130 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ical. However, on small truck farms and on others where but little barnyard 

 manure is available the use of commercial fertilizers is commendable. It is 

 reasonable to suppose that no system of farming can be permanent that con- 

 tinually robs the soil of nutritive material without returning something to it. 

 There is no question but that barnyard manure is the best source at the disposal 

 of the farmer, to permanently increase the productivity of his land. No other 

 fertilizer is so lasting in its effects. The great difficulty with a large number of 

 Michigan farms is that it is impossible to obtain enough of this manure. On such 

 farms commercial fertilizers have been used with a great deal of success and as 

 the system of farming becomes more intensive the use of commercial fertilizers 

 must likewise increase. All farmers cannot be dairymen and stockmen. Some 

 must sell the wheat, fruits and garden products to support the rapidly increasing 

 city populations, and such farmers must replenish in commercial fertilizers the 

 equivalent, at least, of that which the exported crop removed. The use of com- 

 mercial fertilizers is not a fad and it will not down. The man who has plenty 

 of barnyard manure, however, will not buy fertilizers extensively, for they are 

 clearly in a class below the natural manures, but the farmer who has not barn- 

 yard manure and cannot get it is compelled to use commercial fertilizers if 

 he would keep pace with his neighbor in the productiveness of his land. On a 

 still too large number of Michigan farms the great value of farm manures is not 

 appreciated, neither is there exhibited great familiarity with the constituents 

 and properties of these natural manures. The farmer who would use manures 

 to the best advantage must become a student of the conditions causing the produc- 

 tion of manures and the sources from which they are obtained. Comparatively 

 few indeed are the farms wl^ere special effort is made to preserve the liquid 

 manure from the stock fed and yet that is the most valuable portion of the 

 animal excrement. The author is thoroughly familiar with countless examples 

 of stables wherein the liquid excrement of animals instead of being saved in 

 the manure, seeps through the cracks and holes in the floor and soaks into the 

 ground beneath the barn, where, instead of being of value to the farmer, it be- 

 comes a constant menace to the health of the animals and the inhabitants of the 

 near-by dwelling. Some way of saving this material as well as the solid manure 

 should be found and then in most cases let the manure be applied as fresh as 

 possible to the land. It is quite generally conceded by practical men and scientists 

 as well that the maximum effect is produced by the application of manures as soon 

 as made. This is not always possible and yet it is usually found that the difficulty 

 is apparent rather than real. 



It does not seem to be a great task for some farmers to get into the habit of 

 removing a wagon load of manure to the field as soon as it is ready and a habit 

 of this nature, once formed, is productive of untold benefit. Let no farmer 

 neglect the natural farm manures for the more easily handled commercial fertil- 

 izers but rather let the user of commercial fertilizers secure and use therewith as 

 much barnyard manure as he can obtain. 



LEGUMES, COTTON SEED MEAL, ETC. 



It is quite .generally conceded that a first rate method of reviving some lands 

 is to plow under a crop of clover or some other legume as a green manure It 

 has been considered one of the best ways of applying a nitrogenous fertilizer to 

 the soil, and it has the advantage over commercial fertilizers that ordinary barn- 

 yard manure has in that it is quite lasting in its effects. The benefit due to a 

 leguminous crop is far beyond the actual composition of the plant for the effect 

 of the decomposition is to materially change the climate and physical condition 

 of the soil. On a farm well provided with barnyard manure, due to the feeding 

 of much stock, it is doubtful if the benefits derived from the turning under of a 

 leguminous crop are sufficient to counterbalance the value of the crop for feeding 

 purposes. The application of the manure in large quantities would undoubtedly 

 serve as well or at least nearly as well as the green manure, and at the same 

 time the crop of clover will have contrii)Uted to the food of the stock. On f:irras 

 or in orchards where no stock are kept and where the supply of barnyard manure 

 is very limited the green manuring with a leguminous crop will be found a 

 valuable contribution to the fertility of the soil. 



