NEW YORK, MARCH 26, 1904 
»l PER YEAR 
BRIEF FERTILIZER TALKS. 
The Value of Sheep Manure. 
What would be the value of pulverized sheep manure 
at $30 per ton, as compared with high-grade phosphates 
at about the same price? e. r. h. 
]3y “value” of a fertilizer we mean its comparative 
cost—not what it will produce. A ton of sheep ma¬ 
nure may contain 50 pounds of nitrogen, 45 of phos¬ 
phoric acid and 30 of potash. The question is, what 
will this plant food cost us in other forms? In order 
to find out what nitrogen costs we may figure on ni¬ 
trate of soda, since that supplies nitrogen alone. Sup¬ 
pose we pay $47 a ton for nitrate, which contains 320 
pounds of nitrogen—that means a little less than 15 
cenls a pound. If we pay $44 a ton for muriate of 
potash we buy 1,000 pounds of potash at 4.4 cents a 
pound. With acid phosphate at $12 we buy 280 pounds 
of phosphoric acid at a little over four cents. These 
figures may not be exact for you, but the point is to 
lake materials which supply only one fertilizing ele¬ 
ment In order to find 
what, it costs per 
pound.. This is fairer 
than t o take the 
“valuations” made by 
the stations. With 
this figuring we find 
that the nitrogen in 
the sheep manure 
could be bought for 
$7.50, the phosphoric 
acid for $2, and the 
potash for $1.50 or 
less. For $11, there¬ 
fore, we can buy the 
actual plant food 
which we could buy in 
that sample of sheep 
manure. It is possible 
that this sample has a 
higher analysis—we 
have figured above the 
average. Is the sheep 
manure enough better 
in other respects to 
warrant us in paying 
$19 per ton more than 
Lho actual value of 
the plant food in 
chemicals? For out¬ 
door culture, and with 
ordinary crops, it 
would be folly to pay 
$30 for dried sheep 
manure. For work under glass, where the finest pro¬ 
ducts are wanted, the sheep manure gives very satis¬ 
factory results, and many practical gardeners would 
prefer it to the chemicals—though the use of the lat¬ 
ter for glass culture is increasing. Here, therefore, 
is a case where the actual plant food value will not 
settle the matter. 
Chemicals with Stable Manure. 
Is there any way of knowing how many loads of barn¬ 
yard manure (ton to a load) are equal to one ton of high- 
grade fertilizer? I mean spread on grass In the Spring. 
Carmel, N. Y. T. r. K. 
No, you cannot be sure of it. A ton of average 
stable manure is supposed to contain 10 pounds of 
nitrogen, six of phosphoric acid and 13 of potash, yet 
some samples many contain more than others. A ton 
of high-grade fertilizer may contain 80 pounds of ni¬ 
trogen, 160 of phosphoric acid and 140 of potash. You 
will need eight tons of average manure to supply the 
nitrogen, 26 tons to supply the phosphoric acid and 11 
tons to supply the potash. Thin will show why we 
advise farmers to use acid phosphate and muriate of 
potash with the manure. The eight tons of manure 
might give the needed nitrogen, but would not sup- 
lily (he needed phosphoric acid. If we tried to supply 
(his element, in the manure we would waste nitrogen 
by applying more than was needed. 
Use Enough Fertilizer. 
I have a sort of sandy loam, not much sand and all 
upland, on which formerly grew hard wood. Is there 
any fertilizer that I could harrow In this Spring, say BOO 
or GOO pounds to the acre, for potatoes that would be of 
any service to oats the next year? Or Is it better to pul 
the fertilizer in the hill and put grain fertilizer on the 
next year? I also want some meadow fertilizer. How 
much to the acre for hay and oats? I am on a run-down 
place. D - p - B - 
Bedford, N. Y. 
If you use 500 pounds of fertilizer on poor land and 
expect a fair crop of potatoes your oats will not make 
much of a showing. A high-grade fertilizer contain¬ 
ing four per cent nitrogen, eight of phosphoric acid 
and seven of potash will add to the soil in 500 pounds 
20 pounds of nitrogen, 40 of phosphoric acid and 35 
of potash. A crop of 200 bushels of potatoes will take 
from the soil 60 pounds of nitrogen, 50 of potash and 
20 of phosphoric acid. It is doubtful whether you 
could raise 75 bushels of potatoes on an acre of such 
soil with only 500 pounds of fertilizer. What could 
you expect to grow with only two tons of manure 
scattered over an entire acre? Yet it would contain 
20 pounds of nitrogen—the same as your 500 pounds. 
There are farmers who fertilize potatoes and expect 
to grow one crop of grain and two crops of grass on 
the fertility left in the soil, but we must remember 
that their soil is in good condition, and they use 1,500 
pounds or a ton of fertilizer to the acre. If you can 
use only 500 pounds we would put it in and around 
the hill, and use as much next year on the oats. You 
cannot bring your poor soil up to a good state of cul¬ 
tivation and produce paying crops while doing it un¬ 
less you are willing to use fertilizer heavily. If you 
could give the land up to cow peas this year—using 
some fertilizer—plow them under in September and 
sow rye and then plow that under next Spring, you 
would have your land so that the 600 pounds of fer¬ 
tilizer might produce a good crop, but you cannot 
start with poor land and improve it without using 
fertilizer enough to produce the crop and leave a sur¬ 
plus in the soil. 
Raw vs Dissolved Phosphate. 
An institute speaker recently made the statement that 
the same amount of money invested In phosphate rock 
floats—as in acid phosphate would do the same amount 
of good the first year, and would also be available in 
succeeding years, and that the soil would not become 
acid. Is this true? If so, how are the floats sown? 
Peach buds are generally killed in this section except 
on high ground; wheat looks very poor indeed. 
Austin, O. w. p. 
Let us understand just what we are talking about. 
“Phosphate rock” is dug out of the ground In South 
Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and other States. This 
rock is supposed to contain the fossilized remains of 
animals that lived on the earth many years ago. This 
rock is ground into a fine powder—called raw phos¬ 
phate or “floats.” This raw phosphate is then mixed 
with sulphuric acid, which “cuts” or dissolves it so 
that its phosphoric acid is soluble in water. The ob¬ 
ject in doing this is to put the phosphoric acid in such 
form that plants can 
easily use it. The 
“floats” are not solu¬ 
ble, and but slowly 
available to plants. To 
use the “floats” would 
be not unlike using 
fine sawdust in the 
place of wood ashes 
—while we might be 
able to buy a ton of 
sawdust for the cost 
of 300 pounds of ash¬ 
es, farmers who want, 
returns ror their 
money would buy the 
ashes. Yet it might 
pay to buy some of 
the sawdust too, be¬ 
cause it can be used 
as an absorbent, in the 
stable or as a mulch 
around trees. There 
is therefore no way of 
answering the ques- 
t i o n directly. The 
“floats” are not in a 
condition to feed most 
plants. Some crops, 
like rye, buckwheat or 
turnips, have a better 
"digestion” than oth¬ 
ers, and can actually 
thrive on the “floats." 
It would be possible to sow such crops, use the 
“floats” heavily, plow the crops under and thus obtain 
available phosphoric acid for such crops as corn, pota¬ 
toes, fruit or grass. In this way these “digester” crops 
would actually take the place partly of the sulphuric 
acid, but it would not pay to do this on most farms. 
We want available food for our crops. It is better to 
use yearly supplies of soluble plant food than to use 
materials which may not be available for years. We 
have no belief that the “floats” could give as good re¬ 
sults the first year as an equal value of acid phos¬ 
phate. This would be particularly true in an orchard 
or on sod. In such places we need soluble plant food 
which will dissolve and be carried down past the grass 
roots. To put “floats” on top of the sod would give lit¬ 
tle benefit to the trees. Still, it may pay to use the 
“floats.” They are very useful in the stable, used as 
an absorbent or under the hen roosts. We should use 
them there and scatter them oyer the manure piles as 
they are made up. The aot.ion of the manure will 
probably make the “floats” slightly more soluble. For 
direct application to crops we would buy the acid 
phosphate. 
THE HEART OF A BARREL OF “FANCY BALDWINS.” Fie. 102 . See Page 258. 
