TALKS ON MANURES A SERIES OF FAMILIAR AND PRACTICAL TALKS BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND THE DEACON, THE DOCTOR, AND OTHER NEIGHBORS, ON THE WHOLE SUBJECT
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five or six bushels per acre, may give us an increase of fifteen or twenty bushels per acre. That is to say, owing to the dry weather in the autumn, followed by severe weather in the
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ld be less loss of nitrogen. The loss of nitrogen in 1863, was about twenty-four pounds per acre, and in 1879 fifty pounds per acre--the amount of available
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In the summer-fallow experiments, which have now been continued for twenty-seven years, there has been a great loss of nitrogen. The same remarks apply to this case. No one ever advo
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guano he will probably double his crops. His grass lands will carry twenty cows instead of ten, and if he raises the corn-fodder and roots, he can probably keep thirty cows better th
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e rich for other plants.” “That extract,” said I, “carries one back twenty-five years. We used to have article after article in this strain. We were told that ‘always taking meal out
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year. On the plot that receives no manure of any kind, the crop, for twenty years, averaged 16¼ bushels per acre. It is plowed twice every year, and the wheat is hand-hoed in the spri
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t cleared of the original forest, or than they were ten, fifteen, or twenty years later. In other words, the plants and animals that have been sold from the farm, have carried off a c
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invaluable store in April, May, and June, capable of supplying from twenty to forty bushels of ashes per acre, according to the care and industry of the collector, to drill with the
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r of spreading it in the one case than in the other, and, after all, twenty tons of this poor manure would not produce as good an effect the first season as ten tons of the richer man
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ure. When got all together, it made a heap seven or eight feet wide, twenty feet long, and three or four feet high. We then laid planks on the heap, and every day, as the pig-pens, co
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nded any one to pile their manure where it would receive from ten to twenty times as much water as would fall on the surface of the heap.” “But you do recommend piling manure and fer
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enses of his farm of 81½ acres. The farm cost $130 per acre. He kept twenty cows, and fatted one for beef. The receipts were as follows: Twenty cows yielding 8,337 lbs. of cheese,
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d see the farms hereabouts, and talk with our farmers.” Of course I went, and had a capital time. Mr. Geddes has a magnificent farm of about 400 acres, some four miles from Syracuse
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our wheat last year, and could see to the very drill mark how far it went. I would like to take your order for a ton. I am sure it would pay.” “We are making manure cheaper than you
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armer, but with little faith in chemical manures, paid me a visit. We went to the experimental wheat-field. The first two plots, 0 and 1, had been dressed, the one with superphosphate
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” ” ” ” 200 ” ” 36¼ ” ” The _twentieth_ season (1862-3), gave 17¼ bushels on the unmanured plot, and 44 bushels per acre on the manured plot.
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and not an agreeable one, to the passers by. He put the mixture on a twenty-acre field of wheat, and he said he was going to beat you.” “Yes,” said I, “so I understood--but he did no
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with different manures on barley grown annually on the same land for twenty years in succession. The experiments commenced in 1852. The soil is of the same general character as that
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ithout any manure, and you have selected the worst year of the whole twenty.” “Perhaps so,” said the Squire, “but we have got to take the bad with the good, and I have often heard yo
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intending to sell them in the spring.” “What did they cost you?” “I went into Wyoming and Cattaraugus Counties, and picked them up among the dairy farmers, and selected a very fair
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shels of wheat per acre, there is no difficulty in making it produce twenty bushels; and so of potatoes. If the land be dry and well cultivated, and, barring the bugs, produces withou
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not seem,” said the Deacon, “to have been deficient in anything. The twentieth crop, on the continuously unmanured plot was nearly 1¼ ton per acre, the first cutting, and nearly ¾-ton
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is a light, sandy loam. It has been under cultivation for upwards of twenty years, and so far as I can ascertain has never been manured. It has been somewhat impoverished by the growt
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marked effect_. This manure was applied in the hill on one plot (the twentieth of an acre,) at the rate of 400 lbs. per acre, and the plants on this plot came up first, and outgrew al
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te from the superphosphate. CHAPTER XXXVIII. SPECIAL MANURES. Twenty five to thirty years ago, much was said in regard to special manures. Fertilizers were prepared for the dif
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of Peruvian guano of to-day, with Peruvian guano brought to England twenty-nine or thirty years ago. I saw at Rothamsted thirty years ago a bag of guano that contained 22 per cent of
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ossessed a very considerable estate, consisting of light land, about twenty years ago purchased a large property adjoining it at a very high price. These were days when farmers were f
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oining field, where wheat and fallow have been grown alternately for twenty-seven years. The liberation of nitric acid, during the year of rest, produced for a time a large growth of
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ardeners, may be stated at ninety (90) tubs, and from two hundred to twenty hundred pounds of fertilizer in addition, according to its strength, and the kind of crop. The following r
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etrich, near Philadelphia, Pa. On the farm of fifteen acres, which twenty years ago could not maintain one horse and two cows, there are now kept twenty-seven dairy cattle, in a
* Containing nitrogen | .44 | .53 | .63 | .46 | .72
Equal to ammonia | .53 | .66 | .75 | .56 | .88
† Containing nitrogen | 1.46 | 1.77 | 2.14 | 1.78 | 1.88
Equal to ammonia | 1.77 | 2.14 | 2.59 | 2.16 | 2.26
Total amount of nitrogen | 1.90 | 2.30 | 2.77 | 2.24 | 2.60
Equal to ammonia | 2.30 | 2.80 | 3.35 | 2.72 | 3.08
Ammonia in free state | .10 | .067 | .127 | .026 | .033
Ammonia in form of salts,| | | | |
easily decomposed | | | | |
by quicklime | .26 | .165 | .234 | .182 | .250
Total amount of organic | | | | |
matter | 83.48 | 70.64 | 69.73 | 53.27 | 56.66
Total amount of mineral | | | | |
substance | 16.52 | 29.36 | 30.27 | 46.73 | 43.34
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
The above analyses are of value to those who buy fresh and fermented
manure. They can form some idea of what they are getting. If they buy a
ton of fresh manure in November, they get 12¾ lbs. of nitrogen, and 30¾
lbs. of soluble mineral matter. If they buy a ton of the same manure
that has been kept under cover until February, they get, nitrogen, 15
lbs.; soluble minerals, 42½ lbs. In April, they get, nitrogen, 23¾ lbs.;
soluble minerals, 67½ lbs. In August, they get, nitrogen, 25½ lbs.;
soluble minerals, 61 lbs. In November, when the manure is over one year
old, they get, in a ton, nitrogen, 30¼ lbs.; soluble minerals, 88½ lbs.
When manure has not been exposed, it is clear that a purchaser can
afford to pay considerably more for a ton of rotted manure than for a
ton of fresh manure. But waiving this point for the present, let us see
how the matter stands with the farmer who makes and uses the manure.
What does he gain by keeping and fermenting the manure under cover?
The following table shows the weight and composition of the entire heap
of manure, kept under cover, at different times:
Table Showing Composition of Entire Experimental Heap (No. II.)
Fresh Farm-Yard Manure, Under Shed.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23, |Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
Weight of manure | 3,258. |1,613. |1,297. |1,235.
+---------+---------+---------+--------
Amount of water in the manure | 2,156. | 917.6 | 563.2 | 514.5
Amount of dry matter | 1,102. | 695.4 | 733.8 | 720.5
* Consisting of soluble | | | |
organic matter | 80.77| 74.68 | 53.56 | 66.28
Soluble mineral matter | 50.14| 54.51 | 39.55 | 54.68
† Insoluble organic matter | 839.17| 410.24 | 337.32 | 341.97
Insoluble mineral matter | 131.92| 155.97 | 303.37 | 257.57
+---------+---------+---------+--------
| 1,102. | 695.4 | 733.8 | 720.5
| | | |
* Containing nitrogen | 4.85| 4.38 | 3.46 | 5.25
Equal to ammonia | 5.88| 5.33 | 4.20 | 6.37
† Containing nitrogen | 16.08| 14.88 | 13.08 | 13.54
Equal to ammonia | 19.59| 17.46 | 15.88 | 16.44
Total amount of nitrogen | | | |
in manure | 20.93| 19.26 | 16.54 | 18.79
Equal to ammonia | 25.40| 22.79 | 20.08 | 22.81
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in free state | 1.10| .88 | .19 | .23
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in form of salts, easily | | | |
decomposed by quicklime | 2.86| 1.62 | 1.33 | 1.80
Total amount of organic matter | 919.94| 484.92 | 390.88 | 408.25
Total amount of mineral matter | 182.06| 210.48 | 342.92 | 312.35
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
This is the table, as given by Dr. Vœlcker. For the sake of comparison,
we will figure out what the changes would be in a heap of five tons
(10,000 lbs.) of manure, when fermented under cover, precisely in the
same way as we did with the heap fermented in the open air, exposed to
the rain. The following is the table:
Contents of a Heap Of Manure at Different Periods. Fermented Under
Cover.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23, |Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
Total weight of manure in heap | 10,000 | 4,960 | 4,000 |3,790
Water in the heap of manure | 6,617 | 2,822 | 1,737 |1,579
Total organic matter | 2,824 | 1,490 | 1,205 |1,253
Total inorganic matter | 559 | 646 | 1,057 | 958
Total nitrogen in heap | 64.3| 59 | 50.8| 57.2
Total soluble organic matter | 248 | 230 | 165 | 203.5
Insoluble organic matter | 2,576 | 1,260 | 1,040 |1,049
Soluble mineral matter | 154 | 167 | 122 | 168
Insoluble mineral matter | 405 | 479 | 935 | 790
Nitrogen in soluble matter | 14.9| 13.4| 10.4| 15.9
Nitrogen in insoluble matter | 49.4| 45.6| 40.4| 41.3
Total dry matter in heap | 3,383 | 2,038 | 2,263 |2,211
-------------------------------+---------+---------+------------------
It will be seen that the heap of manure kept under cover contained, on
the 30th of April, _less_ soluble organic matter, _less_ soluble mineral
matter, _less_ soluble nitrogenous matter, and _less_ total nitrogen
than the heap of manure exposed to the weather. This is precisely what I
should have expected. The heap of manure in the shed probably fermented
more rapidly than the heap out of doors, and there was not water enough
in the manure to retain the carbonate of ammonia, or to favor the
production of organic acids. _The heap was too dry._ If it could have
received enough of the liquid from the stables to have kept it
moderately moist, the result would have been very different.
We will postpone further consideration of this point at present, and
look at the results of another of Dr. Vœlcker’s interesting experiments.
Dr. Vœlcker wished to ascertain the effect of three common methods of
managing manure:
1st. Keeping it in a _heap_ in the open air in the barn-yard, or field.
2d. Keeping it in a _heap_ under cover in a shed.
3d. Keeping it _spread out_ over the barn-yard.
“You say these are common methods of managing manure,” remarked the
Deacon, “but I never knew any one in this country take the trouble to
spread manure over the yard.”
“Perhaps not,” I replied, “but you have known a good many farmers who
adopt this very method of keeping their manure. They do not spread
it--but they let it lie spread out over the yards, just wherever it
happens to be.”
Let us see what the effect of this treatment is on the composition and
value of the manure.
We have examined the effect of keeping manure in a heap in the open air,
and also of keeping it in a heap under cover. Now let us see how these
methods compare with the practice of leaving it exposed to the rains,
spread out in the yard.
On the 3rd of November, 1854, Dr. Vœlcker weighed out 1,652 lbs. of
manure similar to that used in the preceding experiments, and spread it
out in the yard. It was weighed April 30, and again August 23, and
November 15.
The following table gives the actual weight of the manure at the
different periods, also the actual amount of the water, organic matter,
ash, nitrogen, etc.:
Table Showing the Weight and Composition of Entire Mass of
Experimental Manure (No. Iii.), Fresh Farm-Yard Manure, Spread
in Open Yard at Different Periods of the Year. In Natural State.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23, |Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
Weight of manure |1,652. |1,429. |1,012. |950.
+---------+---------+---------+--------
Amount of water in the manure |1,093. |1,143. | 709.3 |622.8
Amount of dry matter | 559. | 285.5 | 302.7 |327.2
* Consisting of soluble | | | |
organic matter | 40.97 | 16.55 | 4.96 | 3.95
Soluble mineral matter | 25.43 | 14.41 | 6.47 | 5.52
† Insoluble organic matter | 425.67 | 163.79 | 106.81 | 94.45
Insoluble mineral matter | 66.93 | 90.75 | 184.46 |223.28
+---------+---------+---------+--------
| 559.00 | 285.50 | 302.70 |327.20
| | | |
* Containing nitrogen | 3.28 | 1.19 | .60 | .32
Equal to ammonia | 3.98 | 1.44 | .73 | .39
† Containing nitrogen | 6.21 | 6.51 | 3.54 | 3.56
Equal to ammonia | 7.54 | 7.90 | 4.29 | 4.25
Total amount of nitrogen in | | | |
manure | 9.19 | 7.70 | 4.14 | 3.88
Equal to ammonia | 11.52 | 9.34 | 5.02 | 4.64
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in free state | .55 | .14 | .13 | .0055
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in form of salts, easily | | | |
decomposed by quicklime | 1.45 | .62 | .55 | .28
Total amount of organic matter | 466.64 | 180.34 | 111.77 | 98.40
Total amount of mineral matter | 92.36 | 105.16 | 190.93 |228.80
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
“One moment,” said the Deacon. “These tables are a little confusing. The
table you have just given shows the actual weight of the manure in the
heap, and what it contained at different periods.” --“Yes,” said I, “and
the table following shows what 100 lbs. of this manure, spread out in
the yard, contained at the different dates mentioned. It shows how
greatly manure deteriorates by being exposed to rain, spread out on the
surface of the yard. The table merits careful study.”
Table Showing Composition of Experimental Heap (No. III.). Fresh Farm
Yard Manure, Spread in Open Yard, at Different Periods of the Year.
In Natural State.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
Water | 66.17 | 80.02 | 70.09 | 65.56
* Soluble organic matter | 2.48 | 1.16 | .49 | .42
Soluble inorganic matter | 1.54 | 1.01 | .64 | .57
† Insoluble organic matter | 25.76 | 11.46 | 10.56 | 9.94
Insoluble mineral matter | 4.05 | 6.35 | 18.22 | 23.51
+---------+---------+--------+---------
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00
| | | |
* Containing nitrogen | .149 | .08 | .06 | .03
Equal to ammonia | .181 | .69 | .07 | .036
† Containing nitrogen | .494 | .45 | .35 | .36
Equal to ammonia | .599 | .54 | .42 | .46
Total amount of nitrogen | .643 | .53 | .41 | .39
Equal to ammonia | .780 | .63 | .49 | .496
Ammonia in free state | .034 | .010 | .012| .0006
Ammonia in form of salts, | | | |
easily decomposed by | | | |
quicklime | .088 | .045 | .051| .030
Total amount of organic matter | 28.24 | 12.62 | 11.05 | 10.36
Total amount of mineral | | | |
substance | 5.59 | 7.36 | 18.86 | 24.08
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
The following table shows the composition of the manure, calculated dry:
Table Showing Composition of Experimental Heap (No. III.), Fresh Farm
Yard Manure, Spread in Open Yard, at Different Periods of the Year.
Calculated Dry.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
* Soluble organic matter | 7.33 | 5.80 | 1.64 | 1.21
Soluble inorganic matter | 4.55 | 5.05 | 2.14 | 1.69
† Insoluble organic matter | 76.15 | 57.37 | 35.30 | 28.86
Insoluble mineral matter | 11.97 | 31.78 | 60.92 | 68.24
+---------+---------+--------+---------
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00
| | | |
* Containing nitrogen | .44 | .42 | .20 | .10
Equal to ammonia | .53 | .51 | .24 | .12
† Containing nitrogen | 1.46 | 2.28 | 1.17 | 1.09
Equal to ammonia | 1.77 | 2.76 | 1.41 | 1.32
Total amount of nitrogen | 1.90 | 2.70 | 1.37 | 1.19
Equal to ammonia | 2.30 | 3.27 | 1.65 | 1.44
Ammonia in free state | .10 | .05 | .040| .0017
Ammonia in form of salts, | | | |
easily decomposed by | | | |
quicklime | .26 | .225 | .171| .087
Total amount of organic matter | 83.48 | 63.17 | 36.94 | 30.07
Total amount of mineral | | | |
substance | 16.52 | 36.83 | 63.06 | 69.93
-------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+---------
I have made out the following table, showing what would be the changes
in a heap of 5 tons (10,000 lbs.) of manure, spread out in the yard, so
that we can readily see the effect of this method of management as
compared with the other two methods of keeping the manure in compact
heaps, one exposed, the other under cover.
The following is the table:
Contents of the Mass of Manure, Spread Out in Farm-Yard, and Exposed
to Rain, Etc.
------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+--------
|When |Apr. 30.|Aug. 23. |Nov. 15.
|spread out,| | |
|Nov. 3. | | |
------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+--------
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs.
Total weight of manure | 10,000 | 8,350 | 6,130 | 5,750
Water in the manure | 6,617 | 6,922 | 4,297 | 3,771
Total organic matter | 2,824 | 1,092 | 677 | 595
Total inorganic matter | 559 | 636 | 1,155 | 1,384
Total nitrogen in manure | 64.3 | 45.9 | 25 | 22.4
Total soluble organic matter | 248 | 100 | 30 | 24
Insoluble organic matter | 2,576 | 992 | 647 | 571
Soluble mineral matter | 154 | 87 | 39 | 33
Insoluble mineral matter | 405 | 549 | 1,116 | 1,351
Nitrogen in soluble matter | 14.9 | 6.9 | 3.6 | 1.7
Nitrogen in insoluble matter | 49.4 | 39 | 21.4 | 20.7
------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+--------
It is not necessary to make many remarks on this table. The facts speak
for themselves. It will be seen that there is considerable loss even by
letting the manure lie spread out until spring; but, serious as this
loss is, it is small compared to the loss sustained by allowing the
manure to lie exposed in the yard during the summer.
In the five tons of fresh manure, we have, November 3, 64.3 lbs. of
nitrogen; April 30, we have 46 lbs.; August 23, only 25 lbs. This is a
great loss of the most valuable constituent of the manure. Of soluble
mineral matter, the next most valuable ingredient, we have in the five
tons of fresh manure, November 3, 154 lbs.; April 30, 87 lbs.; and
August 23, only 39 lbs. Of soluble nitrogen, the most active and
valuable part of the manure, we have, November 3, nearly 15 lbs.; April
30, not quite 7 lbs.; August 23, 3½ lbs.; and November 15, not quite 1¾
lbs.
Dr. Vœlcker made still another experiment. He took 1,613 lbs. of
_well-rotted_ dung (mixed manure from horses, cows, and pigs,) and kept
it in a heap, exposed to the weather, from December 5 to April 30,
August 23, and November 15, weighing it and analyzing it at these
different dates. I think it is not necessary to give the results in
detail. From the 5th of December to the 30th of April, there was _no
loss_ of nitrogen in the heap, and comparatively little loss of soluble
mineral matters; but from April 30 to August 23, there was considerable
loss in both these valuable ingredients, which were washed out of the
heap by rain.
Dr. Vœlcker draws the following conclusions from his experiments:
“Having described at length my experiments with farm-yard manure,” he
says, “it may not be amiss to state briefly the more prominent and
practically interesting points which have been developed in the course
of this investigation. I would, therefore, observe:
“1. Perfectly fresh farm yard manure contains but a small proportion of
free ammonia.
“2. The nitrogen in fresh dung exists principally in the state of
insoluble nitrogenized matters.
“3. The soluble organic and mineral constituents of dung are much more
valuable fertilizers than the insoluble. Particular care, therefore,
should be bestowed upon the preservation of the liquid excrements of
animals, and for the same reason the manure should be kept in perfectly
water-proof pits of sufficient capacity to render the setting up of
dung-heaps in the corner of fields, as much as it is possible,
unnecessary.
“4. Farm-yard manure, even in quite a fresh state, contains phosphate of
lime, which is much more soluble than has hitherto been suspected.
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Talks on Manures A Series of Familiar and Practical Talks Between the Author and the Deacon, the Doctor, and Other Neighbors, on the Whole Subject
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