1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
437 
Strange Behavior of Stable Manure 
WHAT VALUE IN IT BESIDES PLANT FOOD ? 
BACTERIA THAT CHEW UP ORGANIC MATTER. 
Denitrifying Germs That Do Mischief 
The Plant Food in Manure. —In parts of the 
West, dried cow manure has been used for fuel. An¬ 
alysis of the ashes from it shows 2 7 per cent of potash 
and per cent of phosphoric acid. Of course, there 
is no nitrogen, since this was driven away in the burn¬ 
ing. Average wood ashes contain five per cent of 
potash, or about twice as much as manure ash. The 
manure analyzed was mostly made from hay or grass- 
fed cattle. If bran or cotton-seed meal had been fed, 
the per cent of minerals would have been higher. 
This makes a small showing for manure. We are 
sometimes told that, if we use 10 pounds of nitrogen 
with 150 pounds of wood ashes, we will have all the 
plant-feeding value in a ton of average stable manure ! 
Is this true ? 
All farmers know that there are cases where stable 
manure gives returns in. crops far ahead of what 
should be expected from its actual plant food. I have 
applied stable manure to one part of a poor field, and 
to another part about the same amounts of nitrogen, 
potash and phosphoric acid that were used in the 
manure, in the form of chemicals. In most cases, on 
poor, thin soils, the manure has given better results. 
I have, also, used nitrate of soda and some other 
forms of nitrogen in connection with stable manure 
or clover, and have failed to obtain any marked results 
from its use. 
Why is this ? 
These are questions for the wise men to answer. 
Th*y are made wise in order that they may scatter 
their wisdom. Prof. E B. Voorhees, of New Jersey, 
has given these manurial questions a very careful 
study. He is now at work on an experiment to test 
the various forms of nitrogen on a series of crops 
through an average rotation. In one case, corn and 
oats have been fertilized with the solids of manure 
alone. In another place, the liquids were added to 
the solids, and the difference in color and growth is 
quite remarkable. 
Getting Behind, a Germ. —But what makes ma¬ 
nure act as it does for good or ill ? The scientific 
men give me two reasons. Prof. Wheeler, of Rhode 
Island, says that stable manure is alkaline. The am¬ 
monia in it will neutralize or sweeten the soil to 
some extent as lime does. That is one reason why 
manure will often give very marked results on soils 
that are inclined to be sour. Without much thought, 
most farmers would, probably, say that stable ma¬ 
nure is acid because it ferments, but this is not cor¬ 
rect Back of all this, however, is the work of the 
microbe or bacterium ! 
People say that our scientific friends always get 
behind a microbe or germ when you ask them an 
important question. They do—it is a fact. The rea¬ 
son why they do it is because, in most cases, that is 
the only way to find out the answer. It is only of 
late years that even the scientists have begun really 
to understand how life is developed and changed. 
The wonderful little creatures known as bacteria are 
the masters of life and disease. People have gone on 
for centuries, mastered and governed by these bac¬ 
teria, without knowing it. Now our wise men are 
studying and harnessing them. Their habits are 
almost as fixed as the forces of Nature which are 
regulated and harnessed to do our bidding. Of course, 
the wise men must “ get back of a germ ” in order to 
give us the truth about agriculture. 
Are there “germs” in manure ? 
Yes, indeed—that is one reason why the manure 
may be better or worse than chemical fertilizers. 
Perhaps the most important of these plant-food germs 
are those that produce nitrification. 
Simple Talk. —Why not use terms that common 
people can understand? Who knows what “nitrifi¬ 
cation ” is ? 
That is about as simple a word as can be used to 
describe the process of making nitrogen into available 
plant food. Most people who understand the word 
“chew”, also understand that “ mastication ” means 
both a mechanical and chemical operation. The food 
is ground or torn between the teeth, turned over in 
the mouth, and also mixed with saliva, which assists 
in its digestion. There is no simple word like chew 
which can be viEed in place of nitrification. In one 
sense, this nitrification is the chewing or mastication 
of that part of the plant food which contains nitrogen. 
Most of this plant food is in the form of organic mat¬ 
ter. It goes into the soil but, until it has been worked 
over and digested, the plant cannot make use of it. 
An animal will take clover hay into its mouth, and 
digest it inside of its body. The plant cannot do this. 
The clover stem or stubble, the stable manure, or any 
other form of organic matter, must be digested out¬ 
side of the plant, and this digestion, it is now known, 
is performed by these little bacteria. There are sev¬ 
eral forms of them, and they tear up and make over 
the organic matter or humus, by different processes, 
into the form of nitrates which the plant can absorb 
and utilize. One great value of stable manure lies in 
the fact that it is full of these useful little bacteria. 
They develop and multiply with great rapidity. When 
we put manure into the soil, and warm, moist weather 
comes on, these little bacteria begin their work. They 
not only break up the manure and make that soluble, 
but they spread all through the soil, and reach all the 
organic matter or humus, breaking it up and making 
it available as plant food. 
Green crops plowed into the ground, also decay and 
ferment, but they are not so useful in introducing 
these bacteria as is stable manure. This is one reason 
why stable manure often give3 better results than we 
can expect, from a mere statement of the plant food 
which it contains. Adding manure to the soil is not 
unlike adding a “starter” to sweet cream, so as to 
sour it evenly, and make it ready for churning. We 
know that there are good and bad starters. Wi h 
one, we can make the cream produce butter of fine 
flavor, while with another, we can make the butter 
closely resemble rotten cabbage or turnips. 
Denitrify Id g Germs. —There are bad bacteria, 
then, in manure ? 
Yes, there are not only germs that cause nitrifica¬ 
tion, but another set of germs bring about what is 
called denitrification, that is, they undo the good werk 
of the others. Instead of making over the nitrogen 
into forms suitable for feeding plants, they unlock it 
and set it free, so that it escapes into the air, or is 
washed away in the drainage waters. This will 
account for the fact that, sometimes, when farmers 
use nitrate of soda with stable manure, they do not 
obtain results that ought to follow. In south Jersey, 
for example, farmers sometimes put stable manure in 
the drill for sweet potatoes. They put the manure 
into the furrow, and when they get ready to plant, 
add a quantity of nitrate of soda, and are sometimes 
disappointed when the nitrate does not seem to in¬ 
crease the yield. The explanation is that these litt'e 
denitrifying germs in the manure simply act to set 
the nitrogen in the nitrate of soda free, and off it 
goes. Prof. Voorhees tells me that he has actually 
been able to change the nitrogen in sulphate of am 
monia into organic nitrogen through these denitrify¬ 
ing germs. The lesson of all this is that it is usually 
a mistake to use nitrate of soda in connection with 
stable manure; in fact, stable manure should be used 
with the potash and phosphoric acid, but should not 
be used in connection with other forms of nitrogen. 
This seems to be the lesson taught by these denitrify¬ 
ing germs. 
A farmer may ask, “What is all this to me? You 
take a long way around the barn, simply to say that 
stable manure ought to be used by itself.” Farming 
is coming to be a business of wliys. It may not enable 
a farmer to raise a larger crop this year if he can tell 
why certain practices produce certain results, but he 
will always find that the time spent in reasoning out 
and explaining the laws that govern the production of 
his crop will never be wasted. A study of the founda¬ 
tion principles of farming will often make the differ¬ 
ence between profit and loss, if one is able to apply 
these principles at just the right time. H. w. c. 
Events of the Week. 
Domestic.—The new 180,000,000 bicycle trust will make all of 
Its saddles at Elyria, O. . . May 25 an early morning fire in a 
residence in New York City caused the death of two persons and 
a loss of 86,000. A tenement-house fire the same morning caused 
one death. . . An automobile arrived in New York May 26, 
having left Cleveland May 22. It averaged 17.6 miles an hour 
for the distance. . . Coney Island, a Summer resort near New 
York, suffered from fire early in the morning, May 26; 60 build¬ 
ings and many bath-houses were destroyed, and 17 persons more 
or less injured. The loss amounts to nearly 1500,000, with little 
insurance. . . Chicago is suffering an epidemic of sore eyes, 
the result of dusty streets and strong winds combined. . . Four 
cases of smallpox were discovered May 26, in a New York tene¬ 
ment house. . . Gov. Bradley, of Kentucky, has been indicted 
at Chattanooga, Tenn., for drinking whisky in a saloon after 10 
i* ii , in violation of a local ordinance. The Governor says he 
drank lemonade. . . May 28 a terrific tornado passed through 
Bijou Hills, S D., doing great damage. Seven persons were 
killed in the wreck of one farmhouse. In the district around 
Marquette, the damage is put at 8100,000. At Kirksville, Mo., and 
Clarion, la , the storm was very severe. At St. Joseph, Mich , 15 
houses were struck by lightning, and several severe washouts 
occurred on the Chicago & West Michigan Road, one being 70 
feet long. Near Waterloo, la., a washout, the result of a cloud¬ 
burst, caused the wreck of a passenger train, seven persons 
being killed and 30 injured. Tne wounded and dying were 
robbed of jewelry, money and even clothing. . . May 29 a tor¬ 
nado passed over North Tonawanda, N. Y.; two men were killed 
and much damage done. At Buffalo, the Btorm threw down a 
90-foot chimney, burying 20 men, two of whom were fatally in¬ 
jured. . . A trolley-road machinist at Paterson, N. J., was 
killed by a practical joke May 29. Some of his fellow workmen 
connected a water faucet with a trolley wire, so that any one 
turning on the water would receive a shock. Such a trick is 
often played on strangers in a power house, but in this case, the 
victim was over-fatigued, and the shock caused death. . . The 
President has made a change in the civil service rules, which 
excepts from the classified service 4,000 places, including deputy 
collectors of internal revenue, deputy United States marshals, 
private secretaries and confidential clerks. . . Yellow fever 
has appeared in New Orleans, being about three months earlier 
in the season than usual. . . Swift & Co , of Chicago, have se¬ 
cured the contract for supplying fresh beef to the army in Cuba 
and Porto Rico. The meat is to keep 24 hours after delivery, 
and be subject at all times to rigid inspection. . . The Navy 
D 'partment has failed to receive any bids for armor for vessels 
within the limit of cost fixed by Congress in the Naval Appro¬ 
priation bill. The price was set at 8300 a ton, and the lowest bid 
received asks 8400. Armor is required for six battleships, three 
armored cruisers and four monitors. . . Two thousand freight 
handlers went out on strike at Buffalo, N. Y., May 31, and the 
grain shovelers may join them. . . Mrs. Leland Stanford has 
executed deeds conveying the bulk of her fortune to Leland 
Stanford University. . . It is announced at Washington that 
no funds are available with which to print the report of the 
army beef commission. . . Marlon Clark, the baby stolen in 
N*w York May 21, was recovered at Sloatsburg, Rockland 
County, N. Y , June 1. One of the abductors was arrested, Addie 
or Jennie Wilson, also known as McNally, the daughter of a 
newspaper publisher at Goshen, N. Y. She is a printer by trade. 
She is not the nurse who took the child away. The police con¬ 
sider that she is one of an organized band of kidnappers, and 
other arrests will follow. The news of the child’s return caused 
intense excitement in New York, an enthusiastic crowd of sev¬ 
eral thousand men, women and children waiting to receive her. 
The little one had been well treated. 
Farm and Garden—The Interstate Commerce Commission 
will give hearings in Chicago June 12, and in St. Louis, .Tune 15, 
on the question of rates upon export and domestic traffic in grain 
and grain products, . . Last year’s wheat crop stored in Kan¬ 
sas granaries and elevators is fast being bought up by New York 
and English capitalists. In two days 60,000 bushels were bought 
for shipment to Liverpool. Representatives of purchasing firms 
are in the wheat belt contracting for every bushel of old wheat 
which they can get. Thirty thousand bushels were sent to Liver¬ 
pool the first week in June. . . The health authorities at Omaha 
are much excited over “ embalmed ” milk. There is an unusual 
mortality among infants, in Bpite of generally excellent Banitary 
conditions, and the Infant mortality is thought to be due to milk 
preservatives. . . A farmer near Keeneysville, Pa., was attacked 
by two hogs, and fearfully mang ed, May 26 A mastiff came to 
his rescue, but he was so severely Injured that he is likely to 
die. . . Four large fire insurance companies, which control 75 
per cent of this business in the State of Kansas, have made a re¬ 
duction of 20 per cent in rates on farm property. . . Reports 
from all parts of Indiana indicate that wheat has been seriorBly 
damaged, the result of Hessian fiy in some sections and winter¬ 
killing in others. . . Gov. Pingree, of Michigan, feels opposed 
to signing the sugar-beet bounty bill passed by the legislature. 
It places no limit on the amount to be paid in bounties, putting 
the general fund of the State, in addition to a special appropria¬ 
tion of 1400.000, at the mercy of the sugar manufacturers. 
Philippines.—M ay 24 a skirmish occurred at San Fernando; 
the insurgents were driven through rice fields, suffering the loss 
of 50 dead, 38 wounded and 28 prisoners. . . A party of the 
Signal Corps, engaged in repairing a cable on the Island of 
Negros, was fired upon, and Capt. G. H. Tilley was captured and 
killed. The rainy season has encouraged the rebels to renew 
hostilities, and many natives, half starved, are fleeing to the 
American lines for relief. . . May 30 the third engineer and a 
boat’s crew from the hospital ship Relief, while sailing in a cat- 
boat off Paranaque, were captured by Insurgents, who put off 
from the shore In boats. . . May 31 the War Department made 
public Gen. Otis’s report of events preceding hostilities in the 
Philippines. Rebels are said to be torturing friendly natives 
who favor the Americans. . . The Chinese consul has applied 
to Gen. Otis for relief for his countrymen, who, he says, are being 
persecuted by the insurgents. . . Native militiamen on the 
Island of Negros have deserted to the insurgents, and Gen. 
Smith has decided to disarm those who remain. . . The Olympia, 
with Admiral Dewey on board, reached Hongkong May 23, and 
was saluted by ships of all nations. . . May 24 Gen. Lawton’s rear 
guard had a brisk skirmish, losing one officer, and having 15 
men wounded. The Insurgents’ loss was 21. Gen. MacArthur and 
Gen. Funston have dispersed 800 insurgents who were intrenched 
near the American outposts. 
General Foreign News.—The plague is spreading at Alexan¬ 
dria, Egypt. . . The famine still increases in eastern Russia; 
5,000,000 people are in desperate want. Typhoid fever and scurvy 
continue. . . The American, English and Russian delegates to the 
peace conference will unite to settle a plan of arbitration, which 
will call for a permanent arbitration tribunal, consisting of 
two jurists representing each contracting State. The American 
delegates have offered a plan of mediation. It provides for the 
adoption of the method that obtains in personal duels. If a con¬ 
flict arise between two nations, each will appoint another nation 
as a second or assistant to try to prevent hostilities. These 
assistants will have all the facts in the dispute submitted to 
them within 30 days, and will then try to mediate. If they be 
unsuccessful and war be inevitable, the mediating powers will 
continue to act, without intruding on the rights of the disput¬ 
ants, with the view of stopping hostilities as soon as possible if 
honor be satisfied or the opportunity favorable. 
Cuba.—The authorities discovered, May 25, the thieves who 
robbed the church at El Cobre, and recovered most of the stolen 
jewels. The criminals were three Spanish tramps. . . The 
strike of lightermen at Havana is assuming serious proportions. 
The stevedores employed by the Plant Line have gone out, and a 
strike of carters and cabmen is threatened. The general opinion 
in Havana is that the strike is absolutely without justification. 
. . . The War Department decided to give Cuban shipping 
clearance under the Cuban flag. This step is questioned by the 
Treasury Department. The owners of small vessels are angry 
over the o der of Collector Bliss prohibiting vessels under 30 tons’ 
burden Importing to Cuba from foreign ports. Many British 
schooners trading from the Bermudas, Haytl, and Jamaica, a e 
barred out under this ruling, and the owners will formally pro¬ 
test to the British consuls. . . May 27 the authorities at Havana 
began distributing money to the Cuban soldiers. Of the 4,317 
men comprising the Fifth Army Corps, only seven appeared to 
receive 875 each, and none of these turned in guns. The Cuban 
press declares that the whole thing is a fizzle. The second day 
of distribution 30 Cubans appeared for the money. Opposition 
gradually passed away, but the difficulty of Identification will 
make the work very slow. 
