90 SCHOOL AND HOME GARDENING 



1. Care of Manures. — Nearly fill a leaky pail with barnyard 

 manure. Pour over it enough water to fill the pail. Stir it a little, 

 if possible. Catch the drain water below. Use this in watering one 

 box of plants in the window or one plot in the garden. In each 

 case, leave a box or plot for comparison, which does not have the 

 manure water, but is kept well watered otherwise. After a few 

 weeks notice the difiference ingrowth of the plants so treated. The 

 experiment may be varied by using a large tub or barrel which holds 

 water well. The manure and water may be stirred together, and as 

 water is wanted for the garden the liquid is dipped off above the 

 manure. 



Gardeners frequently keep a "manure barrel" for use 

 in watering such plants as lettuce, cabbage, celery and spinach, 

 when they wish to force the growth. The liquid takes plant- 

 food from the manure and stimulates the growth of the garden 

 plants. 



The fact that water will take plant-food out of manure 

 shows the need of keeping a shelter over manure piles when 

 stored in the barnyard. Loss of manure by the leaching of 

 rain-water through it is one of the greatest losses on farms 

 where stock is kept (Fig. 57) . 



Plant-food in barnyard manure, when compared with 

 market jDrices of commercial fertilizers, is valued by the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture (Farmers' Bulletin Xo. 192) as 

 follows: From the barn of a horse, in a year, average $27; 

 cattle, $19 ; hog, $12 ; sheep, $2. 



Manure, as it is too frequently stored, loses from one-third 

 to one-half of its plant-food. This greatly reduces its value. 



A ton of manure from each of the farm stock would be 

 valued in this order : Poultry, sheep, pigs, horses, cows. 



Commercial fertilizers are used as a direct means of feed- 

 ing plants with the plant-food which may be lacking in any 

 soil. The most precious food elements are nitrogen (N), 

 phosphoric acid (P) and potash (K). Soils are apt to be- 

 come weak in any one or all of these plant-foods. They are 

 washed out by rains and taken out by the growtli of crops. 



