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 TEXT

richer the manure is in nitrogenous matter, and the more thoroughly this is distributed through the manure, the more readily will it ferment. There is also another advantage in having rich manure, or manure well saturated with urine. You can make the heap more compact. Poor manure has to be made in a loose heap, or it will not ferment; but such manure as we are talking about can be trodden down quite firm, and still ferment rapid enough to give out the necessary heat, and this compact heap will continue to ferment longer and give out a steadier heat, than the loose heap of poor manure. MANURE FOR NURSERYMEN. Our successful nurserymen purchase large quantities of stable and other manures from the cities, drawing it as fast as it is made, and putting it in piles until wanted. They usually turn the piles once or twice, and often three times. This favors fermentation, greatly reducing it in bulk, and rendering the manure much more soluble and active. It also makes the manure in the heap more uniform in quality. Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry tell me that they often ferment the manure that they draw from the stables in the city, and make it so fine and rich, that they get but one load of rotted manure from three loads as drawn from the stables. For some crops, they use at least 20 loads of this rotted manure per acre, and they estimate that each load of this rotted manure costs at least $5.00. H. E. Hooker places the cost of manure equally high, but seems willing to use all he can get, and does not think we can profitably employ artificial manures as a substitute. In this I agree with him. But while I should not expect artificial manures, when used alone, to prove as cheap or as valuable as stable-manure at present prices, I think it may well be that a little nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, and superphosphate of lime, or dissolved Peruvian guano, might be used as an _auxiliary_ manure to great advantage. Mr. H. E. Hooker, once sowed, at my suggestion, some sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate on part of a block of nursery trees, and he could not perceive that these manures did any good. Ellwanger & Barry also tried them, and reported the same negative result. This was several years ago, and I do not think any similar experiments have been made since. “And yet,” said the Deacon, “you used these self same manures on farm-crops, and they greatly increased the growth.” “There are several reasons,” said the Doctor, “why these manures may have failed to produce any marked effect on the nursery trees. In the first place, there was considerable prejudice against them, and the nurserymen would hardly feel like relying on these manures alone. They probably sowed them on land already well manured; and I think they sowed them too late in the season. I should like to see them fairly tried.” So would I. It seems to me that nitrate of soda, and superphosphate, or dissolved Peruvian guano, could be used with very great advantage and profit by the nurserymen. Of course, it would hardly be safe to depend upon them alone. They should be used either in connection with stable-manure, or on land that had previously been frequently dressed with stable-manure. MANURE FOR FRUIT-GROWERS. How to keep up the fertility of our apple-orchards, is becoming an important question, and is attracting considerable attention. There are two methods generally recommended--I dare not say generally practised. The one, is to keep the orchard in bare-fallow; the other, to keep it in grass, and top-dress with manure, and either eat the grass off on the land with sheep and pigs, or else mow it frequently, and let the grass rot on the surface, for mulch and manure. “You are speaking now,” said the Deacon, “of bearing apple-orchards. No one recommends keeping a young orchard in grass. We all know that young apple trees do far better when the land is occupied with corn, potatoes, beans, or some other crop, which can be cultivated, than they do on land occupied with wheat, barley, oats, rye, buckwheat, or grass and clover. And even with bearing peach trees, I have seen a wonderful difference in an orchard, half of which was cultivated with corn, and the other half sown with wheat. The trees in the wheat were sickly-looking, and bore a small crop of inferior fruit, while the trees in the corn, grew vigorously and bore a fine crop of fruit. And the increased value of the crop of peaches on the cultivated land was far more than we can ever hope to get from a crop of wheat.” “And yet,” said the Doctor, “the crop of corn on the cultivated half of the peach-orchard removed far more plant-food from the soil, than the crop of wheat. And so it is evident that the difference is not due wholly to the supply of manure in the surface-soil. It may well be that the cultivation which the corn received favored the decomposition of organic matter in the soil, and the formation of nitrates, and when the rain came, it would penetrate deeper into the loose soil than on the adjoining land occupied with wheat. The rain would carry the nitrogen down to the roots of the peach trees, and this will account for the dark green color of the leaves on the cultivated land, and the yellow, sickly-looking leaves on the trees among the wheat.” HEN-MANURE, AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT. A bushel of corn fed to a hen would give no more nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, in the shape of manure, than a bushel of corn fed to a pig. The manure from the pig, however, taking the urine and solid excrement together, contain 82 per cent of water, while that from the hen contains only 56 per cent of water. Moreover, hens pick up worms and insects, and their food in such case would contain more nitrogen than the usual food of pigs, and the manure would be correspondingly richer in nitrogen. Hence it happens that 100 lbs. of _dry_ hen-manure would usually be richer in nitrogen than 100 lbs. of _dry_ pig-manure. But feed pigs on peas, and hens on corn, and the dry pig-manure would be much richer in nitrogen than the dry hen-manure. The value of the manure, other things being equal, depends on the food and not on the animal. Let no man think he is going to make his farm any richer by keeping hens, ducks, and geese, than he will by keeping sheep, pigs, and horses. “Why is it, then,” asked the Deacon, “that hen-dung proves such a valuable manure. I would rather have a hundred lbs. of hen-dung than half a ton of barnyard-manure?” “And I presume you are right,” said I, “but you must recollect that your hen-manure is kept until it is almost chemically dry. Let us figure up what the half ton of manure and the 100 lbs. of hen-manure would contain. Here are the figures, side by side: --------------------------+---------------+------------- | _100 lbs. dry | _Half ton | Hen-Manure._ | Cow-Dung | | with straw._ --------------------------+---------------+------------- Water (estimated) | 12 lbs. | 775 lbs. Organic Matter | 51 ” | 203 ” Ash | 37 ” | 22 ” +---------------+------------- Nitrogen | 3¼ ” | 3⅖ ” Potash | 1¾ ” | 4 ” Lime | 4¾ ” | 3 ” Phosphoric acid | 3 ” | 1½ ” --------------------------+---------------+------------- I would, myself, far rather have 100 lbs. of your dry hen-manure than half a ton of your farmyard-manure. Your hens are fed on richer food than your cows. The 100 lbs. of hen-manure, too, would act much more rapidly than the half ton of cow-manure. It would probably do twice as much good--possibly three or four times as much good, on the first crop, as the cow-manure. The nitrogen, being obtained from richer and more digestible food, is in a much more active and available condition than the nitrogen in the cow-dung. “If you go on,” said the Deacon, “I think you will prove that I am right.” “I have never doubted,” said I, “the great value of hen-dung, as compared with barnyard-manure. And all I wish to show is, that, notwithstanding its acknowledged value, the fact remains that a given quantity of the same kind of food will give no greater amount of fertilizing matter when fed to a hen than if fed to a pig.” I want those farmers who find so much benefit from an application of hen-manure, ashes, and plaster, to their corn and potatoes, to feel that if they would keep better cows, sheep, and pigs, and feed them better, they would get good pay for their feed, and the manure would enable them to grow larger crops. While we have been talking, the Deacon was looking over the tables. (See Appendix.) “I see,” said he, “that wheat and rye contain more nitrogen than hen-manure, but less potash and phosphoric acid.” “This is true,” said I, “but the way to compare them, in order to see the effect of passing the wheat through the hen, is to look at the composition of the air-dried hen-dung. The fresh hen-dung, according to the table, contains 56 per cent of water, while wheat contains less than 14½ per cent.” Let us compare the composition of 1,000 lbs. air-dried hen-dung with 1,000 lbs. of air-dried wheat and rye, and also with bran, malt-combs, etc. _Phosphoric _Nitrogen._ _Potash._ Acid._ Wheat 20.8 5.3 7.9 Wheat Bran 22.4 14.3 27.3 Rye 17.6 5.6 8.4 Rye Bran 23.2 19.3 34.3 Buckwheat 14.4 2.7 5.7 Buckwheat Bran 27.2 11.2 12.5 Malt-roots 36.8 20.6 18.0 Air-dry Hen-dung. 32.6 17.0 30.8 “That table,” said the Doctor, “is well worth studying. You see, that when wheat is put through the process of milling, the miller takes out as much of the starch and gluten as he wants, and leaves you a product (bran), richer in phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen, than you gave him.” “And the same is true,” continued the Doctor, “of the hen. You gave her 2,000 grains of wheat, containing 41.6 grains of nitrogen. She puts this through the mill, together with some ashes, and bones, that she picks up, and she takes out all the starch and fat, and nitrogen, and phosphate of lime, that she needs to sustain life, and to produce flesh, bones, feathers, and eggs, and leaves you 1,000 grains of manure containing 32.6 grains of nitrogen, 17.0 grains of potash, and 30.8 grains of phosphoric acid. I do not say,” continued the Doctor, “that it takes exactly 2,000 grains of wheat to make 1,000 grains of dry manure. I merely give these figures to enable the Deacon to understand why 1,000 lbs. of hen-dung is worth more for manure than 1,000 lbs. of wheat.” “I must admit,” said the Deacon, “that I always have been troubled to understand why wheat-bran was worth more for manure than the wheat itself, I see now--it is because there is less of it. It is for the same reason that boiled cider is richer than the cider from which it is made. The cider has lost water, and the bran has lost starch. What is left is richer in nitrogen, and potash, and phosphoric acid. And so it is with manure. The animals take out of the food the starch and fat, and leave the manure richer in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash.” “Exactly,” said I, “Mr. Lawes found by actual experiment, that if you feed 500 lbs. of barley-meal to a pig, containing 420 lbs. of _dry substance_, you get only 70 lbs. of dry substance in the manure. Of the 420 lbs. of dry substance, 276.2 lbs. are used to support respiration, etc.; 73.8 lbs. are found in the increase of the pig, and 70 lbs. in the manure.” The food contains 52 lbs. of nitrogenous matter; the increase of pig contains 7 lbs., and consequently, if there is no loss, the manure should contain 45 lbs. of nitrogenous substance = to 7.14 lbs. of nitrogen. “In other words,” said the Doctor, “the 70 lbs. of _dry_ liquid and solid pig-manure contains 7.14 lbs. of nitrogen, or 100 lbs. would contain 10.2 lbs. of nitrogen, which is more nitrogen than we now get in the very best samples of Peruvian guano.” “And thus it will be seen,” said I, “that though corn-fed pigs, leaving out the bedding and water, produce a very small quantity of manure, it is exceedingly rich.” The table from which these facts were obtained, will be found in the Appendix--pages 342-3. CHAPTER XXXVI. DIFFERENT KINDS OF MANURE. COW-MANURE, AND HOW TO USE IT. “It will do more good if fermented,” said a German farmer in the neighborhood, who is noted for raising good crops of cabbage, “but I like hog-manure better than cow-dung. The right way is to mix the hog-manure, cow-dung, and horse-manure together.” “No doubt about that,” said I, “but when you have a good many cows, and few other animals, how would you manage the manure?” “I would gather leaves and swamp-muck, and use them for bedding the cows and pigs. Leaves make splendid bedding, and they make rich manure, and the cow-dung and leaves, when made into a pile, will ferment readily, and make grand manure for--anything. I only wish I had all I could use.” There is no question but what cow-manure is better if fermented, but it is not always convenient to pile it during the winter in such a way that it will not freeze. And in this case it may be the better plan to draw it out on to the land, as opportunity offers. “I have heard,” said Charley, “that pig-manure was not good for cabbage, it produces ‘fingers and toes,’ or club-foot.” Possibly such is the case when there is a predisposition to the disease, but our German friend says he has never found any ill-effects from its use. “Cows,” said the Doctor, “when giving a large quantity of milk, make rather poor manure. The manure loses what the milk takes from the food.” “We have shown what that loss is,” said I. “It amounts to less than I think is generally supposed. And in the winter, when the cows are dry, the manure would be as rich as from oxen, provided both were fed alike. See Appendix, page 342. It will there be seen that oxen take out only 4.1 lbs. of nitrogen from 100 lbs. of nitrogen consumed in the food. In other words, provided there is no loss, we should get in the liquid and solid excrements of the ox and dry cow 95.9 per cent of the nitrogen furnished in the food, and a still higher per cent of the mineral matter.” SHEEP-MANURE. According to Prof. Wolff’s table of analyses, sheep-manure, both solid and liquid, contain less water than the manure from horses, cows, or swine. With the exception of swine, the solid dung is also the richest in nitrogen, while the urine of sheep is pre-eminently rich in nitrogen and potash. These facts are in accordance with the general opinions of farmers. Sheep-manure is considered, next to hen-manure, the most valuable manure made on the farm. I do not think we have any satisfactory evidence to prove that 3 tons of clover-hay and a ton of corn fed to a lot of fattening-sheep will afford a quantity of manure containing any more plant-food than the same kind and amount of food fed to a lot of fattening-cattle. The experiments of Lawes & Gilbert indicate that if there is any difference it is in favor of the ox. See Appendix, page 343. But it may well be that it is much easier to save the manure from the sheep than from the cattle. And so, practically, sheep may be better manure-makers than cattle--for the simple reason that less of the urine is lost. “As a rule,” said the Doctor, “the dung of sheep contains far less water than the dung of cattle, though when you slop your breeding ewes to make them give more milk, the dung differs but little in appearance from that of cows. Ordinarily, however, sheep-dung is light and dry, and, like horse-dung, will ferment much more rapidly than cow or pig-dung. In piling manure in the winter or spring, special pains should be used to mix the sheep and horse-manure with the cow and pig-manure. And it may be remarked that for any crop or for any purpose where stable-manure is deemed desirable, sheep-manure would be a better substitute than cow or pig-manure.” MANURE FROM SWINE. The dry matter of hog-manure, especially the urine, is rich in nitrogen, but it is mixed with such a large quantity of water that a ton of hog-manure, as it is usually found in the pen, is less valuable than a ton of horse or sheep-manure, and only a little more valuable than a ton of cow-manure. As I have before said, my own plan is to let the store-hogs sleep in a basement-cellar, and bed them with horse and sheep-manure. I have this winter over 50 sows under the horse-stable, and the manure from 8 horses keeps them dry and comfortable, and we are not specially lavish with straw in bedding the horses. During the summer we aim to keep the hogs out in the pastures and orchards as much as possible. This is not only good for the health of the pigs, but saves labor and straw in the management of the manure. It goes directly to the land. The pigs are good grazers and distribute the manure as evenly over the land as sheep--in fact, during hot weather, sheep are even more inclined to huddle together under the trees, and by the side of the fence, than pigs. This is particularly the case with the larger breeds of sheep. In the winter it is not a difficult matter to save all the liquid and solid excrements from pigs, provided the pens are dry and no water comes in from the rain and snow. As pigs are often managed, this is the real difficulty. Pigs void an enormous quantity of water, especially when fed on slops from the house, whey, etc. If they are kept in a pen with a separate feeding and sleeping apartment, both should be under cover, and the feeding apartment may be kept covered a foot or so thick with the soiled bedding from the sleeping apartment. When the pigs get up in a morning, they will go into the feeding apartment, and the liquid will be discharged on the mass of manure, straw, etc. “Dried muck,” said the Deacon, “comes in very handy about a pig-pen, for absorbing the liquid.” “Yes,” said I, “and even dry earth can be used to great advantage, not merely to absorb the liquid, but to keep the pens sweet and healthy. The three chief points in saving manure from pigs are: 1, To have the pens under cover; 2, to keep the feeding apartment or yard covered with a thick mass of strawy manure and refuse of any kind, and 3, to scatter plenty of dry earth or dry muck on the floor of the sleeping apartment, and on top of the manure in the feeding apartment.” “You feed most of your pigs,” said the Deacon, “out of doors in the yard, and they sleep in the pens or basement cellars, and it seems to me to be a good plan, as they get more fresh air and exercise than if confined.” “We do not lose much manure,” said I, “by feeding in the yards. You let a dozen pigs sleep in a pen all night, and as soon as they hear you putting the food in the troughs outside, they come to the door of the pen, and there discharge the liquid and solid excrements on the mass of manure left there on purpose to receive and absorb them. I am well aware that as pigs are often managed, we lose at least half the value of their manure, but there is no necessity for this. A little care and thought will save nearly the whole of it.” BUYING MANURE BY MEASURE OR WEIGHT. The Deacon and I have just been weighing a bushel of different kinds of manure made on the farm. We made two weighings of each kind, one thrown in loose, and the other pressed down firm. The following is the result: Weight of Manure per Bushel, and per Load of 50 Bushels. Wt/Bu Weight per Bushel in lbs. Wt/Load Weight per Load of 50 bushels.