The Value and Use of Farmyard Manure 1687 



cape of miicli ammonia and nitrogen gas. A simple calculation 

 will show that a lot of manure containing, — lot us say one hun- 

 dred tons, — may lose as much as one thousand pounds of nitro- 

 gen and four or five hundred pounds of potash. And because 

 these represent the most readily available portion of the nitrogen 

 and potash in the manure, their worth is proportionately much 

 greater than that left in the manure heap. But even at ten cents 

 a pound this nitrogen is worth one hundred dollars and the potash 

 at three cents a pound is worth twelve or fifteen dollars. 



Surely the average general farmer cannot afford to throw away 

 annually a sum of money that would more than pay his taxes. 

 More than that, the direct losses just noted are accompanied by 

 indirect losses that may be even more disastrous. Investigations 

 conducted at our experiment stations confirm the observations of 

 intelligent farmers in that they show the value of manure in 

 assuring a catch of clover or other legumes on acid soils. It has 

 been demonstrated time and again that fields generously dressed 

 with farmyard manure will grow clover and alfalfa in spite of the 

 lack of lime; whereas on the same soil these crops would fail 

 except where lime is used. And it may not be amiss to point out 

 again that manure properly treated and cared for will not merely 

 produce a larger crop, but will provide for a better sod and for 

 better stubble; for plants that are deeper-rooted, and for a soil 

 better supplied with humus. lie who would serve the cause of 

 agriculture could well spend his time in teaching the doctrine of 

 conservation. He should tell his neighbors that manure kept under 

 cover, and kept moist and well compacted, would lose but little 

 of its fertility. He should teach them that in all but the lightest 

 of soils the manure should be spread and plowed under with little 

 delay whenever it is practicable to do so. Let us remember that 

 manure is essentially a nitrogenous fertilizer, and that much of 

 its nitrogen is just as available as that contained in tankage, dried 

 blood or ground fish. Can the farmer afford to throw away a 

 hundred or a thousand pounds of manure nitrogen, and then 

 attempt to replace it by commercial fertilizer whose nitrogen may 

 cost him twenty or twenty-five cents a pound ? Surely in this 

 day of wider knowledge and of better farming we should refrain 

 from wasting our substance. 



