316 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



state aad ia irrigated districts, man}'^ discussions with men more or 

 less versed ia this subject and acquainted with this state, have 

 aroused me from a feeling- of indifference to a state of great interest 

 in the subject. I believe that Pres. Underwood's suggestion should 

 be followed and that a law should be introduced in the legislature 

 looking to its thorough study with a view to its passage by this or 

 some other legislative meeting at no distant date. 



THE PREPARATION AND USE OF MANURES FOR 

 HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 



PROF. HARRY SNYDER, UNIVERSITY FARM SCHOOL, ST. ANTHONY 



PARK. 



For horticultural purposes, it should be the aim to prepare the 

 manures so that they will be concentrated and quick acting rather 

 than bulky and slow in action. Some manures are slow in yielding 

 up their elements of plant food, while other manures readily yield 

 up their store; manures differ both in the way in which they act 

 and in their composition. The fact that these differences exist is 

 why some persons have such good results from the use of manure, 

 while others have poor results. This is frequently the case. The 

 failure to get good results from the use of manure is not necessarily 

 due to the plants not requiring any food, but it is more apt to be due 

 to the poor quality of the manure. 



Let us briefly examine some of the factors which influence the 

 value of the manure. The value of any manure depends upon: 



1. The quality of the food consumed. 



2. The age and nature of the animal. 



3. The way in which the manure is collected and prepared. 



The manure from animals which are fed on large amounts of 

 coarse fodder, as corn stalks, straw and prairie hay, is of very poor 

 quality compared with the manure obtained from animals which 

 are fed on richer and more concentrated foods, as bran, shorts, oil 

 meal and the grains and milled products in general. The manure 

 from hay alone will contain a much snaaller amount of fertility than 

 where some grain is fed along with it. The last statement is, per- 

 haps, best illustrated by means of figures. A ton of timothy will 

 return approximately in the manure (if all of the liquids and solids 

 are collected ) twenty pounds of nitrogen, eight pounds of phos- 

 phoric acid and twenty-five pounds of potash. A ton of mixed food, 

 1500 pounds of timothy hay and 500 pounds of bran, will return in 

 the manure twenty-five pounds of nitrogen, sixteen pounds of phos- 

 phoric acid, and twenty-five pounds of potash, making a difference 

 of five pounds more of nitrogen and eight pounds inore of phos- 

 phoric acid in favor of the manure from the mixed feed. Thus it 

 will be seen that the food has much to do with the value of the ma- 

 nure. A knowledge of these facts may be of value to the horticul- 

 turist who is obliged to draw his manure from miscellaneous 

 sources in cities and villages. 



