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

“CANADA FARMER” OFFICE, TORONTO, March 29, 1876. _J. Harris, Esq._: DEAR SIR--Yours of the 25th inst. is to hand, and I shall be most happy to render you any assistance in my power. The work you undertake is in able hands, and I have every confidence that, when completed, it will form an invaluable acquisition to the agricultural literature of the day. Manure in this city is usually sold by the two-horse load--about 1½ tons--at the rate of $1 per load, or 66 cents per ton. The load contains just about a cord of manure, consequently a cord will weigh about 1½ tons. With reference to the general management of manure in Canada, I may say that the system followed differs in no material respect from that of New York and the other Eastern States. It is usually kept over winter in the open barn yard (rarely under cover, I am sorry to say), laid out on the land about the time of disappearance of last snow, and plowed in. In some cases it is not carted out until the land is ready for immediate plowing. With some of our more advanced farmers, the system has lately been adopted of keeping manure under cover and sprinkling it thoroughly at intervals with plaster and other substances. Tanks are also becoming more common than formerly, for the preservation of liquid manure, which is usually applied by means of large, perforated hogs-heads, after the manner of street-watering. You ask, how the manure is managed at Bow Park, Brantford. That made during fall and winter is carefully kept in as small bulk as possible, to prevent exposure to the weather. In February and March it is drawn out and put in heaps 8 feet square, and well packed, to prevent the escape of ammonia. In spring, as soon as practicable, it is spread, and plowed under immediately. Manure made in spring and summer is spread on the field at once, and plowed under with a good, deep furrow. Very truly yours, J. M. B. ANDERSON, Ed. _Canada Farmer_. MANURE STATISTICS OF LONG ISLAND. The Manure Trade of Long Island--Letter from J. H. Rushmore. OLD WESTBURY, Long Island, April 6, 1876. _Joseph Harris, Esq._: DEAR SIR--The great number of dealers in manure in New York precludes accuracy, yet Mr. Skidmore (who has been testifying voluminously before the New York Board of Health in relation to manure and street dirt), assures me that the accompanying figures are nearly correct. I enclose statement, from two roads, taken from their books, and the amount shipped over the other road I obtained verbally from the General Freight Agent, and embody it in the sheet of statistics. The Ash report I _know_ is correct, as I had access to the books showing the business, for over ten years. I have made numerous applications, verbally, and by letter, to our largest market gardeners, but there seems to exist a general and strong disinclination to communicate anything worth knowing. I enclose the best of the replies received. Speaking for some of our largest gardeners, I may say that they cultivate over one hundred acres, and use land sufficiently near to the city to enable them to dispense with railroad transportation in bringing manure to their places and marketing crops. I have noticed that one of the shrewdest gardeners invariably composts horn-shavings and bone-meal with horse-manure several months before expecting to use it. A safe average of manure used per acre by gardeners, 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 railroad manure statistics will give a generally correct idea of the age of manure, when used: Statement of Manure Sent from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1875. _Over F.N.S.&C.R.R._ _Over Southern R.R._ January 1,531 tubs. 5,815 tubs. February 4,357 ” March 740 ” 12,217 ” April 12,122 ” 7,055 ” May 7,383 ” 3,049 ” June 5,725 ” 1,365 ” July 6,473½ ” 685 ” August 6,370½ ” 2,911 ” September 3,197 ” 14,702 ” October 880 ” 660 ” November 512 ” 840 ” December 1,406 ” 4,923 ” -------------- ------------ 46,340 tubs. 57,679 tubs. A tub is equal to 14 bushels. Hobson, Hurtado & Co. report the amount of Peruvian guano sold in this country last year at thirty thousand tons. Estimated number of horses in New York city, 100,000. Estimated product of manure per horse. Four cords. Estimated proportion of straw to pure excrement. One-half. Amount shipped direct from stables. Nearly all. Amount shipped on vessels. One-half. Length of time the unshipped manure remains in heaps. From three to four months. Average cost per horse, annually. $3. Greatest distance of shipment. Virginia. Average amount shipped via L.I.R.R. 60,000 tubs. Price of manure per tub delivered on cars or vessel. 80 cents. Average amount put on car. 40 tubs. Statistics of Ash Trade.--Time when ashes are delivered. From middle of June to middle of October. Places from which they are mostly shipped. Montreal, Belleville, and Toronto (Canada). Method of transportation. Canal boats. Average load per boat. About 8,000 bushels. Average amount annually sold. 360,000 bushels. Average cost delivered to farmers. 20½ cents per bushel. _Per Acre, about._ Amount used by farmers for potatoes 60 tubs. ” ” ” ” ” cabbage (late) 50 ” ” ” ” ” ” corn 12 ” Amount of guano used on Long Island, as represented by the books of Chapman & Vanwyck, and their estimate of sales by other firms, 5,000 tons. The fertilizers used on the Island are bought almost exclusively by market gardeners or farmers, who do a little market gardening, as it is the general conviction that ordinary farm-crops will not give a compensating return for their application. Most market gardeners keep so little stock that the manure made on the place is very inconsiderable. Our dairy farmers either compost home-made manures with that from the city, spread it on the land for corn in the spring, or rot it separate, to use in the fall for wheat, on land that has been cropped with oats the same year. The manure put on for potatoes is generally estimated to enrich the land sufficient for it to produce one crop of winter grain, and from five to seven crops of grass, when it is again plowed and cultivated in rotation with, first, corn, second, potatoes or oats, and is reseeded in autumn of the same year. Fish and fish guano are largely used on land bordering the water, and adjacent to the oil-works. The average price for guano in bulk at oil-works is $12 per ton. The average price for fish on wharf is $1.50 per thousand, and it is estimated that, as a general average, 6,000 fish make a ton of guano. The fish, when applied to corn, are placed two at each hill, and plowed under at any time after the corn is large enough to cultivate. Seaweed is highly prized by all who use it, and it will produce a good crop of corn when spread thickly on the land previous to plowing. Very respectfully, J. H. RUSHMORE. Letter from John E. Backus. NEWTOWN, Long Island, N.Y., March 2nd, 1876. _Mr. G. H. Rushmore_: DEAR SIR.--Some farmers and market-gardeners use more, and some less, manure, according to crops to be raised. I use about 30 good two-horse wagon-loads to the acre, to be applied in rows or broad-casted, as best for certain crops. I prefer old horse-dung for most all purposes. Guano, as a fertilizer, phosphate of bone and blood are very good; they act as a stimulant on plants and vegetation, and are highly beneficial to some vegetation--more valuable on poor soil than elsewhere, except to produce a thrifty growth in plants, and to insure a large crop. By giving you these few items they vary considerably on different parts of the Island; judgment must be used in all cases and all business. Hoping these few lines may be of some avail to Mr. Harris and yourself, I remain, yours, etc., JOHN E. BACKUS. MANURE IN PHILADELPHIA. Letter from Joseph Heacock. JENKINTOWN, Montgomery Co., Pa., April 18th, 1876. MY DEAR FRIEND HARRIS.--Stable-manure in Philadelphia, costs by the single four-horse-load, about $9 or $10. Mostly, the farmers who haul much of it, have it engaged by the year, and then it can be had for from $7 to $8 per load. Mostly, four horses are used, though we frequently see two and three-horse teams, and occasionally, five or six horses are used. I have never seen any kind of dung hauled but that of horses. Cow-manure would be thought too heavy to haul so long a distance. Sugar-house waste, spent hops, glue waste, etc, are hauled to a small extent. We live about 9 miles from the center of the city, and the road is very hilly, though otherwise a good one, being made of stone. The loads vary from 2½ to 3½ or 4 tons for four horses, according to the dryness of the manure. The wagons are made very strong, and weigh from 1,600 lbs. to 2,300 or 2,400 lbs., according to the number of horses that are to be used to them. I cannot say how many cords there are in an average load, but probably not less than two cords to four horses. One of my neighbors has a stable engaged by the year. He pays $2.50 per ton, and averages about three tons per load, and the distance from the stable in the city to his place, can not be less than 12 miles. His team goes empty one way and of course can not haul more than a load a day. In fact, can not average that, as it would be too hard on his horses. The horses used for the purpose are large and strong. Fifteen or twenty years ago, there was kept on most farms of 75 to 100 acres, a team purposely for hauling manure from the city. But it is different now, many of the farmers using artificial manures, as it costs so much less; and others are keeping more stock, and so making their own manure. Still, there is a great deal hauled yet. And some of it to a distance of 20 miles. Though when hauled to this distance, the teams are loaded both ways. For instance, they will start to the city with a load of hay (35 to 50 cwt.), on Monday afternoon (Tuesday is the day of the Hay Market); and when they have their load of hay off on Tuesday, they load their manure and drive out five or six miles and put up for the night. Next morning they start about 3 o’clock, arriving home before noon, having been away two days. On Thursday afternoon, they start again. You can see that manuring in this way is very expensive. But farmers about here well know that if they do not manure well they raise but little. Probably about four loads are used per acre on the average. Each load is generally thrown off the wagon in one large heap near where wanted, and is allowed to lie until they use it. I can not tell how much it loses in bulk by lying in the heap. As to what crops it is used on, farmers do not think that they could go amiss in applying it to anything except oats. But it is probably used more for top-dressing mowing land, and for potatoes, than for anything else. The usual rotation is corn, potatoes, or oats, wheat seeded to clover and timothy, and then kept in grass from two to four years. Those who haul stable-manure, usually use bone-dust or superphosphate to a greater or less extent. Last December I built a pig-pen, 20 ft. × 40 ft., 1½ stories high. The upper story to be used for litter, etc. There is a four feet entry on the north side, running the length of the building. The remainder is divided into five pens, each 8 ft. × 16 ft. It is made so that in cold weather it can be closed up tight, while in warmer weather it can be made as open as an out-shed. I am very much pleased with it. The pigs make a great deal of manure, and I believe that it can be made much cheaper than it can be bought and hauled from Philadelphia. JOSEPH HEACOCK, Jr. Letter from Herman L. Routzahn. MIDDLETOWN, Md., May 11th, 1876. _Joseph Harris, Esq._: I herewith proceed to answer questions asked. Wheat and corn are principal crops. Corn is fed now altogether to stock for the manure. There is but little soiling done. The principal method of making manure is: Feeding all the corn raised, as well as hay, oats, and roots, to cattle; using wheat straw, weeds, etc., as bedding, throwing the manure in the yard (uncovered), and to cover the pile with plaster (by sowing broadcast), at least once a week. To this pile is added the manure from the hog-pens, hen-house, etc., and worked over thoroughly at least twice before using. It is then applied to corn by plowing _under_; to wheat, as a top-dressing. For corn it is usually hauled to the field, thrown off in heaps 25 feet each way, a cart-load making two heaps. Spread just before the plow. For wheat, spread on directly after plowing, and thoroughly harrowed in. Applied broadcast for potatoes. Composts of different kinds are made and used same as in other localities, I presume. Artificial manures are going into disrepute (justly too). This is the plan now adopted by the farmers in this county (Frederick). Where woods are accessible, leaves and mould are hauled in and added to the manure-heap; in fact, every substance that can be worked into the manure-heap is freely used. Well-rotted stable-manure is worth from $1.50 to $2.50 per cord, according to condition and locality. Very Respectfully Yours, HERMAN L. ROUTZAHN. Letter from Prof. E. M. Shelton, Prof. of Agriculture, Kansas State Agricultural College. KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MANHATTAN, Kansas, May 5, 1876. DEAR SIR.--In reply to your first question, I would say that stable-manure in this vicinity, is held in very light estimation. Indeed, by the householders of this city, and quite generally by the farmers, manure is regarded as one of those things--like drouth and grasshoppers--with which a mysterious Providence sees fit to clog the operations of the husband-man. The great bulk of the stable-manure made in this city is, every spring, carted into ravines and vacant lots--wherever, in short, with least expense it can be put out of reach of the senses. It must not be understood by this that manure has little influence on the growing crops in Kansas. Nowhere have I seen such excellent results from application of home-made fertilizers, as in Kansas. For those sterile wastes known as “Alkali lands,” and “Buffalo wallows,” manure is a speedy and certain cure. During two years of severe drouth, I have noticed that wherever manure had been supplied, the crop withstood the effects of dry weather much better than where no application had been made. Four years ago, a strip across one of our fields was heavily manured; this year this field is into wheat, and a dark band that may be seen half a mile shows where this application was made. These facts the better class of our farmers are beginning to appreciate. A few days ago, a neighbor, a very intelligent farmer, assured me that from manuring eight to ten acres every year, his farm was now in better condition than when be broke up the prairie fifteen years ago. I know of no analysis of stable or farmyard-manure made in Kansas. Concerning the _weight_ of manures, I can give you a few facts, having had occasion during the past winter to weigh several loads used for experimental purposes. This manure was wheeled into the barnyard, chiefly from the cattle stalls, during the winter of 1874-5. It lay in the open yard until February last, when it was weighed and hauled to the fields. I found that a wagon-box, 1½ × 3 × 9 feet, into which the manure was pitched, without treading, held with slight variations, when level full, one ton. At this rate a cord would weigh very close to three tons. The greatest difficulty that we have to encounter in the management of manure grows out of our dry summers. During our summer months, unless sufficient moisture is obtained, the manure dries out rapidly, becomes fire-fanged and practically worthless. My practice upon the College farm has been to give the bottom of the barn-yard a “dishing” form, so that it holds all the water that falls upon it. The manure I keep as flat as possible, taking pains to place it where the animals will keep it trod down solid. I have adopted this plan after having tried composting and piling the manure in the yards, and am satisfied that it is the only _practical_ way to manage manures in this climate. There is no particular crop to which manure is generally applied in this State, unless, perhaps, wheat. The practice of applying manure as a top-dressing to winter-wheat, is rapidly gaining ground here. It is found that the manure thus applied, acting as a mulch, mitigates the effects of drouth, besides improving the quality of the grain. Very Respectfully Yours, E. M. SHELTON. Letter from Prof. W. H. Brewer, Professor of Agriculture in Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College. SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 14th, 1876. _Joseph Harris, Esq., Rochester, N.Y._: MY DEAR SIR.--I have made inquiries relating to “the price of stable-manure in New Haven, and how far the farmers and gardeners haul it, etc.” I have not been to the horse-car stables, but I have to several _livery_ stables, and they are all essentially the same. They say that but little is sold by the _cord_ or _ton_, or by any weight or measure. It is sold either “in the lump,” “by the month,” “by the year,” or “per horse.” Some sell it at a given sum per month for all their horses, on a general estimate of their horses--thus, one man says, “I get, this year, $25 per month for all my manure, he to remove it as fast as it accumulates; say one, two, or three times per week. He hauls it about five miles and composts it all before using.” Another says, he sells _per horse_. “I get, this year, $13 per horse, they to haul it.” The price per horse ranges from $10 to $15 per year, the latter sum being high. From the small or private stables, the manure is generally “lumped” by private contract, and is largely used about the city. It is hauled sometimes as much as 10 miles, but usually much less. But the larger stables often sell per shipment--it is sent by cars up the Connecticut Valley to Westfield, etc., where it is often hauled several miles from the railroad or river. Much manure is sent by boat from New York to the Connecticut Valley tobacco lands. Boats (“barges”) are even loaded in Albany, go down the Hudson, up the Sound to Connecticut, to various places near Hartford, I am told. Two or three years ago, a man came here and exhibited to us pressed masses of manure--a patent had been taken out for pressing it, to send by R.R. (stable manure). I never heard anything more about it--and he was confident and enthusiastic about it. Yours truly, WM. H. BREWER. FOOD, INCREASE, MANURE, ETC., OF FATTENING ANIMALS. The following table is given by Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamsted, England, showing the relation of the increase, manure, and loss by respiration, to the food consumed by different animals: [Transcriber’s Note: The table headers as printed are difficult to interpret. I have given my best guess about what the author intended.] 250/600/3500 (Oxen): 250 lbs. Oil-cake } 600 lbs. Clover-chaff } 3500 lbs. Swede turnips } Produce 100 lbs. Increase and supply: 250/300/4000 (Sheep) 250 lbs. Oil-cake } 300 lbs. Clover-chaff } 4000 lbs. Swede turnips } Produce 100 lbs. Increase and supply: 500 lbs. Barley meal (Pigs) produce 100 lbs. increase and supply: (In) Food. 100 I: In 100 lbs. Increase. (In) Man(ure).