The Nevada County picayune., 1916-07-20
SOILS AND SOIL FERTILITY
No. 7. Farm Manure.

Farm manure is, without question, the best fertilizer the farmer can put on his land. The oldest experiment station in the world. located at Roth amstead, England, has conducted ex- per1ments for many years comparing manure with various amounts of com merCial fertilizers In one Of these tests the plot receiving no manure or fertilizer of any kind yielded 131 bushei of wheat as an average for fifty years. The plot receiving fl tons ot manure per acre each year yielded 355 bushels as the fifty year average. Another plot was treated each year with fertilizer costing $1525 per acre and produced 239 bushels of wheat. The oniy plot in the test which produced as much wheat as the manured plot was one which received per acre. This plot averaged 369 bushels of wheat per acre for fifty years. Countless other experiments have shown that manure is a valuable fertilizer and should be preserved and used accordingly
 The reasons for the effectiveness Of manure as a fertilizer are apparent when it's composition and action in the soil is understood Plants require certain substances 10 make them grow just as animals must have food. The most important of these substances are nitrogen, phosphoric acid and pot ash. These are commonly called plant foods because they serve as food for plants. A ton of average manure contains 10 pounds of nitrogen, five pounds of phosphorie acid and 10 pounds of potash. These quantities may seem to be insignificant, but plants do not require very large amounts although a little of each is absolutely essential. If these mater ials are bought in commercial fertiliz- CTS they are expensive. At the GUS tomary price for fertilizers the con- stituents In one ton of manure would cost s2.S5. The cost would be very much more at the prices now pre- vailing
 The value of manure varies some, what with the feed the animals re- ceive. The richer the feed is in pro tein the more nitrogen is contained in the manure. For this reason the ma nure from animals fed on cotton seed meal, bran. alfalfa hay or other rich feeds is especially valuable. Nearly all of the nitrogen fed to a fattening animal Is returned in the manure.
 Manure is valuable for other req sons besides the plant food it con tains. In every ton of average manure there Is about 800 pounds of organic matter. This has a very beneficial in fuence on the physical condition of tho soil I: makes heavy clay soils more mellow and open, Ad 1t binds tho sand grains together in q sandy soil making a hrmer seed bed and en. abling the soil to store up more water against a time of drought One Of the greatest needs of the soils of this state is larger supply of organic mat ter The organic matter supplied fin manure also furnishes food for the bacteria which are essential to the best growth of crops Some of the bacteria fed by fhe manure are able make 1t available for crops in much the same manner as do the bacteria ! which live on the roots of legumes Others cause fermentation of the or ganc matter to take place with the | liberation of carbOnic acid which ren, ders the mineral matter of the soil available
 Since manure Is valuable in SO many ways, great care should be exer cised to prevent unnecessary losses. Some of the valuable ingredients are soluble and others are lost by expos uve to the air Leaching should there fore be avoided as much as possible i The manure Is frequently thrown out l of window in the stable and allowed 10 lie under the caves until most Of 1 the plant food is leached out. The l dark brown liquid often seen about needed by crops. If the manure is al. | lowed to lie in loose open heaps | where the air can circulate freely ! through it the insomblo nitrogen ] changes to soluble forms and is the. lost by teaching In this way manur left out in the open subject 10 aIte. nate }ycttug and drying. quickly lC-~- much of its value,
 Tn order to reduce losses to 8 m,1f mum manure should be bread on tf land as soon as produced Then q .alns will wash the soluble part inJ the soil where f is needed. If It + impractical to so~ead the msnnrc r9.He ap. i5sses cea ba aepg down .s
 bring o large moist compae- haa inaa roof has.a-shaped ce-n f raI. #1der Tho heap will prevent m et