4ggg THE RUBAI. NEW-YORKER. 01 
per cent. As this bran was fed to milch cows 
there should be found iu the manure 80 per 
cent, of $394.46, or $315.56. In the case of 
beef animals, there should be left 95 per cent, 
of $394.46, or $375.43. 
Had the whole wheat been fed, instead of 
being exchanged for bran, the following 
would have been the result. According to 
the same authority (Harris), wheat contains, 
iu every 10,000 pounds, 20.8 pounds of nitro¬ 
gen, 5.3 pounds of potash, and 7.9 pounds of 
phosphoric acid. Five hundred and eighty 
bushels of wheat equal 34,800 pounds. By 
multiplying by the number of pounds of each 
element given above, we have iu the wheat 
723.84 pounds of nitrogen, 184.44 pounds of 
potash, and 274.92 pounds of phosphoric acid. 
At the same prices as given above, this wheat 
would be worth: 
Hitrogen, - - - $123 05 
Potash, - - - - - $8 29 
Phosphoric acid, - $19.24 
Total value of plant food 
in the wheat, - $150.58 
.80 
Amount which would have 
been left by milch cows, $120.46 
Amount beef cattle would leave, $143.05 
Amount gained in value of plant food by 
exchanging wheat for bran: 
Iu case of feeding to milch cows: $315.56, 
value of bran; $102.46, value of wheat; $213.10 
gain. In case of feeding beef animals the 
ditference would be: $375.43, value of bran; 
$143.05, value of wheat; $232.38 gain. 
THE NECESSITY FOR PHOSPHATES AT 
THE WEST. 
B. F. JOHNSON. 
Need of phosphatic manures in Illinois; ap¬ 
propriation of phosphates by growing and 
dairy stock-, animals affected by absence 
of phosphates in the soil ; prospective short¬ 
age of grass and hay in the drought-strick¬ 
en region; need of phosphates first, then 
potash. _ 
In advising the absolute need of the phos¬ 
phates to restore Illinois worn timber, 
prairie and meadow lands to something near 
their old-time fertility and capacity for grass 
and hay production, I have found it very dif¬ 
ficult to make the average man and farmer 
understand that neither the use of barnyard 
manure nor the practice of ‘‘clovering” will 
do the work. Manures and green and sod 
crops plowed under our soils increase the ni¬ 
trogen, for which there is no present need, 
but to a limited extent only the phosphates 
in the soil. Perhaps the following, taken in 
substance from a competent English authori¬ 
ty,may make the necessity for the phosphates 
plainer than I have stated it and draw atten¬ 
tion to the impoverishment of our meadow 
and pasture lands, by a few facts and figures. 
Says my authority, “food of young stock 
must be essentially bone and muscle-forming, 
and it is well known that the continuous graz¬ 
ing of pastures by youug stock and by dairy 
cows, very rapidly exhausts the bone earths, 
so that the land deteriorates and becomes, 
year by year, less adapted to raising stock or 
dairying.” [Thus even in the Blue Grass re¬ 
gions of Kentucky, though the soil is among the 
richest in the world, it is now found very dif¬ 
ficult to maintain the size of full-blood stock, 
no matter how fully or carefully fed, the 
grain and herbage apparently favoring fine 
bone and small muscles, with a very decided 
inclination for an increase of fat. So also in 
Illinois and others of the prairie States, in 
counties where the soil has been 50 years or 
more iu cultivation, the same obstacles to 
obtaining a sufficient development in bone 
and muscle have appeared, with the same dis¬ 
position to the development of fat.] “Conse¬ 
quently” continues my authority, “the ulti¬ 
mate success of either system of dairying or 
raising stock, pursued for any length of time 
upon the same land, must depend very 
much upon the feeding of artificial 
food, or top-dressing. A cow in full milk and 
yielding 759 gallons a year gives up in that 
milk the equivalent of 35 pounds of dry bone. 
If this milk be sold off the farm, or be made 
up into butter and cheese for market, of 
course the whole of it is lost to the land. And 
as this loss is equal to 30 pounds of common 
bone dust, and every calf sold may be consid¬ 
ered to carry away 10 pounds more, the condi¬ 
tion of the pastures affording them herbage 
cannot be kept up except by supplying in some 
form 50 pounds of bone dust to the laud every 
year. It is well known that iu the young an¬ 
imal, rapid growth and quick fattening are 
opposite qualities; so to encourage both the 
muscle and bone-forming constituents, and 
the fat-forming elements, must be furnished 
at the same time.” 
In the extensive regions where drought pre¬ 
vailed in 1886, and more extensively and 
worse in 1887, grass and hay are bound to be 
short for two or three years, and short even if 
the spring should be a favorable one; that is, 
early, warm and wet. This is because of the 
failure of the seeding of grass and clover in 
1887, the burning out of the early-cut Timo¬ 
thy meadows last summer, the freezing out of 
the clover fields the present winter and, last 
but not least, the nakedness of the 
average pasture and meadow, in con¬ 
sequence 'of being overstocked. On ac¬ 
count of the latter, grass will start late, and 
not before the middle of May will a full bite 
be developed. Thus the farmer and feeder of 
the West will be brought face to face with 
the fact of the deterioration of pastures 
and meadows, and if it should result in a bet¬ 
ter understanding how to partially restore 
them, the present loss will be a gain iu the 
end. On the ground that the proper and 
profitable use of manures and fertilizers is to 
employ them as complements to the soil; that 
is, to supply those elements of which it is de¬ 
ficient, the phosphates are recommended in 
place of the vegetable matter in the form of 
farmyard manure and its inseparable asso¬ 
ciate, nitrogen. The time will come when 
nitrogen will be needed, but before that it 
will be necessary to employ potash. In sandy 
and gravelly and non-clay soils there is nearly 
always a deficiency of vegetable matter, as 
well as of the phosphates, and, therefore, the 
complements needed are both of these; and 
where the rocks from which these soils orig¬ 
inated contained no form of potash, then the 
complements extend along the whole line. 
These facts show why some soils are benefit¬ 
ed by the use of one or the other of the fer¬ 
tilizers, or all; why other soils are not, and, 
finally, why a given soil—the prairie, for ex¬ 
ample—may require the phosphate fertilizers 
and for the present little or nothing more. 
Champaign Co., Ill. 
INTENSIVE FARMING NEAR NEW 
YORK. 
A profitable 60 -acre farm; management of 
city-manure; a valuable muck and man¬ 
ure compost; hints as to compost making. 
In this section the almost prohibitory price 
of farming lands (from $150 to $200 per acre) 
and the nearness of the great markets of New 
York, Brooklyn, Hartford and Boston, and 
the multiplied means of communication with 
them, render necessary a mode of farming 
that in other localities would never answer, 
namely the buying of all manures, except 
that made from horses, necessary in the run¬ 
ning of the farm and the selling of everything 
produced on it with the same exception. I 
presume that I shall be taken to task by some 
of the Rural family for this assertion, but I 
have only to say that the “proof of the pud¬ 
ding is iu the eating” and I can show them a 
neighboring farm of somewhat less than 60 
acres, that has paid a profit of more than 
$5,000 to its owner the past year. The main 
reliance upon that farm is N. Y. city stable 
manure brought direct to it by the schooner¬ 
load in the fall, for use the next season. As 
fast as it arrives it is placed iu a heap built 
in such a way that the wagons are driven to 
the top and unloaded, so that the continued 
tramping of the teams, and the weight of the 
loads upon it, effectually exclude the air. It 
is then left in that condition for a month or 
six weeks when it is carted and plowed under. 
There is no mixture of anything, everything 
else that may be wanted being applied sepa¬ 
rately. The claims made (and I think abund¬ 
antly justified) are that the bulk is reduced, 
while the value is increased, and the chemical 
change through which it passes, tends to re¬ 
duce the chances of a wormy potato crop upon 
land continually under the plow, while at the 
i same time it gives a chance to get all the crops 
from the ground aud still get the manure 
while the weather is good and the days are long. 
I remember having worked upon a compost 
some years ago, made of alternate loads of 
horse manure and muck dug the year before, 
the whole being covered to the depth of eight 
or ten inches with muck aud made as nearly 
air tight as possible to prevent burning or 
“fire-fanging.” The whole was applied to a 
Timothy sod after mowing, for cauliflowers, 
and so far as we would judge from the crop it 
was worth as much, load for load, and proba¬ 
bly more than the stable manure would have 
been alone. 
Undoubtedly the place for making .composts 
is as near as possible to the materials of 
which they are to be composed, if for no other 
reason than to save carting extra bulk that 
will vanish during fermentation. 
Personally, I like the idea of having suffi¬ 
cient stabling to shelter all animals, with a 
yard for exercise only, the flooring being 
made in such a way that the liquids cannot 
escape and the bedding used being of such a 
nature as not to interfere with rapid handling, 
to be thoroughly cleared out perhaps twice 
during the winter and drawn directly to the 
fields, taking an opportune time, although I 
suppose in leachy soils this system might be 
open to objections. Whether they would affect 
the advantages is a question perhaps some of 
the Rural’s readers of larger experience may 
answer. 
The compost may be made at any time at 
the convenience of the maker, and one or two 
workings of home-made manure at intervals 
of a month ought to be enough. In locations 
where markets are far away, and transporta¬ 
tion of crops and of manures takes all the pro¬ 
fits there should always be a permanent com¬ 
post and everything available ought to be 
placed upon it, while everything grown should 
be condensed as much as possible. All grain 
and hay should be turned into flesh, so long as 
it can be done at even a small profit, remem¬ 
bering that it is not the handling of money 
but the amount that remains after the pay¬ 
ment of expenses that constitutes profit; aud, 
above all, while accepting other people’s judg¬ 
ment, one should use his own as well. 
Orient, L. I. . E. E. p. 
LIQUID MANURES. 
Much has been written at various times 
about the value of liquid manures, yet there 
are still hundreds of farmers who do not real¬ 
ize that they injure their business by taking 
no steps to secure this waste. The following 
table will prove interesting iu studying the 
matter. The analyses are those of Stoeck- 
hardt. In 1,000 pounds of fresh dung of the 
kinds specified, he found the number of pounds 
of the various substances named: 
Sheep. 
Swine. 
Horse. 
o 
© 
§f 
Solid matter ... 420 
200 
240 
160 
250 
Nitrogen. 1)/, 
6 
5 
3 
15 
Phosphoric acid. 6 
2 X 
11 
Alkalies. 3 
5 
3 
1 
4 
In 1,000 pounds of fresh urine from the ani¬ 
mals mentioned were found in pounds: 
C/I 
& 
C 0 
2. 
5* 
w 
© 
o 
© 
rig 
2.3 
Cfi 
5j 
3 £ 
•c 
© 
© 
9 3 
Solid matter.... 135 
25 
110 
80 
30 
Nitrogen. 14 
3 
12 
8 
6 
Phosphoric acid. X 
1% 
. . 
. . 
X 
Alkalies. 20 
2 
15 
14 
IX 
These figures show that pound for pound 
the urine is worth about twice as much as the 
solid manure. They would also indicate that 
the old saying, that the strength [of ma¬ 
nures ranged with sheep manure at the 
head, followed by horse, hog and 
cow, had much of truth in it. Many 
experiments have been made to deter¬ 
mine the amount of manure, both liquid 
and solid, voided by animals. So much de¬ 
pends upon the condition of feeding and the 
foods given that only approximate figures 
can be given. A great many estimates have 
been made of the solid and liquid excrements 
of a man iu the course of a year. An aver¬ 
age of nmuy figures gives 107 pounds solid 
and 964 pounds liquids. As has been fre¬ 
quently pointed out the weakness of urine 
lies in the lack of phosphoric acid. It is a 
poorly balanced manure, and when used alone 
will not give all the results one might expect 
from its analysis. When used to wet down a 
compost in which bone or other forms of 
phosphoric acid are present, it will give bet¬ 
ter results. When finely cut stalks, muck, 
sawdust or other good absorbents are abund¬ 
antly used, the bulk of the urine is preserved 
iu a form particularly easy of application. 
Something may be learned from the follow¬ 
ing notes. 
Many farmers take no steps whatever to 
collect or preserve liquid manure, but rather 
study how they may easiest get rid of it. Gut- 
ters, channels and tile are employed to convey 
it out of the stables and down the nearest 
slope as quickly as possible. If they get it out 
of the stable they appear to be satisfied. 
Those who know its value use absorbents— 
chiefly dry wheat straw, which is both abun¬ 
dant and cheap. A few also use chaff, sifted 
coal ashes, dry earth and sods. The cheapest 
and also one of the best absorbents is corn¬ 
stalks aud wheat straw cut to inch or half-inch 
lengths. If ijhis is perfectly dry and plenti¬ 
fully used, it will absorb every drop of the 
liquid and make excellent manure. 
I will venture the assertion that a feed cut¬ 
ter will more than pay for itself every year if 
used for no other pur{>ose than to prepare 
stalk and straw absorbents for the liquid ma¬ 
nure. Uncut straw will take in a considera¬ 
ble quantity, but it is not so absorptive as 
that which is cut, nor can it be so economical¬ 
ly used. Whole corn-stalks are about as use¬ 
ful and desirable as so much hazel brush: but 
when run through a feed cutter and cut to 
inch or half-inch lengths, they make one of 
the best absorbents—even better than straw, 
while they can be handled quite as easily. 
_ F. GRUNDY. 
I find that by wheeling dry horse manure 
back of the cows I save about all the liquid 
manure. Twice a week the horse manure is 
thrown from the gutter into the regular pile. 
The horse manure is made better for absorb¬ 
ing the urine, while the manure pile is im¬ 
proved by mixing both kinds of manure to¬ 
gether. EMMONS POND. 
Green Co., N. Y. 
I keep my cows in box stalls with tight 
floors. By keeping plenty of bedding under 
them and throwing in dry horse manure, I 
think I save most of the liquid manure. 
Passaic Co., N. J. p. h. l. 
It has been suggested that as liquid manure 
is weak in phosphoric acid, the addition of 
“ floats ” or other phosphatic material would 
greatly help it. The addition of “ floats ” or 
bone meal to sawdust or some other good ab¬ 
sorbent for use in the gutters is suggested. 
What is needed to hold the ammonia formed 
by fermentiug manure, is either some strong¬ 
ly absorbent substance like vegetable mould 
(or humus) or some acid substance or salt 
capable of combining with the ammonia. 
The “floats” are neither absorbent nor acid 
and while they would even up the deficiency 
as regards phosphorics, they would have little 
retentive power. If you could get your floats 
into form of acid phosphate by cheap sulphu¬ 
ric acid, the material would do just what you 
want. Sulphuric acid (chamber acid) does 
not cost to the manufacturer more than $5 a 
ton, aud could be sold with profit for $7.50 a 
ton. If you could induce some manufacturer 
to make a simple acid phosphate and sell it 
for a low price, it would meet your case. 
Why not use sulphate of iron to fix your am¬ 
monia, and then add your floats to bring up 
the phosphates ? The copperas would cost 
not more than $20 a ton, and a few pounds 
would go a long way iu arresting the loss of 
nitrogen from putrefying urine. 
Ag. College, Mich. prof. r. c. kedzie. 
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 
Do chemical fertilizers pay me? On wheat 
always, and the succeeding crop of grain; but 
on all other crops I have found nothing, so 
far, in the chemical line, that would pay. I 
have tried “specials” with very little success. 
S. C. floats I have bought as low as $15 per 
ton, and the same dissolved at the same price. 
Bone superphosphate (dissolved bone) I have 
obtained at $28; ground, raw bone $38, and 
kaiuit $12. I have tested fertilizers on wheat 
by shutting off the fertilizer iu {one or more 
“troughs,” and not working the places; if I 
cannot find the strips not fertilized next 
spring easily, it doesn’t pay to use that ferti¬ 
lizer for wheat. On other crops I have expe¬ 
rimented by measuring a certain part of an 
acre, and applying the fertilizer at a given 
rate per acre. Then I pull up the stakes and 
if I have to hunt for that fertilized spot, I try 
something else. 
As a rule, I apply the commercial fertilizers 
separately; but sometimes I put some manure 
on the poor spots, and like to apply some fer¬ 
tilizers on crop preceding wheat, either raw 
bone or S. C. rock dissolved, and if it doesn’t 
help that crop—which is usually oats, and it 
doesn't—it will be all ready for the wheat. I 
do not depend entirely on this, but put on 
more with the wheat. 
I have used crude potash, bone, plain and 
ammouiated superphosphates, nitrate of soda, 
muriate of potash, ground oyster shells, lime, 
salt, unleached ashes, tobacco stems and gyp¬ 
sum separately, and see no encouragement to 
continue the use of any except bone or super¬ 
phosphate. 
I have found the best time to apply stable 
manure is when I have time, or as soon as it* 
is made. Then there is no loss; but as it can¬ 
not always be used as soon as made, it is piled 
in flat piles where it rots more or less and is 
hauled when convenient. For convenience in 
mixing with the soil or for top-dressing grass 
land, I like to have it partially rotten, but 
would prefer hauling direct from stables to 
running the risk of leaching and fire-fanging 
in the yard. a. l. crosby. 
Farmers in this section have not yet come 
to the use of chemical fertilizers. I do not 
know of one who has used or contemplates 
using any chemical fertilizer of any sort. I 
am satisfied that we shall be compelled to do 
so in time; but that time is some distance 
away yet. I have decided to try a small 
quantity on garden and small fruits next 
spring by way of experiment. It will cost 
me about $4.20 per bag of 200 pounds deliv¬ 
ered at the railroad depot here. 
As for wood ashes, I do not know of any 
place in this section where they could be ob¬ 
tained in quantity. I have not nor do I know 
of any one who has tried them even in limited 
quantities. Coal is used for fuel almost ex¬ 
clusively in this section, consequently wood 
ashes are a very scarce article. 
There seems to be considerable difference of 
opinion concerning the best time of the year 
