-3- 



Guard t he Suppl y of Farm Llaimres 



Farmers are ur^ed to make full use of fertility from farm manures. 

 Accustomed supplies of commercial fertilizers are being interrupted by v/ar 

 conditions and a definite shortage of some ingredients is apparent. If 

 farmers are to maintain or increase the yield of needed products, efforts 

 would seem wisely spent in conserving much of the manure fertility which 

 is wasted at present. Considerable quantities of poultry manure are still 

 dumped for want of better use. Despite the labor cost of collecting and 

 distributing, this material should be salvaged as one of the richest nitro- 

 gen manures for crop use. Poultry-men having surplus manure should notify 

 their county agricultural agent who v»rill pass this information on to farm- 

 ers needing it. 



Almost half the crop producing value of cow manure is contributed 

 by the urine which contains about half the nitrogen and three quarters of 

 the potash. Failure to conserve this liquid portion of manure is undoubtedly 

 the main cause of loss in handling manure. Much can be done to save this 

 important loss of urine by ample use of absorbent material in the gutter 

 and tlien spreading daily on the land where possible. If manure is stored, 

 a pit with concrete base will prevent loss later by leaching from the pile. 

 If excess water accumulates in the pit from rainfall, a roof shelter may be 

 added. Since a scarcity of bedding material no doubt is the chief reason 

 for this loss, farmers should seek a supply wherever possible. Sawdust and 

 swale grass hay are useful among other items for bedding. R. W. Donaldson 



War-time Apple Prices 



ViT. E. Piper of the Division of Markets submits this interesting 

 analysis of apple prices during the First Vvorld War: "Host growers, old 

 enough to remember that period, recall the boom prices during certain por- 

 tions of the Vvar years. Recollections, however, as to the exact time of 

 high prices are naturally hazy. Y.'e have consequently dug out some figures 

 to tell the story in as condensed form as possible. Annual production, 

 quantity exported, and average U. S. prices paid to farmers at intervals 

 of three months during each season, are shown below. 



Some of these crop figures are on a different basis than present 

 day estimates. Actual volume is, therefore, not comparable with figures 

 for recent years, but for all practical purposes they give a reasonably 

 accurate picture of the relative size of the crop during the various years 

 within the war period. The same may be more or less true of the price 

 figures. Being national averages of prices paid to farmers they would differ 



