The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-12-13
Better Care Should Be Given
A Valuable Farm By-Pr0ducf
~ ISAAC L. TOTEM.

~ ISAAC L. TOTEM.
When we move into a new neighbor-
hood and have our own affairs fairly
| well organized, most of us, as a gen.
| eral rule commence to familiarize our
| selves with our surroundings by ask
ing all kinds of questions of some well
informed neighbor concerning the his
tory of the community both in general
and in particular.
We ask who lives on that farm over
there on the hill and who lives in that
large white house where we see the
windmill; we wonder why that neigh
Dor up the road east don't paint his
barn or why some other neighbor
don't keep his fences in repair. We
want to know who that farmer is who
drives the span of big, brown mules;
and who that farmer is that has the
team of dapple grays. There are a
whole lot of other questions too, of a
gossipy nature that we ask until we
finally begin to feel that we know
some of our neighbors, by sight at
least, and that we are in possession
of fair portion of their history and OF
the history of the neighborhood in gen.
eral.
Many things that attract a new COM
er's attention in a farm neighborhood
have become SO familiar to those who
have lived in the community for a
long time that they no longer find
them of interest and look upon them
in matter of fact way. 1t is often
the case that we become SO familiar
with our surroundings that we over
look many very important things and
we quite frequently get the habit of
doing things in just a certain way
and seem to think there is no better
way. 1t is not unusual for someone
who Is not familiar with our surround
ings as We are, to come to US and point
out objects of interest right in our
neighborhood that we have had be-
fore US day after day but didn't no.
! tice, and it sometimes happens that
the city man who knows nothing
about farming can show us better ways
of doing our work, and we are often
surprised to learn of many things
which are neglected.
| When we first moved into this
neighborhood, our attention was at
| tracted by one farmer in particular
who kept the road warm between his
place and Richmond. OF course, We
asked who the farmer was; and, were
not only told his name; but. through
our gossipy inclinations, we found out
little of his personal affairs.
The principal thing that attracted
our attention, in connection with this
| farmer, was that no matter which way
We saw him going, either toward town
or toward home, he had load of
something, when he was going toward
home, was usually stable manure
which he had obtained from alley ma
nure boxes in Richmond.
| A farmer who showed such business
sagacity as this, we thought would be
worth observing so that we could oh.
tain suggestions that would be of
! benefit to-aaaA. -~>A-lA--aid--aA take ua
I f0hg "a learn that he knew the value
of stable manure.
| We found out that he had actually
hauled his farm out from Richmond.
The place where he put up his build
ings had been purchased merely as
so much space on which to put this
farm which he was hauling out from
town. Many farmers haul their land
to town in the form of grain, etc., but
! this man not only hauled produce to
town, but he also hauled something
back to the farm to take the place of
what he hauled to town,
We believe that if more of us were
like this farmer and knew the value of
manure as a soil builder, we would
handling it and many of our farms
would be yielding better returns. OF
course, We do not mean that all of us
should haul manure from Richmond,
but that we can take better care of
the barnyard manure which is made
on our own farms. Give the farm "a
square DEAL" that is the idea.
Manure, is, without doubt, the most
valuable of all farm by-products. It's
money value, estimated according to
the value of the constituents of COM
! mercial fertilizers, ranges from two
dollars to seven dollars per ton, &C.
cording to quality. 1t does not give
this valuable by-product its just dues.
however. to place money value on it
according to the market value of the
elements which it contains; because
it has humus adding value to the
soil. and its real value should be es-
timated according to the additional
money procured by the increase in the
crop as a result of fertilizing with the
manure.
The fact that manure apparently
costs nothing, leads to a great waste
of this valuable product.
1t is thrown out in pile, where it
is exposed to the rain and sun for a
number of months and here it's value
is greatly reduced-in many instances
more than one half The loss, how
ever, is not so great during the winter
as during the summer.
The best practice, of course, of
handling stable manure is to haul it
out while it is fresh and not let it
accumulate in piles where it is sub