Handling Gallinaceous Fertilizer in a Practical Way 



SHERMAN R. DUFFY 



nii- 



WHEN THE HUMBLE BARNYARD HEN PLAYS A COORDINATE PART WITH THE BELLIGERENT GARDEN CRAFTSMAN 



BY WAY of introduction, the writer 

 of this malodorous essay is his own 

 gardener and any work done in his 

 garden must be done by himself or 

 by volunteer assistants — not always as helpful 

 as enthusiastic. There are hundreds of thous- 

 ands of citizens in the same predicament, more 

 thousands this year than ever before. Since 

 the Pilgrim Fathers laid the foundation for 

 Plymouth Rock hens, there never has been 

 such a wholesale horticultural attack upon the 

 soil and there doubtless never will be in the 

 history of the world so many dismal failures 

 in a seemingly simple enterprise. 



The chief cause for the many disappoint- 

 ments which I foresee in the vast army of new 

 gardeners is the lack of fertilizers to be applied 

 to the soil and a lack of knowledge of just how 

 and when to apply them. Fertilizers are the 

 most expensive item in the foundation of a 

 garden and it is upon this uninspirational but 

 essential subject, this unaesthetic, unbeautiful 

 and unfragrant necessity and the cheapest 

 way for the owner of the small garden to secure 

 results that success depends. 



The humble hen, no matter how barred her 

 pedigree may be by barnyard mesalliances, pro- 

 ducing her fruit at war time prices of five cents 

 per fruit is a valuable asset for those fortu- 

 nate enough to possess room to accommodate 

 this gold bearing fowl who is making the fabled 

 goose almost a reality. 



But it is not with that high priced delicacy, 

 the egg, that the gardener need concern himself 

 so far as the cackling denizen of the barnyard 

 is concerned. Horticulturally her exclusion 

 from the garden is the main care owing to the 

 speed and diligence with which - she can 

 destroy growing things. Nearly every one 

 who has room for even a small flock of chickens 

 has room for a small garden and the relation 

 between the two is close if properly established. 

 The hens can furnish sufficient fertilizer to 

 speed the growth of vegetables or flowers dur- 

 ing the entire season if properly used. It is be- 

 coming more and more difficult to secure barn- 

 yard manure, either cow, sheep, or horse 

 manure to dig into the soil to supply humus 

 and plant food or for mulching. Where a few 

 years ago any one who wished could secure as 

 much manure as he needed for the hauling or at 

 a most nominal sum, now if it can be obtained 

 at all, it is at a good round price. 



To buy commercial shredded cow manure or 

 pulverized sheep manure at the current rates 

 of $1.85 per hundred pounds is an expensive 

 proposition. The commercial manures do not 

 add the humus and texture to the soil. 



UTGURING on the agricultural reports 

 *• and making allowances for the enormous 

 and in some cases prohibitive increase in cost 

 of many of the elements entering into the bal- 

 anced fertilizer, some of which such as the salts 

 of potassium — muriate or sulphate — which 

 formerly were spread over the Daffodil beds, 

 cannot be secured at all, a flock of fifty hens 

 provides in the neighborhood of $75 worth of 

 fertilizer in a year. This is estimated on the 

 basis accepted some four or five years ago that 

 1,000 pounds of hen deposited a cash value of 

 #58 in fertilizer per year, an average sized fowl 

 of the commoner types such as the Plymouth 

 Rocks weighing from five to six pounds. 



These figures under present conditions must 

 be greatly increased and I am told that $75 



would be a very conservative estimate, as a 

 matter of fact a precise estimate being un- 

 certain, one authority declaring that the value 

 of fertilizer has doubled at least in the last five 

 years. However, be the figures what they 

 may, the hen is a valuable asset for the 

 gardener, a saving in cash in fertilizer alone. 



Poultry manure is strong in plant food, but 

 owing to the amount of ammonia generated it 

 is difficult and dangerous to use it directly as it 

 burns vegetation and cakes and hardens the 

 soil and when dug into the soil is likely to 

 scorch and destroy the young and tender root- 

 lets. It is deficient in humus so there is noth- 

 ing to be gained by digging it into the soil. 

 How then can it be used to advantage? First 

 and foremost, as a liquid manure. There is no 

 better "tea" for the garden. Second, in com- 

 post with leaves, lawn clippings, dust, saw- 

 dust, land plaster, or in any combination 

 that renders it dry and subject to thin spread- 

 ing or mulching. 



THE proportions which seem to furnish a 

 liquid manure of the right strength — or 

 more accurately, right weakness — are two 

 pecks of poultry manure to one barrel, 31 

 gallons, of water. A molasses, kerosene, 

 vinegar, or whiskey barrel may be secured 

 from the grocer or druggist. Here again the 

 H. C. L. rears its hydra heads. The grocery- 

 man formerly would present me with a couple 

 of barrels without feeling himself at all gener- 

 ous. Now he has the gall to ask five dollars 

 apiece. You can buy a steel tank for that. 



Usually, I have had kerosene barrels. In 

 order to eliminate the oil, drop a handful of 

 straw into the barrel, light it and let it burn 

 until the interior of the barrel is slightly 

 charred. It will not only eliminate the oil but 

 prolong the life of the barrel. Have an old 

 carpet, rug, or something of the kind to drop 

 over the top of the barrel when the conflagra- 

 tion is deemed sufficient. 



While there are patent infusers on the mar- 

 ket in which women and delicate men may 

 assemble the manure to be placed in the bar- 

 rel, they, too, add to the expense of gardening 

 without contributing anything extra in the 

 way of efficiency. A gunny sack does as well 

 and can be procured for almost nothing. 



Into this sack drop the two pecks of manure 

 and then either drop the sack to the bottom of 

 the barrel or better yet suspend it upon a wire 

 or wooden hoop which may be fastened 

 across the mouth of the barrel. Fill the barrel 

 and let it stand a week. It really needs two 

 barrels to alternate. Draw off the water 

 which will be a light brown in color and apply it 

 to the vegetables or flowers needing it. It 

 will speed those that need and like rich feeding. 



The most convenient way for arranging the 

 barrel is to mount it on blocks, bricks, or boxes 

 at a sufficient height to permit a wooden faucet 

 to be inserted near the base with sufficient 

 clearance for a watering can. This is a great 

 labor saver and convenience as it is no joke to 

 hang over the sharp edge of a barrel in order to 

 dip up the water when the cask is more than 

 half empty. 



TN APPLYING the liquid manure it is best 

 *■ to moisten in advance the plants to be 

 fertilized. This makes the liquid manure 

 more quickly available and better distributed 

 through the soil, going directly to the roots. 



50 



"Weak and often" is the motto for liquid 

 manures. Once a week is often enough at 

 most for the solution I have described here. 

 It is particularly valuable for Roses when they 

 have reached the bud stage and should be 

 applied every two weeks early in the season 

 and every week as the weather becomes hotter 

 and more trying for the plants. 



It is likewise excellent for onions in limited 

 quantities. As a war measure, I am growing 

 onions and Roses in the same bed. Soil that 

 will grow good Roses will likewise grow good 

 onions, and as this was the only soil I pos- 

 sessed that seemed likely to present me with 

 good onions I double cropped it. At this 

 writing I have plucked beautiful salmon pink 

 Madame Leon Pain Roses and luscious young 

 onions side by side. Both contribute to the 

 lowering of the cost of living and to the joys of 

 life in their peculiar spheres. 



My onion-rose bed is the subject of much 

 mirth and bromides concerning fragrance 

 have turned to a stench in the nostrils. The 

 combination works. The Onions and Roses 

 are flourishing mightily. They do not inter- 

 fere with each other and the appearance of the 

 bed which is fifty by four feet does not suffer. 



I have used liquid poultry manure upon 

 cucumbers, squashes, and melons with ex- 

 cellent effect. Likewise upon Asters. Do not 

 feed tomatoes; they will develop an excess of 

 foliage and deficit of fruit. 



THE only use I have found for poultry 

 manure in bulk is upon the asparagus bed 

 in the fall and winter. The asparagus roots 

 are too far down and too strong to be injured 

 while they respond gratefully to the extra food 

 which seeps down to them. In the spring it 

 should be either removed or spaded under as 

 the heat is then gone from the manure. 



The main problem is how to reduce poultry 

 manure to a fine enough consistency to 

 sprinkle it thinly or to combine it with some 

 humus-producing medium so that it may be 

 dug into the ground. In the first place, to 

 secure the manure in condition to handle it 

 readily, a substantial covering of dust, saw- 

 dust, straw, or dried lawn clippings should be 

 spread upon the dropping board under the 

 roosts. It should be removed at least every 

 two days and placed under cover where it may 

 dry. Frequent turning will break it up into 

 fine enough condition. 



An ingenious acquaintance had a bone 

 grinder which he was not using for its original 

 purpose and thought it might be a good idea to 

 run some of the dried and crusted poultry 

 manure through his mill to get it into con- 

 dition to sprinkle. Unfortunately, he over- 

 looked the fact that gravel is an important item 

 in the dietary of the fowl and what happened 

 to the mill when it hit the gravel in the manure 

 spoiled the experiment. 



However, the liquid manure is so much more 

 efficacious and easy to handle that it is hardly 

 worth while to try to use poultry manure as a 

 mulch or to dig into the soil if any other source 

 of humus and plant food is available. 



After spreading the dry manure and either 

 sprinkling it into the soil or allowing a rain to 

 fulfil the same mission, the soil should be 

 hoed. If left as it lies, it produces a hard, 

 caked surface. It must be used very spar- 

 ingly and care must be taken not to spread it 

 too close to the stem of the plants. 



