272 Bureau of Fahmers' Institutes. 



which appeals to the eye, but there is no value in it, so far as 

 known. As a rule, manure that has been properly saved and 

 partially rotted has a little more value than green manure. 



Mr. Fenner. — I heard Prof. Roberts say that they had analyzed 

 the coloring matter that is sometimes seen running away. It is 

 of no value, it being tannin. There was no efifect from it seen 

 three feet from the piles of manure where they were left in the 

 field. 



Mr. Ward. — There may be a slight loss from manure when 

 drawn out and spread in winter, at times, but the saving or ex- 

 pense in handling the manure as fast as made will offset any 

 loss from leakage or otherwise. 



Which would you buy for phosphoric acid, South-Carolina rock or bone? 



Mr. Van Alstyne. — There is no difference in the value of the 

 acid, but there is some nitrogen — about one and one-half per 

 cent. — but the difference in price between rock and bone is too 

 much to balance the item. I do not think I got any, or but very 

 little benefit from bone. 



Upon what crop should we use our manure on our hard-pan land? 



Mr. Converse. — I would, if I kept cows, put it on to a good sod, 

 then plow it and put in corn for the silo. But I would save all 

 the manure, by which I mean liquids as well as solids. Sixty per 

 cent, of the value of the manure is in the liquids. So I would 

 use absorbents in the stables, then draw the manure out as rap- 

 idly as made and apply it to the land on which I wanted to grow 

 corn. 



Should we, as a rule, use a fertilizer to compare with the crop we are 

 growing, if we do not know the analysis of the soil? 



Dr. Jordan. — At the prices which rule in the market, I will 

 say no. No farmer can afford to do it. Find out something 

 about your soil yourself by experiment. Ko chemist can tell 

 what the soil needs.- He may tell how much fertility there is 

 in the soil, but he cannot tell wiiat is or is not available. Cor- 

 nell is sending out samples of different formulated fertilizer and 

 asking the farmers to try them and report. The farmer must 

 study the thing himself. No scientist or farmer, however well 



