92 The Bulletin. 



Here is one of the tables frequently quoted : 



COMPOSITION OF FRESH STABLE MANURE, POUNDS PER TON. 



They will point out that the plant-food elements are exceedingly low. The 

 nitrogen in a whole ton of horse manure is only 11 lA pounds — lli/> pounds 

 in 2.000. The phosphorus is less than 2^^ pounds in 2.000. The potassium 

 just a little more than 914. And. as you see, the figures are still lower in 

 the cow manure. 



There is no denying these figures; they are cori'ect. Yet every farmer 

 knows that stable manure has a value far beyond that indicated by this 

 analysis. 



Mr. A. Cannon of Horse Shoe, Henderson County, gives me this bit of his 

 own experience in the use of stable manures. I select this for illustration 

 out of many others because of the accuracy with which it was conducted. 

 Mr. Cannon planted a very poor piece of land in corn ; prepared the land and 

 cultivated the corn according to the most approved and up-to-date methods. 

 In the fall, by actual measurement, he harvested a crop of 12i4 bushels per 

 acre. He was so disgusted with the results he left the land fallow the next 

 summer. That winter he fattened a car-load of steel's for the market and fed 

 a great deal of cotton-seed meal. The following spring he hauled 20 two- 

 horse loads of this manure per acre on the field in question. After the second 

 plowing a storm came and blew down his corn, so he could give it no further 

 cultivation. In the fall he went into the field with a North Carolina sealed 

 tub, without any guessing or estimating, but, by actual measurement, harvested 

 64 bushels per acre. 



What is the explanation? Prof. J. G. Lipman of the New Jersey Experi- 

 ment Station, in trying to find how much nitrogen was gathered from the air 

 by the ordinary bacteria of the soil, made this experiment : He grew barley in 

 pot cultures and in four different experiments. In the first pot he grew noth- 

 ing, and at the end of the season analyzed for nitrogen. There was an increase 

 in the nitrogen of 1.02 grams. In the second he grew barley, but added noth- 

 ing to the soil. There was a slight increase, but not enough to measure. In 

 the third he added one gram of nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda. There 

 was an increase of 3.75 grams. Now, here is what we want to remember : 

 In the fourth he added one gram of nitrogen in the form of stable manure. 

 After harvesting his barley and again analyzing tlie soil, he found an increase 

 of 10.48 grams of nitrogen. The single gram added increased more than ten- 

 fold. How did that happen? The bacteria feeding upon the vegetable matter 

 in the manure gathered this extra amount from the air. I know no reason 

 why the same rule should not hold and the same results be obtained in apply- 

 ing stable manure to the ordinary soil of the field. If so, then the little IIV2 

 pounds of nitrogen in a ton of horse manure becomes 115. For fear tliese fig- 

 ures are a little too large and the rule does not always hold good, let us cut 

 them about half in two. and say he gets 60 pounds increase. That is 25 

 ])ounds more than one gets in a whole ton of the 8-2-2 grade of commercial 

 fertilizer. The manure will cost something like $2, the fertilizer $20. 



Now, if we are agreed that stable manure does have great value, does it not 

 behoove us to save with scrupulous care every pouTid made on the farm? 

 ^yhat is our customary method of saving our stable manures? Is it throwing 

 it out I)osid(> the barn to fire-fang and leach all winter long? Am son-y this is 

 far too often the custoui of many. How much do we actually lose by such 

 methods? The Maryland Experiment Station pil«l SO tons out in tlie field 

 in true farmer style. At the end of one year they gathered it up and weighed 

 it and found tbev had 27 tons — a loss in gross weight of 53 tons. 



