The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-01-13
ECONOMIES CUT DOWN THE Ex-
PENSES FOR THE FARM.
HOMEMADE FERTILIZER FOR THE FARM
Department Of Agriculture Outlines a
Plan, Which. if FoHoeOed, eaH SAGE
Our Cotton Growers Many Thousands
Of Dollars.


that the farmers of the south be impress
ed with the importance of giving more
attention to the saving of the farm ma
nures. The convenience of commercial
fertilizers, the easy with which they can
be obtained (they can always be bought
on credit, and the fact that their use re-
quires little forethought have lead most of
our farmers to 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 satisfac-
tory. If much good have been obtained
from them, it usually reached only by their
use in such large quantities as it is diff
fcult to secure upon the average farm.
We should not be understood as OPP
posing the intelligent and economical use
of commercial fertilizers Commercial
fertilizers, the case with which they can
great value and are destined to play even
a greater part of our 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, second
ly, their exclusive use instead of effect
ing permanent improvement of the soil
actually hastens the depletion of that soil
used with green manures and barnyard
manures that the most permanent i'm
provement can be accomplished
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. Barn
yard manure may be regarded as just
so much vegetable matter. 1t differs, how
ever, from the food from it is derived
in that, having been once digested, its
fertilizing elements are more available
for plants.
Available plant food means plant food
that is easily decomposed and soluble in
water. If the manure is left exposed to the
elements, the water from rains easily and
rapidly reaches out the soluble plant food
On the other hand, if the manure is al
lowed to heat large amount of the nitro
gen is driven off into the atmosphere; so
in order to get the most valuable manure
both of these sources of loss must be
avoided. There are several ways of &C
complishing this. Probably the best plan,
where it is practicable, is to haul the ma
nure direct upon the land and pillow it in
shallow on clay soils, deeper on sandy
loans. Again, especially with horse ma
nure, ETC., it is good to allow the manure
to remain in the stable, using plenty
of litter. The animals tramp the manure
down, thus excluding 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 a fertilizer, but also
to absorb all liquids and prevent their
loss. If not practicable to pursue either
of these methods, then a cheap shed can
be provided and the manure stored in it
until ready for use
There is one precaution that must be OBJ
served when shed is used, and especially
if the droppings from horses predominant
Under these conditions the manure is apt
to heat. This should be prevented by
dampening it. For this reason it is a good
plan to have 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 pro-
tracted drought there should be artificial
means of watering the compost. The
question may arise with the farmer wheth-
er it is more economical to go to this
trouble and expense with his manure or
to depend upon commercial fertilizers.
This question is soon answered in the af-