52 



THE LANCASTER fFARMER. 



[Apfil, 



ered at the eddies in low stages of water ; and 

 the deposits, gathered with judgment, will be 

 found to make the richest of fertilizers. 

 Large quantities of exceedingly rich manure 

 gather in mill dams, the accumulation, oft- 

 times, of miles of territory. Millions of dol- 

 lars' worth of such rich manure now lie un- 

 disturbed throughout the State, which, if 

 placed on corn or grass, would invariably 

 manifest its value in improved crops the very 

 next harvest. There are seasons when a 

 farmer's time cannot be more profitably em- 

 ployed than in gathering up the rich beds of 

 so-called "muck" in the eddies of small and 

 large streams, in the beds of canals, and in 

 the bottom of mill dams, or in other places 

 ■where rich soil has been washed in. In fact, 

 with some this work will be found more profit- 

 able ultimately than gathering in the crops of 

 a double harvest. Much of this manin-e can 

 be gathered at diSerent times and piled up 

 for use until the laud is better fitted to receive 

 it. Having personally to use large quantities 

 of fertilizers, it became an imperative neces- 

 sity for me to look around and learn where I 

 could get it, the best and the cheapest, and 

 now I use hundreds of thousands of loads, 

 gathered in the manner described. I was 

 first led to this course by noting the gratify- 

 ing effects of the deposits of a large reclaimed 

 swamp spread over my fields. These deposits 

 proved to be from two to seven feet deep over 

 the entire reclaimed space. It was first used 

 in the garden, upon the suggestion of the 

 German gardener, and found so valuable that 

 ere long it was being scattered over the fields. 

 Manure of this description lasts longer, and 

 one gets barnyard manure. 



Some farmers appear to place considerably 

 stress upon manure made of forest leaves in 

 compost heaps ; but they will find a great sav- 

 ing and better manure by hauling from eddies 

 of creeks and other streams, and from the 

 deposit of mill dams. 



Another very good and really economical 

 method of manufacturing barnyard manure 

 is, if you live near a town, to give your sur- 

 plus straw to owners of horses and stock, ask- 

 ing in return only the manure from their 

 stables or barnyards. This applies only to 

 those who feed grain. Where they keep their 

 horses or cattle on straw for provender it is 

 best to send the straw elsewhere. But to those 

 who feed their animals well, it pays to furnish 

 them with straw for bedding gratuitously, 

 with the privi'ege of hauling away their ma- 

 nure. Then the farmer is more likelv to be 

 called upon to furnish these parties with hay 

 at remunerative prices. In hauling away 

 manure it is best to .select and load by itself 

 that which will do for immediate distribution 

 over a field, and dispose of it accordingly; 

 that which is not fit for this purpose can be 

 taken to the pile held in waiting for decompo- 

 sition. It is not profitable business to handle 

 manure too often, and if once loading will 

 accomplish the purpose there is not much 

 wisdom in loading twice. 



To prepare manure properly requires care- 

 ful study of soils and fertilizers, close obser- 

 vation of the effects upon crops, and a tact 

 sufficient to make the best uses of the best 

 methods. When I was in the lumber business 

 I conceived the idea that it did not require 

 much intelligence to be a farmer. I find that 

 it requires not only intelUgence, but, after 

 years of experience, more intelligence than I 

 possess. There is not enough education in the 

 farming of this country. It is the most im- 

 portant of all secular occupations, and requires 

 wisdom, judgment and understanding, all the 

 time, and in every season. A practical farmer, 

 to successfully carry on his work, can not be 

 too well educated. 

 Fertilizers artificially manufactured through- 

 out, are not the most economical in my ex- 

 perience. The good old barnyard manure 

 first, then deposits of the streams, and then 

 the next best you can get, is the policy of my 

 experience. With economy and method, and 

 a steady, persistent attachment to the calling 

 of agriculture, then the manure, such as I 

 have described, may well be accepted as the 

 staff of life of the thrifty, profitable farm. 



j manures and soil fertilizers* 

 [concluded.] 

 An experiment testing the continued action 

 of fertilizers through a rotation of crops. The 

 fertilizers were applied at the rate of eight 

 dollars jier acre to eighth of an acre plots, 

 in the spring of 1874, and plowed down for 

 corn. No further application made during 

 the rotation. The results on the various crops 

 were as follows : 



Net profit from ap- 

 plioatioD 



Value of grain over ^ § aS^^' 

 no fertilizers «=: ". °':'^.'°,". 



it*s::« 



Whole value ccf crops . ■=.=". ■'. ='. ". ". ". 



ha lO to OS r-i -* «5 



Pounds of grass in ^ooo e.>*oo> 

 1877 per ii acre.... "S*" gggS 



Pounds of wheat in 

 1876 per >o acre , . . 



Pounds of oats in 

 1875 per }g acre.... 



is;:*;;;? s;:s!:>t 



in o t- (oi— I— 1 oi 



U iO U3 r-4 OQ CO X 



,-1 -J. o ci in « 00 



OOt- 00 O O i-i t-H 



Pounds of com ears ^tco ^^mt~ 



Pounds of Fertilizer. 



o) .-.9 



■a 



:< 



CO oj' <^ 





■ • i^ 



E O OD Sd 



Sffl * o 

 ^2 -a a a 



« (J IE to 



In the above table we have estimated the 

 corn as worth 52 cents per 72 lbs of ears. 

 The oats at .32 cents, the wheat at SI. 50 and 

 the hay at $15 per ton, which was about the 

 price when the crops were harvested and sold. 

 The barn-yard manure was estimated as 

 worth the same as the other fertilizers, though 

 had it been bought would have cost more. — 

 W. P. a 



The above table shows such extraordinary 

 results from the use of phosphate fertilizers, 

 that it may be satisfactory to give the results 

 of another set of experiments on another 

 part of the farm. The fertilizers were applied 

 to eighth acre plots as in the above case, and 

 plowed under for corn in Spring of 1875. 



Net profit from ap- 

 plication in three 

 crops 



■ • eo o oi 



Value of gain over no 

 fertilizer 



Whole value of crocs g S 3 S o m S 

 on. J) acre 'tokoot— t-oot— 



Pounds of wheat in|;<i;^:K^ 



Pounds of oats in 

 1S76 per ^8 acre. . . . 



Pounds of corn in 



o o o la lo to la 



: :6£g-g.'c, 



^ . ij ^ ffl o o 

 S ■< 9 .aj3 



.- S a ® ® 



Z Z X H fc n 03 



The wheat plots in 1877 were very badly 

 injured by the Hessian fly, and the product a 



*Read before the Lancaster County Agricultural and Hor- 

 ticultural Society, by John i. Carter, 



very low one, hence the net profit from the 

 use of the fertilizers was seriously lessened. 

 In these estimates no account is taken of the 

 increased quantity of fodder and straw on 

 the plots fertilized, as I allowed that to bal- 

 ance the increased labor of harvesting. 



To go back to the tables in the earlier part 

 of this paper. They are based upon a popu- 

 lar idea advanced several years ago by Prof. 

 Ville, of France, and later by Prof. Stock- 

 bridge, of Mass. — and many commercial fer- 

 tilizers are now compounded on the theory of 

 supplying all the leading ingredients of a cer- 

 tain crop by a fertilizer containing them in the 

 proper proportion. However plausible this 

 may look, it ignores the important fact — that 

 a soil may already contain some of these in- 

 gredients in sufficient quantities — and hence 

 it would be a waste of material to give it 

 more than needed — and this, as before stated, 

 seems to make it desirable for farmers to do 

 some experimenting for themselves, on their 

 own soils. I would suggest the following 

 programme of experiments that would be 

 easily made, and might prove interesting and 

 valuable to the maker. 



Take plots containing 1-16 of an acre, and 

 put on the following fertilizers for corn : 



1. No manure ; 2. Nitrogen— in the form 

 of 30 lbs. a. a. nitrogen ; 3. Phosphoric acid, 

 in the form of 10 lbs challenge superphos- 

 phate ; 4. Potash — in the form of 36 lbs. sul- 

 phate of potash ; 5. Nitrogen and phosphoric 

 acid — half of No. 2 and 3 ; 6. No manure ; 

 7. Corn formula — j of No. 2, 3 and 4 ; 8. 

 Barn-yard manure ; 9. Plaster ; 10. Lime ; 

 11. No manure. 



A careful observation of the results of such 

 a series of experiments, will inform us, with 

 reasonable correctness, which class of these 

 representative manmes our individual soil 

 requires ; and that class that shows no good 

 result, may be safely discarded from further 

 trial. For instance. If we see no effect what- 

 ever from potash, we may conclude that the 

 disintegrating work of our soil keeps up the 

 supply, or that the soU itself contains a suffi- 

 ciency for our present wants — and so with 

 the other ingredients. But if we find one of 

 these classes or compounds making a marked 

 improvement ; our next step is to find out the 

 cheapest and most available form and source 

 of supply. Experiments upon our "Farm," 

 and upon soils in sections long under cultiva- 

 tion, indicate the exhaustion of phosphoric 

 acid. The importance of this fact is shown 

 when we remember that this acid appears in 

 every cultivated plant and in every part, from 

 the strong, hard stem to the delicate stamens 

 and pistils of the blossom — in the straw and 

 the perfect grain. It is almost impossible to 

 grow a plant without this acid being present 

 in it. It is true that all soils contain more or 

 less of this acid, and in quantities compara- 

 tively large, when compared with the amounts 

 in the ash of cultivated plants ; but as it is 

 more plentiful in the grain of cereals, and in 

 such crops as farmers frequently sell, it is 

 apparent that without removing the supply, 

 exhaustion will slowly but surely follow long 

 cultivation. Phosphoric acid makes many 

 combinations with difl'erent bases, the most 

 important of which— to the farmer— is its 

 union with lime, and the three most common 

 combinations are : First, the tri-calcic phos- 

 phate of lime, or where 142 parts of phos- 

 phoric acid combine with 168 parts of lime. 

 This is also called insoluble phosphate, and is 

 the form in which it is found in our phos- 

 phatic rock deposits — in bones, and, indeed, 

 is the prevalent form found in our soils. 



The second form is the di-caicic phosphate, 

 or where 142 parts of phosphoric acid unite 

 with 112 parts of lime ; this is also called re- 

 verted or precipitated phosphate, and is in 

 a form so available as plant food that it is 

 reckoned of nearly equal value with the soluble 

 phosphate. Third, the mono-calcic phosphate, 

 or where 142 parts of phosphoric acid unite j 

 with 56 parts of lime ; this is called the soluble! 

 phosphate, or true superphosphate of com-l 

 merce, .and is reckoned the most valuable,! 

 because it is readily soluble in water. ThereJ 



