646 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



BELATIOlNr OF FODDER TO MAKTURE. 

 The fullowing article is by the Rev. John Wil- 

 son, author of the Rural Cyclopedia. It contains 

 some curious and certainly very interesting facts : 



Fodder bears a direct and important relation to 

 farm-yard manure as well as to the feeding of 

 stock. The weight of the excrement of a sheep, or 

 an ox, or a horse, bears a definite proportion to 

 the weight and quality of his fodder; and the 

 weight of the entire manure obtained may easily 

 be cither calculated or pre-determined by the al- 

 lotment of litter, the selection of animals, and the 

 duration of confinement within the house or yard. 

 Let a man simply reckon how much allotted fod- 

 der an animal is allowed in the day, how much 

 litter is laid down to him in the day, what propor- 

 tion the weight of tlie fodder bears to the weight 

 of the excrement, and what degree of decomposi- 

 tion is allowed to take place upon the litter and 

 the excrement, or what proportion of loss is oc- 

 casioned by gaseous dissipation, and he may know 

 to almost the smallest fraction of a pound what 

 quantity of manure will be realized. According 

 to an average of experiments and observations 

 made by Veit and Block, and published by the 

 former, 1 pound of ordinary meadow hay yields Im- 

 pound of manure from a sheep, li pound from a 

 horse, and 2 pounds from an ox or cow ; 1 pound 

 of straw fodder yields L2 pound manure from a 

 sheep, 1.4 pound from a horse, and 1.9 pound 

 from an ox ; 1 pound of green grass or green clo- 

 ver yields 0.37 pound of manure from a sheep, 0.4 

 pound from a horse, and 0.6 pound from an ox ; 

 1 pound of potato tubers or of turnip bulbs yields 

 ^ pound of manure from a sheep, h pound from a 

 horse, and 0.7 pound from an ox ; 1 pound of 

 grain }-ields 1 pound of manure from a sheep, 1^ 

 pound from a horse, and 2 pounds from an ox; 

 and 1 pound of straw litter yields 1.37 pound of 

 manure with a sheep, 1.7 pound with a horse, and 

 2.2 pounds with an ox. '"It is known," adds Veit, 

 "that the dry fodder and the juicy, estimated ac- 

 cording to hay value, with litter employed for the 

 cattle, for manure in general, will give double the 

 weight in moderately decomposed manure. For 

 the production of 19,800 cwt. of manure, there are 

 therefore necessary, of materials for the manufac- 

 ture of manure, 9,900 cwt." He then shows that 

 50 morgens of potatoes, 20 of winter rape, 20 of 

 winter wheat, 20 of winter rye, 40 of summer rye, 

 20 of barley, 20 of oats, 20 of peas, 10 of beet, 20 

 of red clover, 10 of lucern, 60 of thrice-mowed 

 meadow, 117 of twice-mowed meadow, and 90 of 

 once-mowed meadow, may, after deducting the 

 loss of dung on the meadows, be compuceu' to yield 

 12,147 cwt. of immediate fodder and litter ])ro- 

 duce, and 24,224 cwt. of manure. Professor Bur- 

 ger says, "The dry nutritious substance, or that 

 which is reckoned by its dry weight, suffers in the 

 bodies of beasts a considerable diminution by the 

 loss of that which the absorbing vessels appropri- 

 ate to themselves from it, and which with the ex- 

 crements secretory of nutritious substances, are so 

 easily decomposed by the process of putrid fer- 

 mentation, that in a short time its substance as 

 well as its weight is very considerably diminished. 

 If we therefore say that 100 pounds of dry sub- 

 stance of consumed fodder, with a proportionate 

 quantity of litter, gives 200 pounds of manure, 

 this must be understood of stall-manure, where 



the greatest amount of urine is mixed in part with 

 solid excrements, or if they should be dissipated 

 on the dunghill, would be replaced again by rain. 

 The more raw, more recent, stall-manure is, the 

 more the beasts drink, the more they take of juicy 

 food, the greater is the proportion of the weight 

 of stall-manure compared with the weight of the 

 fodder eaten ; wherefore there is more raanui'e 

 from horned cattle than from horses, and the least 

 from sheep." 



USE OF WASTE. 



Our doctrines are — feed the earth and it will 

 feed you — feed the apple-tree and it will yield fair 

 fruit. 



Ashes. — Take especial care of all the ashes 

 made on your place. Don't permit them to be 

 exposed to the weather, but keep them under 

 cover. Five bushels of ashes, mixed with two 

 double horse cart-loads of marsh river mud, muck, 

 or peat, will convert the whole into good manure. 

 A hogshead or two of soap-suds would do the 

 same thing — therefore, among your other savings, 

 save and utilise them. 



Poultry Dung. — Have this regularly swept 

 up every Saturday, packed away in barrels, and 

 sprinkled over with plaster. Dana, with force 

 and truth, says : "The strongest of all marmres is 

 found in the droppings of the poultry yard." 

 Next year each barrel of it will manure you half 

 an acre of land. Save it, then, and add to the 

 productive energies of your soil. Don't look upon 

 it as too triji'mg a matter for your attention ; but 

 recollect that the globe itself is an agrjregation of 

 small matters. 



UuixE. — Save this : in every hundred pounds 

 there is 72 per cent, of nitrogen in its humid state, 

 23.11 in its dry. 



Woolen Rags. — These are rich in the elements 

 of manure. They contain, when dry, 20.26 per 

 cent, of nitrogen, and should be used as manure. 

 Dana says they should be nearly thirty-four times 

 stronger than fresh cow-dung. 



In a word, save everything in the shape of refuse 

 or offal ; it is all good to make the crops grow — • 

 all good to sustain vegetable life, and through its 

 products to sustain animal life. Let your eyes, 

 your mind, your heart and your hands, be intent- 

 ly directed to the accumulation and preservation 

 of the materials to make manure. Follow our 

 advice, and your lands will grow rich, and your 

 pockets heavy. 



ECONOMY OF FEWCES. 

 The question of fencing is attracting consider- 

 able attention. It is thought in some quarters 

 that our cultivated fields are too much cut up, 

 and that the expense of fences might be diminish- 

 ed one-half. In many localities in this State the 

 fences are built chiefiy to get rid of the stone, and 

 many a farm is weighed down with huge double 

 wall which woukl be useful only in cases of inva- 

 sion. In cold, bleak and windy situations, fences 

 serve as a shelter, and are thus a benefit to the 

 crop. On level farms, where machines can be 

 used, the fewer fences the better ; as to the stones, 

 better jnit them under than above ground. There 

 are very few farms that would not be benefited 

 by the drainage efl'ected by casting the stones reg- 

 ularly into ditches opened for the purpose each 



