its compost
ton is necessarily variable, 1t can safe
ly be assumed that ton of it will con-
tain IL pounds Of nitrogen, 5 pounds of
phosphoric acid and 6 pounds of pot
ash. The plant fertilizers in ton Of
manure are worth commercially from
So to 1925. These values do not take
into consideration the indirect benefits
| to the soil. While the actual plant
food contained in ton Of barn yard
manure is worth at least 50. it is safe
to say that the farmer will derive near
er SO worth of good from it.
| When left in loose heaps, under
cover. it has been found that manure
loses IA per cent Of its nitrogen.
When these heaps are not covered