1876.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



69 



PECK'S IMPROVED LIQUID ATOMIZER. 



The acc()mpauyiii<; illustiatioii represents 

 PKCK's I.IIPKOVKU Ln^uiD Atomizkk, for 

 (Icstroyius; "Potato Beetles"' and other nox- 

 ious and injurious insects; and, aceoriliuij; to 

 our apprehension, from havinir seen the ma- 

 chine in operation, it distriliutes whatever 

 rtuid may jiass tlu-nugli it, as expeditiously, as 

 economically and as elliciently as any inven- 

 tion we have yet seen ; and now that it has 

 undergone a vast im)irovenient since our nQ» 

 tice of it in oiu' .July number for 187."), we 

 think it may be classed amonf^ the inventions 

 worthy of our ilhistrions Ci ntrniiial. 



A large portion of all the lalior expended 

 in the production of food is lost through tlu^ 

 depredations of insects. AVithin the past few 

 years the damage to the potato croj) of the 

 country by the t'olorado beetle has been many 

 millions of dollars, and each succeeding year 

 sees a still greater area doomed to sufli'r from 

 this scourge. Cotton planters often see the 

 result of months of labor destroyed in a few 

 days by worms. The (.'urculio has made the 

 cultivation of the plmn almost ini])ossible, in 

 nearly every part of the conntry, and the cur- 

 rant worm" and other insects have wrought 

 utter ruin to currant and gooseberry bushes in 

 thousands of gardens. The ])ear crop is 

 greatly damaged every year, in cpiantity and 

 quality, through injury to the leaves by slugs, 

 and a large proportion of all the pears and 

 quinces produced are made un- 

 marketable by Curculio stings. 



Insecticides. 

 Insects may be destroyed by ap- 

 plying Paris green, hellebore or 

 other poisons to the leaves on 

 which they feed ; or they may be 

 driven away by tlie application ot 

 substances olfensive to them, sucli 

 , as solutions of whale-oil soap, 

 carbolic soap, carbolic acid, gas 

 tar, aloes, gamboge, salt, infu- 

 sions of quassia, Cayenne pepper, 

 or anything that is distasteful, 

 from bt'ing possessed of putrid 

 qualities, or that is intensely l)it- 

 ter, liot or acrid. 



Peck's Liquid Atomizer 



Offers to farmers and fruit grow- 

 ers a more perfect means of pro- 

 tecting their crops from damage 

 by insects than has heretofore ex- 

 isted. It consists of a tank fast- 

 ened across the shoulders, which 

 contains in liquid form whatever 

 is to be applied ; attached to the 

 side, and worked liy a crank, is 

 an air pump, consisting of a double bellows 

 and air cliaraber. Connected with the tank 

 and air pump by rubber tnb(^s is a pipe or noz- 

 zle. When in operation a small stream flows 

 from the tank to thepoint of the nozzle, where 

 it is caught by a current of compressed air, 

 and blown out in an exceeilingly line mist. 

 Economy, Efficiency, Safety. 



By all the ordinary metlnxls there is re- 

 quired a large amount of material to make a 

 very imperfect application, and there is more 

 or less danger when a vindent poison is used. 

 With this apparatus a small amount of ma- 

 terial may tie so perfectly distributed as to kill 

 every insect and moisten both sides of every 

 leaf, by throwing the li(pud in such a finely 

 divided or atomized state that it will float 

 for a time in the air. An atomized licpiid 

 will adhere to the under side of a leaf, to 

 fruit, and, in fart, to whatever it touches, so 

 tinnly that it cannot be shaken off. If anyone 

 will think of a drop of water being divided 

 into a thousand atoms, and these atoms de- 

 posited at a little distance from eacli other. 

 he will have some idea of the manner in which 

 this machine does its work. Safety is assured 

 in this method of application by the use of a 

 nozzle, which conveys the liquid to a little 

 distance from the operator before it is dis- 

 charged. 



We call the attention of our readere to the 

 advertisement of the proprietors in another 



column, in this number of The Farmer, and 

 for furtlier particidars would advise them to 

 send for circulars. 



We have received one of these machines, 

 but as we have neither time, opi>ortuiiity or 

 occasion to oper:ite it, we have placed it in the 

 hands of ^Ir. \\'. D. Sprecher, Seed Store, 

 Kasl King street, Lancaster, Pa., where all 

 interested may call and examine it for them- 

 selves. 



VALUE OF BARNYARD DUNG. 



The following i)ractical essay was read be- 

 fore the Fettercairn, Scotland, Farmers' Club, 

 by .lames Jlitchell, of Mmitrose : 



Until recently the chief, and in many cases 

 the only fertilizer the farmer used, was farm- 

 yard manure ; and now that this is to a cer- 

 tain extent sujierseded by artificial manures, 

 there is just the danger that it may be too 

 much overlooked. Farm-yard manure has its 

 pro]ier place in agriculture, and so has arti- 

 ficial manin-e. TI<' i)roposed in the following 

 remarks, principally to treat the question of 

 urine, its relative value to the solid excre- 

 nu'uts, and the most etTectual manner in which 

 urine can be economized. 



Some agricultiu-ists hold exaggerated opin- 

 ions as to the value of farm-yard mamu'e, 

 others undervalue it, while some manufactur- 

 ers and agents of artificial manures only mani- 

 fest their ignorance by treating farm-yard 



maimre slightingly, and decrying it, in season 

 and out of season, on the absmil supposition 

 that by doing this tliey will induce the farmer 

 to order more artilicial mamue than he other- 

 wise would. The only valuable ingredients In 

 farm-yard manure arc the urine and the solid 

 excrements. The other ingredients are i-iniply 

 straw, &c., which have little value in them- 

 selves, and simi>ly serve to absorb and keep 

 together the urin(^ and solid excrements. 



The approximate value of the urine of the 

 horse, cow, sheep and pig is as follows : Horse, 

 30s; cow, 'ids; sheep, 3(1s, and jiig, 10s per 

 ton. The approximate percentage of ammonia 

 contained in the urine of these animals is: 

 Horse, 1.0 ; cow, 0.'.) ; sheep, 1.7, and pig, (1.4. 

 The iihosphales contained arc trilling, being 

 1 per cent, in the horse and pig, ] imt cent, in 

 the cow, and 1 per cent, in tlie sheep. The 

 additional value of the m'ine of these animals 

 consists of a small |iercentagc of potash and 

 soda salts, <.V:c. Comi)aring these facts with 

 the approximate co]npositi(Mi and value of the 

 solid excrements of the same animals, we find 

 that the .solid excrements of the horse are 

 worth 1.5s per ton ; the cow 10s ; the sheep 



that, if anything is to lie done in economizing 

 the farm-yard mamires, it must be urine that 



is to Ite considered first. 



In considi-ring this subject a good deal of 

 valuable iuturmation can Ik- obtained from tlie 

 Chinese. We consider tlie.se Celestials as little 

 better than savages; it is, however, a well- 

 known fact, that they are much before us in 

 this matter, as in many others, and there is no 

 doubl that we are the losei's by thus disparing- 

 ly treating them and their ideas, or rather 

 ignoring them altogether. It is certain that 

 they are now, and have been for hundreds of 

 years in many resiiects very far advanced in 

 the science [art] of agriculture, and among 

 them the ex<'remeiits, li(piid ami solid, treated 

 and jirepared in various ways, serve almost 

 ent irely as their fertilizers. One writer says : 

 " Human urine is, if possible, more husbanded 

 by the Chinese than night-soil for manure ; 

 every farm or iiatch of land for cultivation 

 ha.s a tank, where all substances convi'itiblo 

 into manure are carefully <leposlted, the whole 

 made liipiiil by addini; urine in the proportion 

 required, and invariably applied in that state. 

 The business of collecting urine and night-soil 

 employs an immense number of pei-son», who 

 deposit tubs in every house in the cities for the 

 recei)tion of the urine of the inmates, which 

 vessels are removed daily with as much care 

 as our farmers remove their honey from the 



hives." 



It may be roughly estimated 

 that theaverage urine passed by 

 cattle dail-y is about two gallons, 

 so that in the course of a twelve- 

 month every beast would pass 

 from three to four tons of urine, 

 the value of which would 1m' from 

 £5 to £0 ; and, in addition, a jiro- 

 portionate quantity and value of 

 solid excrements, or, in other 

 words, the total excrement.s, 

 liquid and solid, obtained from a 

 cattle beast in a year would 1)6 

 worth from i'R ti) £10. Thus, 

 supposing the case of a farmer 

 with an average stock of cattle, 

 during the year, of .50 head, he 

 would collect from 1.50 to 200 

 tons of urine jter annum. showinR 

 a value of £-20(1 to £3(X) (Sl.OOO 

 to $1..500). Of coui-se a very large 

 proportion of this would godirect 

 to the soil during the time the 

 cattle were upon the grass ; still, 

 it is not over-estimating the value 

 of what can be collected, takini; 

 into account the urine from the 

 horses and other animals on the 

 farm, to sny that, provided the 

 whole urine be collected, the quantity would 

 rejiresent a v.alue, say, of £100, or even more. 

 Covered courts, properly paved, with chan- 

 nels conducting the urine into a reservoir, are 

 recommended as the most economical plan of 

 Siiving the urine. It would also be a great 

 saving to s]irinkl(^ these courts, from time to 

 time, with vitriol. This would fix the ammo- 

 nia, and thus prevent the loss of the most 

 valuable portion. It would also keej) the 

 courts sweeter, and preserve the health of the 

 animals. It need be applied only sparingly, 

 diluted with water. The fumes arisiuL' from 

 manure are injurious to the stone and lime of 

 walls, and the vitriol would also previMit this. 

 The loss of ammonia by evai)oi-ation. in turn- 

 ing dunghills, can also lie jirevented in the 

 same way — sprinkling the dung with vitriol 

 while turning the heap. 



INSECT DEPREDATIONS. 



" When we reflect upon the alarming in- 

 crease of noxious insects, and the loss of untold 

 millions of the productions of our country by 

 their ravages on our crops, it becomes a matter 

 '2.5s, and the pig Os ; or, in other words, the i of grave interest that the pomologist should be 

 value of urine is about double that of the solid - ever ready to contend with thishost of vilecre- 

 excrements. In comparing their value, how- | ation. Tlie.se pests will ))robably continue to 

 ever, it is only fair to say tJiat the value of the afflict mankind in the future as in the ))ast, for 

 solid excrement is principally owing to its being i their kingdom is established throughout the 

 saturated with the urine, thus it is evident, | earth. " It extends," saysHarris, "from the 



