Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-10-31
Value of Farm Manure.

Value of Farm Manure.
In the first year of the sheep husband
ry experiment conducted by the Mains
| Agricultural Experiment Station at High
moor Farm, it was found that at the enc
of the year the superintendent estimat
ed-on the basis of what he would have
been willing to have paid for it-tha'
the value of the manure from the sheer
was for the six winter months only $24
The food eaten by the sheep contained
plant food worth at ordinary prices eight
times this value. To see where the
losses were, and II they could not be
lessened. an experiment was carried on
in the winter of 19l5-16 with manure
pit. The results of this experiment will
be reported and discussed at a later
time. The object here is to discuss the
worth of farm manure to the farmer,
with the hope that it may bring, by per-
sonal letter, or through press discussion,
some further information on this sub
ject as viewed by the practical farmer.
For whether the sheep we're or were not
profitable in 1915-16 is largely question
of the worth of the rather more than 80
tons of manure. In this discussion the
value of commercial plant food is placed
at normal prices and without regard to
the abnormal conditions brought on by
the European war.
The Ohio Experiment Station has car
ried extensive comparative experiments
with farm and commercial manures for
many years. Recently Director Thorne
wrote: "After more than 20 years work
in the comparison of manure and chem
ical fertilizers on many crops, the station
is not able to credit manure with any
value beyond that of the nitrogen, phos-
phorus, potassium and lime which 1t
carries" "When manure costs more
than 81 per ton spread on the land, it is
wiser to use the chemical fertilizers men
toned than to buy manure"
In addition to the nitrogen, phosphor-
ic acid and potash which farm manure
supplies, it also carries large amount OF
organic matter which is important In in
creasing the productivity of the soil. Az
this vegetable matter breaks down in the
soil, the acid products thus formed help
to dissolve and make available to plants
some of the otherwise insoluble plant
food in the soil. Farm manure teens
with bacteria of various kinds which
cause chemical changes not only in the
manure, but in the soil itself, converting
insoluble plant food into forms available
for the use of crops. The humus form
ed from the organic matter of farm ma
nure improves the soil texture, helps
retain moisture, and is valuable in many
ways. It's plant food is not 30 quickly
nor so completely available as in the bet
ter forms of chemicals. But after much
balancing of the pros and cons, it has be-
come generally accepted that the COM
mercial value of the plant food contained
is the only definite thing about farm
manure by which we can measure it's
agricultural and commercial value.
The sheep manure, together with the
straw bedding as worked over by swine
at Higbmoor Farm, carried IA percent
nitrogen, .29 percent phosphoric acid
and 1.O4 percent potash. The mixed
manure and bedding from three horses
and two COWS, also worked over by
swine, carried .46 percent nitrogen, .19
percent phosphoric acid and 80 percent
of potash. At the commercial values
placed upon chemical fertilizers in 1914,
the plant food carried by ton OF the
sheep and swine manure was worth
"a Is, and in ton of the mixed manure
S244.
Assuming that two men and one
double team can load, draw to the mot
too distant) field and spread eight tons
of farm manure a day, it would cost
about 75c. ton to apply the manure to
the land. Deducting the cost OF appli-
cation, a ton of the sheep and swine ma
nure had value at the barn OF about
50 40, and of the mixed manure of s1.70
per ton. Each of these lots weighed
about $500 pounds to the cord. There
fore, the sheep and swine manure was
worth about So cord, and the mixed
manure about So a cord at the manure
pit.-Chas. D. Woods, Director Maine
Experiment Station.