406 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



stuffs of high fertilizing value, the loss of soil fertility may be re- 

 duced to a minimum, or there may be an actual gain of fertility. 



The conservation of fertility in the soil may be accomplished 

 by either of two methods: (1) By feeding crops and purchased 

 concentrated feeds to live stock and applying the stable manure to 

 the land; (2) by the application of commercial fertilizers and cul- 

 ture of legumes and other crops to maintain the humus content of 

 the soil. By the former method live stock is kept in sufficient num- 

 bers to consume most of the crops grown on the farm, together with 

 a certain amount of concentrated feeding stuffs, which are pur- 

 chased. 



In order to overcome the exhausting effect of crop production 

 on soil fertility, systems of fertilization have been practiced by farm- 

 ers since the dawn of agriculture. The simplest, oldest and, as a 

 general rule, the best method at hand is to feed the crops to farm 

 animals and apply the manure produced by them on the land. In 

 live stock farming more stock is kept than is required to supply 

 the needs of the farm household, and the method of farming is 

 changed from grain-raising or general farming to stock-raising or 

 dairying. This change has to a large extent taken place in all east- 

 ern and central states, and farmers in the grain-raising sections are 

 gradually abandoning the old ruinous system of continuous crop- 

 ping. 



In live stock farming the crops raised on the farm are grown 

 primarily for the purpose of feeding one or more classes of live 

 stock, and but little is sold except animal products; on the other 

 hand, concentrated feeding stuffs are purchased for feeding the 

 farm animals, which add to the amount of fertility returned to the 

 land in the manure. Since the animal products, sold do not, as a 

 general rule, contain large quantities of fertilizer ingredients it 

 is possible even to increase the fertility of the land by this system 

 of farming. 



Farming without the use of manures is a waste of energy and 

 results in the exhaustion of soils. The neglect in preserving and 

 increasing the quantity of farm manures has been a great drain on 

 the natural resources of the American farm, especially in the south- 

 ern portion of the United States. The lack of intelligent care of the 

 waste products and the convenient form of commercial fertilizers 

 have jointly been responsible for the almost general neglect of farm 

 manures. 



Properly handled, stable manure is by all means the best 

 remedy for poverty of the soil. Very few farmers handle manure 

 so as to get even as much as half the possible value from it. There 

 is probably no greater waste in the world than in connection with 

 the handling of manure by the American farmer. Five-eighths of 

 the plant food in manure is found in the liquid part of it. This is 

 usually all lost. Not only is this the case, but the solids are piled 

 beside the barn, frequently under the eaves, where rains wash away 

 much of their value. Fermentation in these manure piles also seta 

 free much of the nitrogen to escape into the air. 



