162 
TIIH RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FEB. 28 
SOME MANURE MATTERS. 
MAKING THE MOST OF BARN MANURE. 
Manure Worth Working Hard For. 
I see a great deal written on the subject of caring for 
barnyard manure, and none of the rules seems to apply 
generally ; some say we should use it as soon as made ; 
while others say we should hold it till well rotted. Some 
say it does not lose any of its fertilizing elements under 
manure sheds, etc. For 10 years I have been hauling 
manure from Washington, D. C.; some I spread as I haul 
it, and some I pile for spring use. I often see a black 
stream quietly flowing from where I spread manure over 
nearly level land in grass. The land not being frozen, one 
would naturally suppose it would filter all the dye out, 
but it has not done so. This winter I plowed a new piece 
of land, about an acre, and broad casted manure over it at 
the rate of 20 two horse wagon loads. The land being 
level, I did not think I would lose much, as the field was so 
very rough; but after every rain I can see a little dye 
oozing along the roadway into my neighbor’s woods. In 
another place I have about 50 large loads piled for sweet 
potatoes, well mixed with earth to hold the strength that 
would fly off into air owing to the heat; but I find a black 
stream flowing silently away. I am losing by this process. 
To save manure in the covered barnyard is no doubt a 
better plan than any practiced by most farmers. But 
manure from grain-fed stock will heat so fast that it will 
often burn the horses’ feet, and when piled under a shed 
it would burn terribly without a copious watering very 
often. I know it takes a good deal of water and turning 
to keep it from burning. After it has become hot I gen¬ 
erally turn it over and mix earth and plaster with it, even 
though it is hard work. I would work hard to save the 
best crop on the farm. I would like some one to find a 
way to keep manure from losing its most valuable parts ; 
for gardening, in which I am engaged, requires lots of 
manure, and some of it must be very fine, so we must pile 
it and turn and mix it till it suits our purpose. I also 
use commercial fertilizers for forcing Irish potatoes and 
cabbage, for the manure will not do so well alone, and it 
does not fail to show its value on good land with plenty of 
manure. Where one works only about 20 acres, like 
myself, the land must be good and he must use plenty of 
manure to raise enough for a family of seven and none of 
them able to work or help except the wife. Mine Keeps 
the berry and fruit gatherers’ time. But I am not dis¬ 
couraged. I like this life better than store-keeping, and 
I’ve tried both. Don’t think I failed at store-keeping; for 
I did not; but, on the contrary, did well. But I got tired 
and sold out, and bought 15 acres of land, tried market 
gardening 10 years ago, and am still sending vegetables to 
the city. Every week I send a two-horse wagon load of 
cabbage, turnips and sweet potatoes, bringing in returns 
enough to keep my accounts balanced. I have paid cash 
for everything since 1885, and thus I have done better; for 
it is much easier to pay my two hands off every Saturday 
night than it is at the end of the year. The men like it 
better and I like it, as I am out of debt at Christmas, and 
feel happy, and lots more of good men could do the same 
if they would try. w. D. pyles. 
Prince Georges Co., Md. 
Manures From Different Farm Animals. 
In speaking of manures, especially farm-yard manure, 
it is difficult to say just which kind is best adapted to a 
certain kind of crop, and I am not quite certain that the 
general farmer would find it profitable to keep the drop¬ 
pings of different animals separate in order that each in¬ 
dividual brand may reach the feeding ground of some par¬ 
ticular plant. If a farmer is raising all potatoes, or all 
corn, or all of any one kind of crop, he might gain some¬ 
thing by selecting a particular manure that would suit his 
needs best; but the farmer who raises a variety or rota¬ 
tion of crops must apply manure with reference to all of 
the crops grown, and many times with very little refer¬ 
ence to the immediate crop. He must have in view the 
conditions necessary for the successful outcome of all the 
crops. 
The balance of evidence is in favor of mixing the several 
manures together, or most of them at least. There is no 
doubt that horse manure, cow manure and hog manure 
can be mixed with very good results; for the mean 
amount of nitrogen found in a mixture of this sort is al¬ 
most as great as in the best of them. When much litter 
is used, if the manure is scattered in the yard or shed (the 
shed is much the better) and hogs are allowed to root it 
over, it will be kept from “ burning,” and the process of 
decomposition will go on more rapidly. If the manure is 
comparatively free from straw or corn stalks, the most 
economical method of handling it will be to draw it directly 
to the field and spread it as soon as made. On small 
farms, where teams and carts are not plentiful and at lib¬ 
erty to draw out the manure every day or every week, it 
may be better to compost all of it in the yard or in the shed. 
As far as the merits of manure made by different kinds 
of stock is concerned, there is a wide variation, depending 
on the condition of the individual animals and the kind of 
food consumed. The adaptation of these manures to cer¬ 
tain kinds of crops can be considered only in a general 
way. The little experience I have had teaches me that 
plowing a coarse manure, one full of straw and corn stalks, 
under in a sandy soil, is very hazardous. It makes the 
soil more porous and loose, and places a coarse material 
under the soil at a depth that hinders very materially its 
capillary power. During a wet season the ill effects of 
manure applied in this way are not so apparent; but we 
can not afford to take the chances. 
I have seen very good results from using sheep manure 
as follows: After corn planting, the sheep pens were 
cleaned out and the manure was placed in a pile either in 
the yard or in a field—better in the yard if there is plenty 
of room, for there it can be added to very conveniently dur¬ 
ing the season, and in case there should be a little time it 
can be worked over to better advantage. This is pitched 
over two or three times during the season, and in fall 
when wheat ground is being fitted, it is spread from the 
wagon, and if not thoroughly composted, it is torn to 
pieces and worked into the soil with a harrow. If it is 
comparatively fine it does not require very much, if any, 
harrowing. Ground prepared in this way, with favorable 
weather, will bring a good crop of wheat and insure a 
catch of grass seed. 
In my experience very satisfactory results have been 
obtained from hen manure composted with wood ashes, 
earth and plaster. The two latter arrest and retain the 
nitrogen set free from the hen manure by the ashes By 
applying a handful of this to every hill of corn just after 
planting, before the corn has come up, I have found the 
results excellent, and consider it just the thing for the 
farmer’s garden. 
I have never had any experience in applying horse man¬ 
ure alone; but from the nature of the manure—it being 
strong in nitrogenous elements—I should think it would 
give the best results when composted and applied as a top¬ 
dressing on ground prepared for hoed crops or grains or on 
pasture land and meadows. The largest immediate re¬ 
sults would probably be realized in case of grains and 
grasses. 
The value of cow manure, like that of all of the others, 
only in a more marked degree perhaps, depends upon the 
variety of food consumed and the condition of the animal. 
Manure from steers or cows which are fed a liberal allow¬ 
ance of nitrogenous food, is equal to that of the horse or 
better; and if comparatively free from litter I would apply 
it as a top dressing for wheat or grass land or plow it under 
for corn. 
On the Michigan College Farm during the winter 
the cow and horse manure—mostly the former—is 
drawn directly to the field from the stable and spread as a 
top-dressing on pasture land or on land which will be 
plowed for corn and other spring crops. In the summer 
season the manure is drawn into some convenient field 
Fig. 62. 
where it is piled in such a shape that it will decompose and 
make good top-dressing for wheat ground or for natural 
pasture. The manure obtained from the piggery is used 
as a top-dressing generally on wheat ground just before 
seeding. [PROF]. H. F. french. 
Agricultural College, Michigan. 
An Experiment on Long Island Loam. 
Much is being said about spreading manure in winter. I 
will give the result of an experiment which I tried on a 
field of four acres of potatoes. I laid out the field in four 
parcels of one acre each, numbered one, two, three and 
four. On number one I spread the manure in Decem¬ 
ber and let it remain until planting time. On number two 
I let it remain in small, compact heaps over the ground. 
On number three I spread and plowed under immediately. 
All the work on the three acres was done in December. 
Number four I left until spring; then drew on the manure, 
plowed and planted the same day. The result was that 
number one gave 160 bushels, number four 130, numbers 
two and three 120 and 100 respectively. I have tried the 
same idea on other crops, with the results all tending the 
same way. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that 
upon the light, loamy soil of the east end of Long Island 
we should not get our fertilizers down under the ground 
too far to get the greatest benefit for the crop. B. L. w. 
Suffolk County, N. Y. 
Green Clover for Potato Manure. 
“ Farmers, will you plow that piece of clover down or 
cut it for hay ? ” is a question asked by The Rural last 
summer. Well, I tried both ways on about four acres, and 
here give the results of my experiment. I plowed down 
clover that would cut about two tons to the acre on-about 
1)4 acre, and about the 20th of June planted the 
following varieties of potatoes: Empire State, White 
Elephant, White Star, Snowflake and a few Rural No. 2. 
A part of the seed was from large tubers cut to two-eye 
pieces, and a part were medium-sized potatoes planted 
whole, one in a hill three feet apart both ways. All came 
up well; but many of the cut pieces began to rot soon 
after the vines had come up, and the latter did not look 
thrifty or grow as fast as the tops of those the seeds of 
which did not rot, and they died down much earlier and 
produced mostly small potatoes; while those the seed of 
which did not rot, produced large, nice potatoes, but the 
blight struck the tops of all and they rotted badly. The 
Empire yielded the best, but rotted the worst. Only one 
among the R. N.-Y. No 2 was found to be affected with 
the rot. 
On the rest of the piece— 2)4 acres—I cut the clover and 
made it into hay. I then decided to experiment to see if I 
could not kill out the troublesome black plantain by pro¬ 
ducing a crop of seed with the second crop of clover in the 
fall, and also to see if I could not grow a crop of potatoes 
after the flea beetles had gone and the Colorado bugs’ best 
days had passed, as we seldom get a frost here that will 
kill potato vines until the last week in October. Accord¬ 
ingly as soon as the hay was off, I plowed the 2)4 acres of 
clover sod and fitted the land for potatoes and planted 
them from Julj 5 to 10, using nearly all whole seed from 
small and medium-sized tubers of the following varieties : 
Early Sunrise, Early Ohio, Snowflake, Early Beauty of 
Hebron, White Elephant, White Star and Empire State. 
They all came up well, and as I planted them so as to be 
able to work them with those planted in June, they 
were easily worked, and I soon had a four acre field of nice 
looking potatoes, with no flea beetles, and only a few 
Colorado beetles to bother. The ground was very loose 
and only a very few weeds came up, so that the prospect 
was flattering for a good crop of potatoes at the cost of 
only a little work and expense, but the second week in 
September it commenced to rain and rained most of the 
rest of the month and nearly all of October, until the 
ground became filled with water, like a morter bed, greatly 
to the injury of the potatoes ; then the blight struck the 
tops and the rot set in, which prevented my experiment 
from being wholly a success. We dug them about No¬ 
vember 1, in the mud, and hauled them into the buildings 
and cellar with the mud on them, and spread them out to 
dry before we could sort them. We got in 300 bushels in 
all, mostly good-sized potatoes; but when we came to sort 
them we found about one-half infected with the rot, so I 
conclude that The experiment was not very remunerative, 
owing to the uncommonly wet and unfavorable fall; but I 
have proved that I can master the plantain. We can grow 
a crop of potatoes on clover sod after the hay is taken off 
in spite of the flea or Colorado beetle if the season is 
favorable. T. M. ryan. 
Erie County, Pa. 
Spreading Manure in Winter.— My experience agrees 
with that of Mr. C. E. Fox, Lorain County, Ohio, who 
writes on page 87. Manure spread in the winter keeps 
the frost in the ground. I had a 10-acre field manured 
last winter, and I plowed the adjoining field a week before 
it on account of the manure keeping the snow from melt¬ 
ing under it. I believe in having heaps of manure put 
conveniently at the ends of the fields and spreading it in 
the spring, using a manure spreader if there is much of it 
to be spread. For light soil spring manuring, and for 
heavy clay soil fall manuring I find is the best. r. b. 
Montreal, Canada. 
A STEUBEN COUNTY SHEEP RACK. 
I show at Figs 61 and 62 drawings of my sheep racks, 
which may be of some help to some brother farmer. 
First from a 2 x 3 inch scantling, cut four end posts three 
feet long; then two center posts two feet four inches long, 
and cut three boards two feet eight inches long, 12 inches 
wide in the center and four at the ends (see diagram). 
Then nail them on the inside of the posts an inch and a- 
half from the bottom ends; next put on the bottom boards 
and put the ends out even with the outside of the posts. 
The racks should be made in sections from 12 to 16 feet 
long. Use half-inch boards for the bottom and slides. 
Then put on the side boards nine inches wide; put the top 
edge 15 inches from the bottom end of the posts; bevel a 
piece three inches wide to fit the corner from the side to 
the bottom (see diagram). From a strip an inch and a half 
wide cut two pieces two feet and five inches long; put 
them on the inside of the end posts, the top side 4 )4 inches 
above the side boards for the slides to rest on. Tack a 
board 12 inches wide and two feet ten inches long on the 
front end, with the top edge even with the strip on the in¬ 
side. Put on a narrow board, and so on up ; then put on 
the hinges to form a door of the lower board (see diagram). 
Board the other end up tightly; then from a 2 x 3-inch 
piece of scantling, cut two pieces two feet long, bore a 
three-quarter-inch hole through the center; nail on the 
boards, put on a narrow piece for a cross piece in the center. 
This should rest directly over the center post. The slides 
should be just long enough to turn nicely between the end 
posts. Bore three-quarter-inch holes through the end posts 
eight inches from the top put in hard-wood pins to hold, 
