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
depreciation of the value of the manure. In the foregoing analyses he
will find the direct proof that as long as heavy showers of rain are
excluded from manure-heaps, or the manure is kept in water-proof pits,
the most valuable fertilizing matters are preserved.”
This experiment of Dr. Vœlcker proves conclusively that manure can be
kept in a rapid state of fermentation for six months during winter, with
little loss of nitrogen or other fertilizing matter.
During fermentation a portion of the insoluble matter of the dung
becomes soluble, and if the manure is then kept in a heap exposed to
rain, there is a great loss of fertilizing matter. This is precisely
what we should expect. We ferment manure to make it more readily
available as plant-food, and when we have attained our object, the
manure should be applied to the land. We keep winter apples in the
cellar until they get ripe. As soon as they are ripe, they should be
eaten, or they will rapidly decay. This is well understood. And it
should be equally well known that manure, after it has been fermenting
in a heap for six months, cannot safely be kept for another six months
exposed to the weather.
The following table shows the composition of 100 lbs. of the farm-yard
manure, at different periods of the year:
Composition of 100 Lbs. of Fresh Farm-Yard Manure (No. I.) Exposed in
Natural State, at Different Periods of the Year.
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Water | 66.17 | 69.83 | 65.95 | 75.49 | 74.29
Soluble organic matter | 2.48 | 3.86 | 4.27 | 2.95 | 2.74
Soluble inorganic matter | 1.54 | 2.97 | 2.86 | 1.97 | 1.87
Insoluble organic matter | 25.76 | 18.44 | 19.23 | 12.20 | 10.89
Insoluble mineral matter | 4.05 | 4.90 | 7.69 | 7.39 | 10.21
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
| 100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00
Containing nitrogen | .149| .27 | .30 | .19 | .18
Equal to ammonia | .181| .32 | .36 | .23 | .21
Containing nitrogen | .494| .47 | .59 | .47 | .47
Equal to ammonia | .599| .57 | .71 | .62 | .57
Total amount of nitrogen | .643| .74 | .89 | .66 | .65
Equal to ammonia | .780| .89 | 1.07 | .85 | .78
Ammonia in a free state | .034| .049 | .008 | .010 | .006
Ammonia in form of salts | | | | |
easily decomposed | | | | |
by quicklime | .088| .064 | .085 | .038 | .041
Total amt. of organic | 28.24 | 22.30 | 23.50 | 15.15 | 13.63
matter | | | | |
Total amt. of mineral | 5.59 | 7.87 | 10.55 | 9.36 | 12.08
substances | | | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
It will be seen that two-thirds of the fresh manure is water. After
fermenting in an exposed heap for six months, it still contains about
the same _percentage_ of water. When kept in the heap until August, the
percentage of water is much greater. Of four tons of such manure, three
tons are water.
Of _Nitrogen_, the most valuable ingredient of the manure, the fresh
dung, contained 0.64 per cent; after fermenting six months, it contained
0.89 per cent. Six months later, it contained 0.65 per cent, or about
the same amount as the fresh manure.
Of mineral matter, or ash, this fresh farm-yard manure contained 5.59
per cent; of which 1.54 was soluble in water, and 4.05 insoluble. After
fermenting in the heap for six months, the manure contained 10.55 per
cent of ash, of which 2.86 was soluble, and 7.69 insoluble. Six months
later, the soluble ash had decreased to 1.97 per cent.
The following table shows the composition of the manure, at different
periods, in the _dry state_. In other words, supposing all the water to
be removed from the manure, its composition would be as follows:
Composition of Fresh Farm-Yard Manure (No. I.) Exposed.
Calculated Dry.
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Soluble organic matter | 7.33 | 12.79 | 12.54 | 12.04 | 10.65
Soluble inorganic matter | 4.55 | 9.84 | 8.39 | 8.03 | 7.27
Insoluble organic matter | 76.15 | 61.12 | 56.49 | 49.77 | 42.35
Insoluble mineral matter | 11.97 | 16.25 | 22.58 | 30.16 | 39.73
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00
| | | | |
Containing nitrogen | .44 | .91 | .88 | .77 | .72
Equal to ammonia | .53 | 1.10 | 1.06 | .93 | .88
Containing nitrogen | 1.46 | 1.55 | 1.75 | 1.92 | 1.85
Equal to ammonia | 1.77 | 1.88 | 2.12 | 2.33 | 2.24
Total amount of nitrogen | 1.90 | 2.46 | 2.63 | 2.69 | 2.57
Equal to ammonia | 2.30 | 2.98 | 3.18 | 3.26 | 3.12
Ammonia in free state | .10 | .062| .023| .041| .023
Ammonia in form of salts | | | | |
easily decomposed by | | | | |
quicklime | .26 | .212| .249| .154| .159
Total amount of organic | | | | |
matter | 83.48 | 73.91 | 69.03 | 61.81 | 53.00
Total amount of mineral | | | | |
substances | 16.52 | 26.09 | 30.97 | 38.19 | 47.00
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
“A comparison of these different analyses,” says Dr. Vœlcker, “points
out clearly the changes which fresh farm-yard manure undergoes on
keeping in a heap, exposed to the influence of the weather during a
period of twelve months and twelve days.
“1. It will be perceived that the proportion of organic matter steadily
diminishes from month to month, until the original percentage of organic
matter in the dry manure, amounting to 83.48 per cent, becomes reduced
to 53 per cent.
“2. On the other hand, the total percentage of mineral matter rises as
steadily as that of the organic matter falls.
“3. It will be seen that the loss in organic matter affects the
percentage of insoluble organic matters more than the percentage of
soluble organic substances.
“4. The percentage of soluble organic matters, indeed, increased
considerably during the first experimental period; it rose, namely, from
7.33 per cent to 12.79 per cent. Examined again on the 30th of April,
very nearly the same percentage of soluble organic matter, as on
February the 14th, was found. The August analysis shows but a slight
decrease in the percentage of soluble organic matters, while there is a
decrease of 2 per cent of soluble organic matters when the November
analysis is compared with the February analysis.
“5. The soluble mineral matters in this manure rise or fall in the
different experimental periods in the same order as the soluble organic
matters. Thus, in February, 9.84 per cent of soluble mineral matters
were found, whilst the manure contained only 4.55 per cent, when put up
into a heap in November, 1854. Gradually, however, the proportion of
soluble mineral matters again diminished, and became reduced to 7.27 per
cent, on the examination of the manure in November, 1855.
“6. A similar regularity will be observed in the percentage of nitrogen
contained in the soluble organic matters.
“7. In the insoluble organic matters, the percentage of nitrogen
regularly increased from November, 1854, up to the 23d of August,
notwithstanding the rapid diminution of the percentage of insoluble
organic matter. For the last experimental period, the percentage of
nitrogen in the insoluble matter is nearly the same as on August 23d.
“8. With respect to the total percentage of nitrogen in the fresh
manure, examined at different periods of the year, it will be seen that
the February manure contains about one-half per cent more of nitrogen
than the manure in a perfectly fresh state. On the 30th of April, the
percentage of nitrogen again slightly increased; on August 23d, it
remained stationary, and had sunk but very little when last examined on
the 15th of November, 1855.
“This series of analyses thus shows that fresh farm-yard manure rapidly
becomes more soluble in water, but that this desirable change is
realized at the expense of a large proportion of organic matters. It
likewise proves, in an unmistakable manner, that there is no advantage
in keeping farm-yard manure for too long a period; for, after February,
neither the percentage of soluble organic, nor that of soluble mineral
matter, has become greater, and the percentage of nitrogen in the manure
of April and August is only a very little higher than in February.”
“Before you go any further,” said the Deacon, “answer me this question:
Suppose I take five tons of farm-yard manure, and put it in a heap on
the 3d of November, tell me, 1st, what that heap will contain when first
made; 2d, what the heap will contain April 30th; and, 3d, what the heap
will contain August 23d.”
Here is the table:
Contents of a Heap of Manure at Different Periods, Exposed to
Rain, etc.
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
|When |Apr. 30. |Aug. 23. |Nov. 15.
|put up, | | |
|Nov. 3. | | |
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
Total weight of manure in heap |10,000 | 7,138 | 7,025 | 6,954
Water in the heap of manure | 6,617 | 4,707 | 5,304 | 5,167
Total organic matter | 2,824 | 1,678 | 1,034 | 947
Total inorganic matter | 559 | 753 | 657 | 840
Total nitrogen in heap | 64.3 | 63.9 | 46.3 | 46.0
Total soluble organic matter | 248 | 305 | 207 | 190
Total insoluble organic matter | 2,576 | 1,373 | 857 | 757
Soluble mineral matter | 154 | 204 | 138 | 130
Insoluble mineral matter | 405 | 549 | 519 | 710
Nitrogen in soluble matter | 14.9 | 21.4 | 13.2 | 12.9
Nitrogen in insoluble matter | 49.4 | 42.5 | 33.1 | 33.1
-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------
The Deacon put on his spectacles and studied the above table carefully
for some time. “That tells the whole story,” said he, “you put five tons
of fresh manure in a heap, it ferments and gets warm, and nearly one ton
of water is driven off by the heat.”
“Yes,” said the Doctor, “you see that over half a ton (1,146 lbs.) of
dry organic matter has been slowly burnt up in the heap; giving out as
much heat as half a ton of coal burnt in a stove. But this is not all.
The manure is cooked, and steamed, and softened by the process. The
organic matter burnt up is of no value. There is little or no loss of
nitrogen. The heap contained 64.3 lbs. of nitrogen when put up, and 63.9
lbs. after fermenting six months. And it is evident that the manure is
in a much more active and available condition than if it had been
applied to the land in the fresh state. There was 14.9 lbs. of nitrogen
in a soluble condition in the fresh manure, and 21.4 lbs. in the
fermented manure. And what is equally important, you will notice that
there is 154 lbs. of soluble ash in the heap of fresh manure, and 204
lbs. in the heap of fermented manure. In other words, 50 lbs. of the
insoluble mineral matter had, by the fermentation of the manure, been
rendered soluble, and consequently immediately available as plant-food.
This is a very important fact.”
The Doctor is right. There is clearly a great advantage in fermenting
manure, provided it is done in such a manner as to prevent loss. We have
not only less manure to draw out and spread, but the plant-food which it
contains, is more soluble and active.
The table we have given shows that there is little or no loss of
valuable constituents, even when manure is fermented in the open air and
exposed to ordinary rain and snows during an English winter. But it also
shows that when the manure has been fermented for six months, and is
then turned and left exposed to the rain of spring and summer, the loss
is very considerable.
The five tons (10,000 lbs.,) of fresh manure placed in a heap on the 3d
of November, are reduced to 7,138 lbs. by the 30th of April. Of this
4,707 lbs. is water. By the 23d of August, the heap is reduced to 7,025
lbs., of which 5,304 lbs. is water. There is nearly 600 lbs. more water
in the heap in August than in April.
Of total nitrogen in the heap, there is 64.3 lbs. in the fresh manure,
63.9 lbs. in April, and only 46.3 lbs. in August. This is a great loss,
and there is no compensating gain.
We have seen that, when five tons of manure is fermented for six months,
in winter, the nitrogen in the soluble organic matter is increased from
14.9 lbs. to 21.4 lbs. This is a decided advantage. But when the manure
is kept for another six months, this soluble nitrogen is decreased from
21.4 lbs. to 13.2 lbs. We lose over 8 lbs. of the most active and
available nitrogen.
And the same remarks will apply to the valuable soluble mineral matter.
In the five tons of fresh manure there is 154 lbs. of soluble mineral
matter. By fermenting the heap six months, we get 204 lbs., but by
keeping the manure six months longer, the soluble mineral matter is
reduced to 138 lbs. We lose 66 lbs. of valuable soluble mineral matter.
By fermenting manure for six months in winter, we greatly improve its
condition; by keeping it six months longer, we lose largely of the very
best and most active parts of the manure.
CHAPTER XV.
KEEPING MANURE UNDER COVER.
Dr. Vœlcker, at the same time he made the experiments alluded to in the
preceding chapter, placed another heap of manure _under cover_, in a
shed. It was the same kind of manure, and was treated precisely as the
other--the only difference being that one heap was exposed to the rain,
and the other not. The following table gives the results of the
weighings of the heap at different times, and also the percentage of
loss:
Manure Fermented Under Cover in Shed.
Table Showing the Actual Weighings, and Percentage of Loss in Weight,
of Experimental Heap (No. II.) Fresh Farm-Yard Manure Under Shed,
at Different Periods of the Year.
|Weight |Loss in |Percentage
| of |original| of Loss.
|Manure |weight |
|in Lbs. |in Lbs. |
------------------------------------+--------+--------+----------
Put up on the 3d of November, 1854 | 3,258 | |
Weighed on the 30th of April, 1855, | | |
or after a lapse of 6 months | 1,613 | 1,645 | 50.4
Weighed on the 23d of August, | | |
1855, or after a lapse of | | |
9 months and 20 days | 1,297 | 1,961 | 60.0
Weighed on the 15th of November, | | |
1855, or after a lapse of | | |
12 months and 12 days | 1,235 | 2,023 | 62.1
------------------------------------+--------+--------+----------
It will be seen that 100 tons of manure, kept in a heap under cover for
six months, would be reduced to 49.6-10 tons. Whereas, when the same
manure was fermented for the same length of time in the open air, the
100 tons was reduced to only 71.4-10 tons. The difference is due
principally to the fact that the heap exposed contained more water,
derived from rain and snow, than the heap kept under cover. This, of
course, is what we should expect. Let us look at the results of Dr.
Vœlcker’s analyses:
Table Showing the Composition of Experimental Heap (No. II.) Fresh
Farmyard Manure Under Shed, in Natural State at Different Periods
of the Year.
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Water | 66.17 | 67.32 | 56.89 | 43.43 | 41.66
* Soluble organic matter | 2.48 | 2.63 | 4.63 | 4.13 | 5.37
Soluble inorganic matter | 1.54 | 2.12 | 3.38 | 3.05 | 4.43
† Insoluble organic | | | | |
matter | 25.76 | 20.46 | 25.43 | 26.01 | 27.69
Insoluble mineral matter | 4.05 | 7.47 | 9.67 | 23.38 | 20.85
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00
| | | | |
* Containing nitrogen | .149 | .17 | .27 | .26 | .42
Equal to ammonia | .181 | .20 | .32 | .31 | .51
† Containing nitrogen | .494 | .58 | .92 | 1.01 | 1.09
Equal to ammonia | .599 | .70 | 1.11 | 1.23 | 1.31
Total amount of nitrogen | .643 | .75 | 1.19 | 1.27 | 1.51
Equal to ammonia | .780 | .90 | 1.43 | 1.54 | 1.82
Ammonia in free state | .034 | .022 | .055 | .015 | .019
Ammonia in form of salts | | | | |
easily decomposed | | | | |
by quicklime | .088 | .054 | .101 | .103 | .146
Total amount of organic | | | | |
matter | 28.24 | 23.09 | 30.06 | 30.14 | 33.06
Total amount of mineral | | | | |
substance | 5.59 | 9.59 | 13.05 | 26.43 | 25.28
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Table Showing the Composition of Experimental Heap (No. II.) Fresh
Farmyard Manure Under Shed, Calculated Dry, at Different Periods
of the Year.
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
* Soluble organic matter | 7.33 | 8.04 | 10.74 | 7.30 | 9.20
Soluble inorganic matter | 4.55 | 6.48 | 7.84 | 5.39 | 7.59
† Insoluble organic | | | | |
matter | 76.15 | 62.60 | 58.99 | 45.97 | 47.46
Insoluble mineral matter | 11.97 | 22.88 | 22.43 | 41.34 | 35.75
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00 |100.00
| | | | |
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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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