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
for manure alone, found it still more profitable to use it first for
food, and then for manure afterwards. Mr. Lawes, it will be seen,
estimates the manure produced from the consumption of a ton of rape-cake
at $21.01.
Linseed-oil cake comes next. Pure linseed-cake is exceedingly valuable,
both for food and manure. It is a favorite food with all cattle and
sheep breeders and feeders. It has a wonderful effect in improving the
appearance of cattle and sheep. An English farmer thinks he cannot get
along without “cake” for his calves, lambs, cattle, and sheep. In this
country, it is not so extensively used, except by the breeders of
improved stock. It is so popular in England that the price is fully up
to its intrinsic value, and not unfrequently other foods, in proportion
to the nutritive and manurial value, can be bought cheaper. This fact
shows the value of a good reputation. Linseed-cake, however, is often
adulterated, and farmers need to be cautious who they deal with. When
pure, it will be seen that the manure made by the consumption of a ton
of linseed-cake is worth $19.72.
Malt-dust stands next on the list. This article is known by different
names. In England, it is often called “malt-combs;” here it is known as
“malt-_sprouts_,” or “malt-_roots_.” In making barley into malt, the
barley is soaked in water, and afterwards kept in a warm room until it
germinates, and throws out sprouts and roots. It is then dried, and
before the malt is used, these dried sprouts and roots are sifted out,
and are sold for cattle-food. They weigh from 22 to 25 lbs. per bushel
of 40 quarts. They are frequently mixed at the breweries with the
“grains,” and are sold to milkmen at the same price--from 12 to 15 cents
per bushel. Where their value is not known, they can, doubtless, be
sometimes obtained at a mere nominal price. Milkmen, I believe, prefer
the “grains” to the malt-dust. The latter, however, is a good food for
sheep. It has one advantage over brewer’s “grains.” The latter contain
76 per cent of water, while the malt-dust contains only 6 per cent of
water. We can afford, therefore, to transport malt-dust to a greater
distance than the grains. We do not want to carry _water_ many miles.
There is another advantage: brewer’s grains soon ferment, and become
sour; while the malt-dust, being dry, will keep for any length of time.
It will be seen that Mr. Lawes estimates the value of the manure left
from the consumption of a ton of malt-dust at $18.21.
Tares or vetches, lentils, linseed or flaxseed, beans, wheat, bran,
middlings, fine mill-feed, undecorticated cotton-seed cake, peas, and
cotton-seed, stand next on the list. The value of these for manure
ranging from $13.25 to $16.75 per ton.
Then comes clover-hay. Mr. Lawes estimates the value of the manure from
the consumption of a ton of clover-hay at $9.64. This is from early cut
clover-hay.
When clover is allowed to grow until it is nearly out of flower, the hay
would not contain so much nitrogen, and would not be worth quite so much
per ton for manure. When mixed with timothy or other grasses, or with
weeds, it would not be so valuable. The above estimate is for the
average quality of good pure English clover-hay. Our best farmers raise
clover equally as good; but I have seen much clover-hay that certainly
would not come up to this standard. Still, even our common clover-hay
makes rich manure. In Wolff’s Table, given in the appendix, it will be
seen that clover-hay contains only 1.97 per cent of nitrogen and 5.7 per
cent of ash. Mr. Lawes’ clover contains more nitrogen and ash. This
means richer land and a less mature condition of the crop.
The cereal grains, wheat, barley, oats, and Indian corn, stand next on
the list, being worth from $6.32 to $7.70 per ton for manure.
“Meadow-hay,” which in the table is estimated as worth $6.43 per ton for
manure, is the hay from permanent meadows. It is a quite different
article from the “English Meadow-hay” of New England. It is, in fact,
the perfection of hay. The meadows are frequently top-dressed with
composted manure or artificial fertilizers, and the hay is composed of a
number of the best grasses, cut early and carefully cured. It will be
noticed, however, that even this choice meadow-hay is not as valuable
for manure as clover-hay.
English bean-straw is estimated as worth $3.87 per ton for manure. The
English “horse bean,” which is the kind here alluded to, has a very
stiff, coarse long straw, and looks as though it was much inferior as
fodder, to the straw of our ordinary white beans. See Wolff’s table in
the appendix.
Pea-straw is estimated at $3.74 per ton. When the peas are not allowed
to grow until dead ripe, and when the straw is carefully cured, it makes
capital food for sheep. Taking the grain and straw together, it will be
seen that peas are an unusually valuable crop to grow for the purpose of
making rich manure.
The straw of oats, wheat, and barley, is worth from $2.25 to $2.90 per
ton. Barley straw being the poorest for manure, and oat straw the
richest.
Potatoes are worth $1.50 per ton, or nearly 5 cents a bushel for manure.
The manurial value of roots varies from 80 cents a ton for carrots, to
$1.07 for mangel-wurzel, and $1.14 for parsnips.
I am very anxious that there should be no misapprehension as to the
meaning of these figures. I am sure they are well worth the careful
study of every intelligent farmer. Mr. Lawes has been engaged in making
experiments for over thirty years. There is no man more competent to
speak with authority on such a subject. The figures showing the money
value of the manure made from the different foods, are based on the
amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, which they contain. Mr.
Lawes has been buying and using artificial manures for many years, and
is quite competent to form a correct conclusion as to the cheapest
sources of obtaining nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. He has
certainly not overestimated their _cost_. They can not be bought at
lower rates, either in England or America. But of course it does not
follow from this that these manures are worth to the farmer the price
charged for them; that is a matter depending on many conditions. All
that can be said is, that if you are going to buy commercial manures,
you will have to pay at least as much for the nitrogen, phosphoric acid,
and potash, as the price fixed upon by Mr. Lawes. And you should
recollect that there are other ingredients in the manure obtained from
the food of animals, which are not estimated as of any value in the
table. For instance, there is a large amount of carbonaceous matter in
the manure of animals, which, for some crops, is not without value, but
which is not here taken into account.
Viewed from a farmer’s stand-point, the table of money values must be
taken only in a comparative sense. It is not claimed that the manure
from a ton of wheat-straw is worth $2.68. This may, or may not, be the
case. But _if_ the manure from a ton of wheat-straw is worth $2.08,
_then_ the manure from a ton of pea-straw is worth $3.74, and the manure
from a ton of corn-meal is worth $6.65, and the manure from a ton of
clover-hay is worth $9.64, and the manure from a ton of wheat-bran is
worth $14.59. _If_ the manure from a ton of corn meal is _not_ worth
$6.65, then the manure from a ton of bran is not worth $14.59. If the
manure from the ton of corn is worth _more_ than $6.65, then the manure
from a ton of bran is worth _more_ than $14.59. There need be no doubt
on this point.
Settle in your own mind what the manure from a ton of any one of the
foods mentioned is worth on your farm, and you can easily calculate what
the manure is worth from all the others. If you say that the manure from
a ton of wheat-straw is worth $1.34, then the manure from a ton of
Indian corn is worth $3.33, and the manure from a ton of bran is worth
$7.30, and the manure from a ton of clover-hay is worth $4.82.
In this section, however, few good farmers are willing to sell straw,
though they can get from $8.00 to $10.00 per ton for it. They think it
must be consumed on the farm, or used for bedding, or their land will
run down. I do not say they are wrong, but I do say, that if a ton of
straw is worth $2.68 for manure alone, then a ton of clover-hay is worth
$9.64 for manure alone. This may be accepted as a general truth, and one
which a farmer can act upon. And so, too, in regard to the value of
corn-meal, bran, and all the other articles given in the table.
There is another point of great importance which should be mentioned in
this connection. The nitrogen in the better class of foods is worth more
for manure than the nitrogen in straw, corn-stalks, and other coarse
fodder. Nearly all the nitrogen in grain, and other rich foods, is
digested by the animals, and is voided in solution in the urine. In
other words, the nitrogen in the manure is in an active and available
condition. On the other hand, only about half the nitrogen in the coarse
fodders and straw is digestible. The other half passes off in a crude
and comparatively unavailable condition, in the solid excrement. In
estimating the value of the manure from a ton of food, these facts
should be remembered.
I have said that if the manure from a ton of straw is worth $2.68, the
manure from a ton of corn is worth $6.65; but I will not reverse the
proposition, and say that if the manure from a ton of corn is worth
$6.65, the manure from a ton of straw is worth $2.68. The manure from
the grain is nearly all in an available condition, while that from the
straw is not. A pound of nitrogen in rich manure is worth more than a
pound of nitrogen in poor manure. This is another reason why we should
try to make rich manure.
CHAPTER XIII.
HORSE MANURE AND FARM-YARD MANURE.
The manure from horses is generally considered richer and better than
that from cows. This is not always the case, though it is probably so as
a rule. There are three principal reasons for this. 1st. The horse is
usually fed more grain and hay than the cow. In other words, the food of
the horse is usually richer in the valuable elements of plant-food than
the ordinary food of the cow. 2d. The milk of the cow abstracts
considerable nitrogen, phosphoric acid, etc., from the food, and to this
extent there is less of these valuable substances in the excrements. 3d.
The excrements of the cow contain much more water than those of the
horse. And consequently a ton of cow-dung, other things being equal,
would not contain as much actual manure as a ton of horse-dung.
Boussingault, who is eminently trustworthy, gives us the following
interesting facts:
A horse consumed in 24 hours, 20 lbs. of hay, 6 lbs. of oats, and 43
lbs. of water, and voided during the same period, 3 lbs. 7 ozs. of
urine, and 38 lbs. 2 ozs. of solid excrements.
The solid excrements contained 23½ lbs. of water, and the urine 2 lbs. 6
ozs. of water.
According to this, a horse, eating 20 lbs. of hay, and 6 lbs. of oats,
per day, voids in a year nearly seven tons of solid excrements, and
1,255 lbs. of urine.
It would seem that there must have been some mistake in collecting the
urine, or what was probably the case, that some of it must have been
absorbed by the dung; for 3½ pints of urine per day is certainly much
less than is usually voided by a horse.
Stockard gives the amount of urine voided by a horse in a year at 3,000
lbs.; a cow, 8,000 lbs.; sheep, 380 lbs.; pig, 1,200 lbs.
Dr. Vœlcker, at the Royal Agricultural College, at Cirencester, England,
made some valuable investigations in regard to the composition of
farm-yard manure, and the changes which take place during fermentation.
The manure was composed of horse, cow, and pig-dung, mixed with the
straw used for bedding in the stalls, pig-pens, sheds, etc.
On the 3d of November, 1854, a sample of what Dr. Vœlcker calls “Fresh
Long Dung,” was taken from the “manure-pit” for analysis. It had lain in
the pit or heap about 14 days.
The following is the result of the analysis:
Fresh Farm-Yard Manure.
Half A Ton, Or 1,000 Lbs.
Water 661.7 lbs.
Organic matter 282.4 ”
Ash 55.9 ”
-------------
1,000.0 lbs.
Nitrogen 6.43 ”
“Before you go any farther,” said the Deacon, “let me understand what
these figures mean? Do you mean that a ton of manure contains only 12¾
lbs. of nitrogen, and 111 lbs. of ash, and that all the rest is
carbonaceous matter and water, of little or no value?” --“That is it
precisely, Deacon,” said I, “and furthermore, a large part of the ash
has very little fertilizing value, as seen from the following:
Detailed Composition of the Ash of Fresh Barn-Yard Manure.
Soluble silica 21.59
Insoluble silicious matter (sand) 10.04
Phosphate of lime 5.35
Oxide of iron, alumina, with phosphate 8.47
Containing phosphoric acid 3.18
Lime 21.31
Magnesia 2.76
Potash 12.04
Soda 1.30
Chloride of sodium 0.54
Sulphuric acid 1.49
Carbonic acid and loss 15.11
------
100.00
Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, are the most valuable ingredients
in manure. It will be seen that a ton of fresh barn-yard manure, of
probably good average quality, contains:
Nitrogen 12¾ lbs.
Phosphoric acid 6½ ”
Potash 13½ ”
I do not say that these are the only ingredients of any value in a ton
of manure. Nearly all the other ingredients are indispensable to the
growth of plants, and if we should use manures containing nothing but
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, the time would come when the
crops would fail, from lack of a sufficient quantity of, perhaps,
magnesia, or lime, sulphuric acid, or soluble silica, or iron. But it is
not necessary to make provision for such a contingency. It would be a
very exceptional case. Farmers who depend mainly on barn-yard manure, or
on plowing under green crops for keeping up the fertility of the land,
may safely calculate that the value of the manure is in proportion to
the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, it contains.
We draw out a ton of fresh manure and spread it on the land, therefore,
in order to furnish the growing crops with 12¾ lbs. of nitrogen, 6½ lbs.
of phosphoric acid, and 13½ lbs. of potash. Less than 33 lbs. in all!
We cannot dispense with farm-yard manure. We can seldom buy nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash, as cheaply as we can get them in home-made
manures. But we should clearly understand the fact that we draw out
2,000 lbs. of matter in order to get 33 lbs. of these fertilizing
ingredients. We should _try to make richer manure_. A ton of manure
containing 60 lbs. of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, costs no
more to draw out and spread, than a ton containing only 30 lbs., and it
would be worth nearly or quite double the money.
How to make richer manure we will not discuss at this time. It is a
question of food. But it is worth while to enquire if we can not take
such manure as we have, and reduce its weight and bulk without losing
any of its nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash.
CHAPTER XIV.
FERMENTING MANURE.
Dr. Vœlcker placed 2,838 lbs. of fresh mixed manure in a heap Nov. 3,
1854, and the next spring, April 30, it weighed 2,026 lbs., a shrinkage
in weight of 28.6 per cent. In other words 100 tons of such manure would
be reduced to less than 71½ tons.
The heap was weighed again, August 23d, and contained 1,994 lbs. It was
again weighed Nov. 15, and contained 1,974 lbs.
The following table shows the composition of the heap when first put up,
and also at the three subsequent periods:
Table Showing Composition of the Whole Heap; Fresh Farm-Yard Manure
(No. I.) Exposed--Expressed in Lbs.
----------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
|When put |April 30,|Aug. 23, |Nov. 15,
|up, Nov. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854. | | |
----------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Weight of manure in lbs. | 2,838 | 2,026 | 1,994 | 1,974
Amt. of water in the manure | 1,877.9 | 1,336.1 | 1,505.3 | 1,466.5
Amt. of dry matter in the | | | |
manure | 960.1 | 689.9 | 488.7 | 507.5
Consisting of-- | | | |
Soluble organic matter { | 70.38| 86.51| 58.83| 54.04
Soluble mineral matter { | 43.71| 57.88| 39.16| 36.89
Insoluble organic matter { | 731.07| 389.74| 243.22| 214.92
Insoluble mineral matter { | 114.92| 155.77| 147.49| 201.65
| --------| --------| --------| --------
| 960.1 | 689.9 | 488.7 | 507.5
| | | |
Containing nitrogen | 4.22| 6.07| 3.76| 3.65
Equal to ammonia | 5.12| 7.37| 4.56| 4.36
Containing nitrogen | 14.01| 12.07| 9.38| 9.38
Equal to ammonia | 17.02| 14.65| 11.40| 11.39
| --------| --------| --------| --------
Total amount of nitrogen in | | | |
manure | 18.23| 18.14| 13.14| 13.03
Equal to ammonia | 22.14| 22.02| 15.96| 15.75
| | | |
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in free state | .96| .15| .20| .11
The manure contains ammonia | | | |
in form of salts, easily | | | |
decomposed by quicklime | 2.49| 1.71| .75| .80
Total amount of organic | | | |
matters | 801.45| 476.25| 302.05| 268.96
Total amount of mineral | | | |
matters | 158.15| 213.65| 186.65| 238.54
----------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
“It will be remarked,” says Dr. Vœlcker, “that in the first experimental
period, the fermentation of the dung, as might have been expected,
proceeded most rapidly, but that, notwithstanding, very little nitrogen
was dissipated in the form of volatile ammonia; and that on the whole,
the loss which the manure sustained was inconsiderable when compared
with the enormous waste to which it was subject in the subsequent warmer
and more rainy seasons of the year. Thus we find at the end of April
very nearly the same amount of nitrogen which is contained in the fresh;
whereas, at the end of August, 27.9 per cent of the total nitrogen, or
nearly one-third of the nitrogen in the manure, has been wasted in one
way or the other.
“It is worthy of observation,” continues Dr. Vœlcker, “that, during a
well-regulated fermentation of dung, the loss in intrinsically valuable
constituents is inconsiderable, and that in such a preparatory process
the _efficacy of the manure becomes greatly enhanced_. For certain
purposes fresh dung can never take the place of well-rotted dung. * *
The farmer will, therefore, always be compelled to submit a portion of
home-made dung to fermentation, and will find satisfaction in knowing
that this process, when well regulated, is not attended with any serious
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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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