422 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



t August, 



Now a crop of seventy-five bushels of corn 

 and the stalks (two hundred bundles of fodder) 

 remove about 1051 pounds nitrogen, 67| 

 pounds phosphoric acid, and 92;i- pounds pot- 

 ash, costing $'ii5. 50. At the same rate, sixty 

 bushels and one hundred and sixty bundles 

 fodder, would remove $28.35; fifty bushels 

 and one hundred and thirty-five bundles would 

 remove $23. 0:'.; and forty bushels and and one 

 hundred and twenty bundles would remove 

 ^IS.'.lO worth of fertilizing materials. 



The expenses in raising the crop and to be 

 charged against it would be, 



Taxes and interest on investment $ 9.00 



Labor, seeil, &c., about 12.rM 



$21 ..50. 



This amount, added to the value of the ma- 

 terials removed, will now give us the real cost, 

 but our object is to find liow much the grain 

 costs, and to find this we willsuppo.se that the 

 fanner can sell the fodder at six cents per 

 bundle. 



By a little calculation we now arrive at the 

 result that seventy-five bushels of corn would 

 cost $45.00, or (JO cents per busliel; the crop 

 of sixty bushels would cost G7j cents per 

 busliel; fifty bu.sliels, 74 cents per bu.shel; and 

 in a crop of forty l)ushels, 83 cents per bushel. 



It is barely po.ssilile that tlie fodder might 

 bring two cents more per bundle, but even in 

 this case, in the seventy-five bushel crop the 

 corn would cost about 55 cents and in the 

 forty bushel crop, 77 cents per bushel. 



As there will probably objections arise in 

 the reader's mind, I will endeavor to meet 

 some of thein in advance. 



Some may perhaps say that the manure be- 

 ing a waste brought about by keeping cattle, 

 liorses, &c.,does not cost anytlnng, but this is 

 not really true, for the waste costs time and 

 money as well as the product; and. even should 

 it be so that the waste does not cost anything, 

 he still might have sold it, and it was wortli 

 therefore, so much money to tlie producer. 



But perhaps the manure was all taken for 

 tobacco, which is now a very common case, 

 and the corn raised without manure. If this 

 was the case and the corn was sold, then part 

 of the farm, or, at least a part of the strength 

 of tlie farm was sold, and it was worth just as 

 much less to the farmer as the value of the 

 fertilizing material removed. This is a very 

 common case, and in no .section more so than 

 the great West, which is every day sending 

 parts of its farm lo the Eastern States and to 

 Europe. 



Wheat is the next crop to which we will 

 turn our attention. This is also one of the 

 principal crops on wliich western farmers rely, 

 but which is regarded by many eastern farm- 

 ers as not very paying, and by some regarded 

 as a losing crop throughout, but which they 

 must continue to raise for the sake of rotation 

 and the straw for bedding purposes. 



The expense of raising a crop of wheat and 

 getting it ready for market, is about as follows: 



Taxes, &e., $ 9.00 



Plowing, seed, &v., 10.50 



f25..50 



The fertilizing materials removed by a crop 

 of thirty bushels wheat and two and one- 

 fourth tons straw are aljout 52 pounds nitro- 

 gen, 23 pounds pbosplioric acid, and 38 pounds 

 potash, tlie commercial value of which is 

 $10.00. 



Supposing that a ton of straw is worth 

 iS.OO — the market rates in cities now is $10.00 

 to $16.00 per ton — we would have $23.50 as the 

 cost of thirty Viushels of wheat, or 78 cents 

 per bushel. With a yield of straw in the same 

 proportion, twenty-live bushels of wheat to 

 the acre would cost 9(5 cents per bushel; twenty 

 bushels would cost .fl.20 per bushel, and a 

 yield of fifteen busliels would run up the cost 

 to $1.(53 per bushel. 



From the above it will appear that wheat 

 is not so much of a necessary evil as some 

 would have us believe, and that a real good 

 crop pays better than the much vaunted corn 

 crop, however good the latter may be. 



The fact that wheat is so extensively raised 

 on the high-priced lands of Lancaster county 



is of itself sufficient to show that farmers con- 

 sider it as pa3'ing, or they would soon find 

 some other crop to help rotation, and find 

 something else than straw as a litter for their 

 stables. 



In oats the showing is not so good as in 

 wheat. The expense of raising this crop, 

 with interest and taxes, amounts to about 

 $l'.).50. In a yield of fifty bushels and one 

 and one-half tons straw there will be removed 

 about $13.00 worth of fertilizing materials, 

 Allowing $8.00 per ton for the straw, the cost 

 of the oats would be 41 cents per bushel. In 

 a crop of thirty bushels, and a proportionate 

 quantity of straw, the oats would cost about 

 67 cents per bushel. 



This is not a very encouraging showing for 

 this crop, and it seems that even with a good 

 yield it can hardly be made to pay in a year 

 when oats is plenty, and the only hope of mak- 

 ing it pay a profit in a long run is to raise 

 extra crops every year. 



A crop of rye yielding the same as wheat 

 will cost less per bushel, as the straw brings a 

 higher price, and the fertilizing materials are 

 less costly, as is also the seed. This is some- 

 what counterbalanced by the greater cost of 

 thrashing, but in spite of this the grain in a 

 crop of the above yield will cost ten cents less 

 per bushel than wheat would, but the market 

 price of the grain is also very much less. 

 Wliere the yield of wheat is twenty bushels or 

 more per acre, it is not advisable to raise rye 

 for the sake of the grain. 



Potatoes are a crop that must be raised 

 year after year to be profitable. The commer- 

 cial value of the fertilizing materials removed 

 l)y a busliel of potatoes is only 7^ cents, and 

 from this it can be seen that if there is any- 

 thing like a yield, the profit is all that can be 

 expected from the outlay. 



We must touch toltacco very lightly, as it is 

 the crop of crops to upset all the most careful 

 calculations, as many a man lias found to his 

 sorrow. Tlie amount of labor which it re- 

 quires is very great and varies much with dif- 

 ferent years. One year "worming" may not 

 cost more than a few dollars per acre, and th.e 

 next year from five to eight times as much. A 

 full crop of 2000 pounds removes about 92 

 pounds nitrogen, 01 pounds potash and 9i 

 p(nmds phosporic acid, the whole worth 

 about $25.00. The stems probably take up 

 one-half as much as the leaves do, but as 

 these can be returned they need not be taken 

 i«to consideration. There is a special manure 

 prejiared for tobacco, but there must be more 

 than twice the amount of fertilizing materials 

 in that it is needed as the charge is $00.00 for 

 what is intended to be applied to one acre. 



Hay we will bring in last of all, and tlien 

 only to inquire into the amount of fertilizing 

 matter removed, and leave the reader judge 

 for himself as to the amount of profit there 

 may be in it. 



A ton of timothy hay removes about 36i 

 pounds nitrogen, 41 pounds potash, 141 pounds 

 phosphoric acid, worth $12.12 ; a ton of 

 meadow liay removes 28i pounds nitrogen, 

 2(ii pounds potash, 8 pounds phosphoric acid, 

 worth $8.86 ; a ton of mixed timothy and 

 clover (if in ecpial quantities) removes 39i 

 pounds nitrogen, 39 pounds potash, 13 pounds 

 l)hosphoric acid, worth $12.44 ; and a ton of 

 red clover hay removes 42i pounds nitrogen- 

 30} pounds of potash, and 11 pounds of phos- 

 phoric acid, worth $12.75. 



It is proper to remark here that Prof Ville 

 claims tliat more potash and more pho.splioric 

 acid has to be added to the soil than is re- 

 moved by the crop, but that in nearly all crops 

 only aljout one-half the quantity of nitrogen 

 need be supplied — the balance beiug supplied 

 by the air and rain — and in the case of clover 

 and other related leyuininous plants, not more 

 than per cent. If this is really the case, all 

 the foregoing calculation would be a little too 

 high, except in clover hay, where the calcula- 

 tion may be as much as $0 too high, thus 

 bringing the cost of the fertilizing materials 

 in the latter to about $0.75 or $7, afid in 

 mixed timothy and clover to $0.50. 



In the Western States where land is very 



cheap, grain can be raised at a price that 

 would ruin eastern farmers, as the interest on 

 their investment is not a fourth of what it is 

 with us ; and the farming being done on a 

 large scale can be done clieaper, accordingly. 

 If the jVIinnesota or Nebraska farmer does 

 run out his land, it does not matter to him, 

 all he wants is to be paid for his labor — in- 

 vestment and some profit on the investment. 

 He perhaps bought the land at ten dollars per 

 acre ; he raised wheat, sent it east, and got 

 paid for liis labor, and say thirty dollars be- 

 sides. He bought a farm', sent it east in the 

 shape of grain, and made a profit of twenty 

 dollars per acre. He made money, and who 

 can blame him for it, for what becomes of the 

 farm. He can buy another farm and do the 

 same. — A. B. K. 



TOBACCO FERTILIZERS. 



In allusion to the late discussion on the 

 subject of fertilizers before our local society, 

 the editor of the Tobacco Leaf thus discourses 

 ill the 4th of July number of that paper, 

 whicli we publish by request, on account of its 

 valuable statistics : 



" Our own views are entirely in accord with 

 those of the gentlemen above quoted, who 

 acknowledge their preference for stable and 

 liarn-yard mamu-es. Whether for tobacco or 

 any of the products of the field requiring 

 heavy manuring, there can be no question but 

 that these are in every way the best that can 

 be used. That they are especially valuable in 

 the production of tobacco is made manifest by 

 an analysis of the ashes of the excrement of 

 cattle and horses and a comparison of the 

 results obtained with the results of a similar 

 analysis of the ashes of tobacco. The annex- 

 ed taljles respectively show the constituents 

 of tobacco ashes and the ashes of horse and 

 cow manures : 



ASHES— TOBACCO. 



PotaBh 19 85 



Soda 27 



Magnefliu 11 OT 



Lime 48 68 



Phosphoric acid 3 66 



Snlpburic acid 3 29 



OxiAe of IiOu 2 99 



Chloride Sodium ." it 6i 



Loss 6 96 



100 (M 

 HORSE MANOHE. 



Silica 62 40 



Potash 11 30 



Soda 1 98 



Oxide of Irou „ 1 17 



Ijime 4 63 



Magnesia 3 84 



Oside Maugauese 2 IS 



phosphoric acid 10 49 



Sulphuric acid 1 89 



Chlorine 93 



Loss 14 



ion 00 



cow MANDKK. 



Phosphate 20 9 



Peroxide of Irou 8 8 



Lime 1 6 



Sulphate of Lime 3 1 



Chloride of Potassium trace. 



Silica 63 I 



Loss 2 



Hill 00 



From these tables it is readily seen liow rich 

 are these manures in the elements of which 

 the earthy part of tobacco is composed. Cow 

 manure is riclier in phosphates than guano. 



An analysis of the solid matter in the urine 

 of different animals is shown in the following 

 table : 



URINE— SOLID MATTER. 



Organic. Tnorqanif. Total, 



Man 23.4 tIo 81 



Horse . 27. 33. 60 



Cow BO. 20. 70 



Pig 56. 18. 74 



Sheep 28. 12. 40 



"We believe larger and better crops of to- 

 bacco could be raised in Pennsylvania and 

 elsewhere by the use of what is known as 

 barn-yard manure, than by the aid of any 

 other fertilizer known to agriculture. We 

 hope, too, the time will again come when 

 very little reliance will be placed upon other 

 varieties. Much of the imperfection of late 

 years complained of in tobacco, is directly 

 traceable to the excessive use of commercial 

 manures, and this imperfection will continue 

 and augment until growers return to the cus- 

 tom formerly in vogue among them, and on 



