The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-07-18
FARM AND ORCHARD
Notes Agricultural Coaos and Experiment Stations
Washington Specially Suitable to Poetic Conditions
Burning Spoiled Hay Waste.


Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
Wallis. Every ton Of this spoilec
hay contains as much plant food as is
taken away from the farm in 30 bush
els of wheat, or &c bushels of oats, OF
200 bushels of potatoes, or 600 bushels
of apples, or one ton Of fat hogs, OF
four tons of milk, or ten tons of but
ter. Every acre of this spoiled hay
that is applied to the land will permit
the raising Of three 30-bushel wheat
crops, or five 40-bushel oat crops OF
three 200 bushel potato crops, or three
60O-bushel apple crops, without any
depreciation in the fertility of the
soil, and where applied to lands not
now giving maximum crop will
bring a greatly increased yield and
still leave the soil enriched"
This remarkable statement was
made by Professor II. D. Scudder,
head of the department of agronomy
at the Oregon Agricultural college in
answering the question of what to do
with the spoiled hay now engaging the
farmers serious attention.
The question has come to us what
to do with this spoiled hay, which is
valueless for feed" said Professor
Scudder. "Many farmers are leaving
it on the ground and it is killing out
the growth underneath the cocks or
windows, so that when it is removed
the weeds will spring up and injure
the second cutting. Other farmers
are rolling it up and burning it. The
folly of this can be seen at a glance.
It should be hauled to the barnyard
and thrown in deep piles. 1t other
words, it should be composted or al
lowed to rot. If it inclines to fire
fang it should be wet down a little.
In many cases it may be hauled off
and spread at once on the stubble6eld
or pasture that is to be plowed this
fall. Before blowing it should be
thoroughly disked and thoroughly
mixed with the surface soil.
Every ton of this damaged hay is
equal approximately to four tons of
fresh manure in plant food value. APP
piled to ground which is to be put in
potatoes, barley or corn next year, a
very marked effect will be seen."
1t was also pointed out by Professor
Scudder that the farmer who has dam
aged hay in the field and will make
use of it as fertilizer will suffer lit
tie or no loss of the value he would
have received for it as marketable
hay. The principle governing here is
the same as that which requires that
hay be not sold at all, but be fed to
livestock on the farm, for when thus
fed 80 per cent of this fertility is re-
turned to the soil while the finished
product sold, such as pork, beef, or
mutton brings fancier price than
the raw material from which it was
made. When clover is manufactured
into butter almost the entire fertility
content is retained upon the farm, for
the ton of clover hay contains $3.50
worth of plant food, while ton of
butter contains SO cents worth of
plant food. The farmer gets SO a
ton for the clover hay, while for the
finished goods, butter, he gets $500 a
ton. His advice to the farmer is this !:
"Don't burn the hay, for the bulk of
its fertility content, nitrogen, goes up
in smoke. Or don't leave it lying on
the field, for then it destroys the
meadows and brings in weeds. Ger
tainly there should be no question as
to what should be done with the
spoiled hay."