The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-07-08
stop TREMENDOUS
WASTE OF MANURE
Farmers Urged 10 Put An Enc 10
Annual Billion Dollar Loss OF
Fertilixing Materials.


ers are urged in a statement issued
TODAY hv Assistant Secretary Carl
yrooman TO make every effort to save
the vast amount of valuable manure
now allowed to go to waste in TINS
country Assistant Secretary Nroo- |
man estimates that one-haif the ma
inure produced in the United states
is not used a. a fertilizer. there heihs Z
an annual loss OF material WORT
twelve hundred million dolIars~once
and a half the value of the country Z
1915 wheat crop.
This is not a wild guess he con-
tinues. but a very shrewd and con
sentative estimate based on rename
statistics II has been found that eacn
horse or mule produces annually " (
worth Of manure tas compared WIN
commercial fertilizers). each head OF
cattle $50 worth. each hog IS worth.
Calculating from the 1910 census
figures for number of auimals on
/ farms-62. 000. 900 cattle. "a 900 600
| horses and mules, $4,000 600 swine,
and $4,000 600 sheep and goats--the
! total value of manure produced is
found to he about s2.461. 100000 Re
+ cent Investigations hv the department
| of agriculture indicates that q least
half Of this great wealth of fertilzing
material is sheer waste. In some good
general farming sections not more
than 5 per cent of the manure pro-
duced Is used Even in the most in
ttensive dairy regions, where cows are
largely stall fed and comparatively
great care taken with the manure, the
loss seems to be approximately rs per
cent
4 Hercu1ean Task.
Here, then. is job for the Amert-
can farmer. worthy OF his utmost eff
fort and in keeping with the spirit
OF this great hour in American history.
To save billion dollars worth OF
manure is a Herculean task--a YER
table latter day Augean stable job
! for it means the handling of literally
millions Of tons of dung and litter 1t
means the construction of concrete
manure pits. of paved feeding pens or
sheds, and greatly increased care IN
the conservation and use of bedding
materials It means lot of work.
but Il is work than can be done at
odd hours and movements and work
that will pay tremendous dividends,
not only as a war measure, but con-
iceivably for all time, for If we once
get the habit of making full Use OF
our available manure supply We are
not likely 10 lapse into the old, waste
ful WAYS again.
should Spread Promptly
The cheapest and best way to
handle manure, where convenient. Is
Ito haul i TO the field and spread it
daily. or at least every two or three
days In this way, If plenty Of bed
ding be used. practically all the val
VA bic constituents of the manure are
saved since teaching after the ma
nure is on arabic land merely serves
70 put the fertilizing materials where
they ought to he. In this way, too,
loss through heatn :. or "flrefanging,"
is avoided
Many farmers. however, are not
so situated as to make it profita BILE
for them to handle manure in this
way For such farmers the concrete
manure pit offers an ideal way of saw
ing manure. Such a pit need not en-
tail great expense. ) pit three rect
deep, twelve feet long and six feet
wide, with walls and floors FIVE inches
thick, will serve the needs of the
average farm. In ground that does
not cave in. only an inside form will
he needed for such a pit, except where
| the concrete extends a few inches
) above the ground to prevent flooding
by surface water. The floor should be
reinforced with women wire fencing.
put in after about two inches of
cement has been laid the section Of
fencing being cut long enough to bend
up a few inches at either end into
the siGs walls, Wnen Nns- rein l OTClii y
has been put in the remaining three
inches of the foor is laid. and the
forms for the side walls set up and
used Immediately. Use one part ce-
ment, two of sand. aud four OF
screened gravel. A PIT OF this kind
Us large enough to hold the accumu-
!ation Of manure on the average farm
until such time as it can be hauled
conveniently to the field and spread.
,7-a IVA
especially in the case of hogs or of
beef cattle, is TO have concrete
paved feed lot, prefera bly, under a
shed roof. Where the farmer cannot
afford paved floor, a cheap open
feeding shed may be made to serve
the purpose very Well II abundant
bedding is used to absorb the valuab BILE
liquid manure. In sucfl a feeding lot
, or she'd the manure is allowed to
gather under the feet Of the animals.
each days bedding being strewn over
the well-tramped accumulation blow.
Some farmers using this system ar
range their feed racks so that they
can be raised from time to time MAX
ing 1t possible 10 feed till several feet
OF solidly packed manure has accu-
mulated under the shed II has been
shown that manure suffers little from
heating and teaching when handled
in this way.
The feeding shed serves the pur-
pose of giving the -senesa4-farns,- or
the beef cattle farm, something OF the
advantage in the matter OF manure
saving held by the intensive dairy
: farm. II has been shown by farm
management surveys that the manure
saved on the American farm under
present conditions is almost eaxctly
proportional to the number of animals
stall-fed on the farm. and that the
manure OF animals not stabbed has
very little effect on yields EXCEPT in
cases where field crops are "hogged-
off" or otherwise pastured down or
where pasture Is used in a rotation.
Worlds Champion Masters
This great war has brought home
TO US Americans. Is il has never been
, emphasized before, the fact that we
!, are the worlds champion MASTERS.
, Without making any comparisons,
and subject to correction If il can be