Oxford Democrat., 1916-02-22
Value Of Manure and Wood Ashes.

/ (From recent address by DR.. G. ID. Woods.
A year ago the speaker called atten
ton to the high value of farm manure'
which we're largely wasted in the state
According TO the State Assessors' Re
port for 1918, there were In the state ol
Maine, in round umbers, 130, 900 horses
$50. 900 head of neat stock, 10000 swine
120, 900 sheep, and 2, ,000, 900 hens, duck'
and geese. II all the manure was saved
from these animals it would amount 10 8
single year to nearly 1900, 900 tons, and
would carry approximately $4,000 tons
Of nitrogen, $4,000 tons of phosphorie
acid and $4,000 tons of potash. This
plant food in the worlds market at nor
nal prices would cost about $4,000, ,00C
sufficient to buy 800, 900 tons of high
grade commercial fertilizer at normal
prices. 1t is more than doubtful II by
present methods of management one
half of this plant food is actually return
ed to the soil.
Il seems to be difficult for the average
farmer to really grasp the idea that ma.
nure should be as carefully preserved
from unnecessary losses as any other
product Of the farm. The large bulk of
the material, the insidious losses, the
ease with which commercial fertilizers
have been obtained in the past, the ex-
pense of properly providing for storage
and the application Of manure to land,
and the lack Of proper understanding Of
the value of manure and the large losses
which prevail under ordinary farm man
agement, are among the reasons which
have led to this neglect.
While 1t is customary to compare farm
manure with fertilizers on the basis of
their content of nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash, this comparison is not
adequate for determining the relative
values, since manure serves certain pur-
poses fertilizers cannot serve. Farm
manures are of very complex compost
ton. They contain more or less of all
the elements contained in the food given
to the animals and in the litter. They
are rich in organic matters and are COM
posed chiefly of vegetable substances.
Organic matter is the source of humus
in the soil and is of high value. Soils
need humus and this can only be sup
piled by the addition of organic matter
in farm manure or by plowing under
green crops.
Urine is by far the most valuable part
of the excreta of animals. 1t contains
much of the nitrogen and practically all
of the potash excreted. 1t is not suffi-
cient to save the solid droppings, but the
liquid should be collected as well. II
the present dearth Of potash should lead
Maine farmers to conserve Names mil
lions of dollars worth of plant food
which are now being neglected through
lack of care in the collection and hand.
ling of farm manures, it would largely
help to offset the losses due to potash
shortage. If the lessons of 1915 have
brought home to the farmers the neces-
sity of greater care in the handling of
these waste products of the farm, it has
not specially come to the speakers at
tention!
A cord of ordinary stable manure
weighs about three tons and will carry,
roughly speaking, half q percent of
nitrogen, third OF a percent of phos-
pboric acid and half q percent of pot
ash. That is, cord of manure will
carry about 80 pounds of nitrogen, 20
pounds Of phosphoric acid and 80 pounds
OF potash.
or all the sources of potash natural to
Maine, wood ashes are perhaps the most
important. Wood ashes carry potash
and lime. The amount of potash varies
greatly with the kind of wood, the tenn
persture at which Ii is burned, and the
subsequent treatment OF the ashes. Good
hard wood ashes will carry in the neigh.
borhood of or 8 percent of potash.
They will also carry pretty nearly so per
cent of lime. The most of the ashes of
commerce, even though they are brand
ed "Unleached" have lost considerable
of their potash in one way or another.
One brand of so-cslled "Canads Un-
leached Ashes" was offered in New
York last year with guaranty of only
one percent of potash. Ashes come un-
der the requirements of the fertilizer
law, and in buying ashes one should in
sist upon having them sold under guar
antees of potash and of lime. The phos-
shoric acid which they carry is unim-
norfapt