Vol. LXXIV, No. 4347. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 0, 1915. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
A Home Supply of Potash. 
Save the Liquid Manures. 
REPARING FOR SHORTAGE.-^Winter is com¬ 
ing, when live stock must he housed in the 
contains about 0.17 per cent, of potash, so that 100 
gallons contain approximately 1 2-3 pound. Generally 
speaking, milch cows retain about 10 to 15 per cent, of 
the potash present in a normal mixed diet, but I.awes 
and Gilbert calculated that a higher proportion is re¬ 
tained in the case of certain concentrated foods. 
SELF-SUPPORTING FARMS. — In explaining 
why the old English farmers did not feel the need of 
chemical potash as modern farmers do. Dr. Russell 
of the Rothamsted Experiment Station makes the 
following point: 
Northern States. The potash supply problem will be 
harder next year than it was last Spring. These 
two facts are connected or at least ought to be con¬ 
nected by all good farmers, as we shall see. In 
England the potash problem is even harder than in 
this country. Land has 
been longer under cul¬ 
tivation, and many of 
the English crops, like 
potatoes and roots, are 
great consumers of pot¬ 
ash—must have it in 
fact. “Farm a n d 
Home,” an English pub¬ 
lication, shows that pot¬ 
ash manures were not 
imported into that 
country m u c h before 
1890. All the good 
farming of 50 years ago 
was done without the 
potash salts. That was 
before potatoes and 
mangels were grown on 
the present large scale. 
The general introduc¬ 
tion of these two crops 
and the i n e r ease d 
growth of clover and 
Alfalfa has made it ne¬ 
cessary to use chemical 
potash. English farm¬ 
ers cannot go back to 
the old plan of farming 
without potash, with¬ 
out giving up two of 
their m o s t important 
crops. All sorts of ways 
are being used in Eng¬ 
land to help out the 
potash supply, such as 
seaweed, ashes of all 
refuse, sawdust, tree 
primings or any waste 
vegetation that can be 
burned or plowed into 
tin 1 ground. 
A SOURCE OF POT¬ 
ASH.—Since it is im¬ 
possible to obtain the 
German potash salts at 
this time the English 
farmers are looking to 
the home supply of pot¬ 
ash, too often wasted, 
which is found in the 
liquid manures. Farm¬ 
ers should understand 
the situation regarding 
From this we see that the greater part of the pot¬ 
ash in the food is passed in the liquid manures. 
About 90 per cent, of the potash present in this 
food is assimilated and passed into the animal's cir¬ 
culation, and we see from these figures the necessity 
It is now clear why potash did not enter more largely 
into the scheme of manuring on British farms prior to 
the more extended cultivation of the potato. A farm 
worked on the old four-course rotation, and selling only 
grain and meat, can be made largely self-supporting in 
the matter of potash supplies if the manure heap is 
properly managed and the 
liquid m a n u r e is pre¬ 
served. The b u 1 k of 
the potash taken up by 
the cereal crop remains 
in the straw and does not 
pass into the grain ; thus, 
so long as the straw is 
kept on the farm the sup¬ 
ply is only slowly ex¬ 
hausted. Fattening and 
milking cattle only re¬ 
tain a small part of the 
potash supplied in the 
food, even a milch cow- 
only passing some 10 per 
cent, into its milk; all 
the remainder goes out 
into the excretions. Even 
at the present day many 
farms are still largely 
self-supporting in this re¬ 
spect, though this does 
not in any way mean 
that the farmer need not 
concern himself with the 
matter; on the contrary, 
it gives him an added re¬ 
sponsibility, because the 
parts of the crop contain¬ 
ing potash are just those 
as to which least care is 
usually exercised and of 
which most waste is com¬ 
monly seen. 
CHANGED ROTA¬ 
TION.—Thus it will 
be seen that a change 
of rotation and of 
crops, as well as new 
methods of handling 
manure, have made it 
necessary to use extra 
potash largely to pro¬ 
vide for the potatoes 
and mangels now grow¬ 
ing so largely in Eng¬ 
land. Much the same 
thing has become true 
of our Eastern farm¬ 
ing, and particularly 
the section along the 
Atlantic coast. Changes 
of crops have made it 
necessary to use more 
potash, since more and 
more of that element 
has been sent away in 
potatoes, fruit, garden¬ 
ing crops and other pro¬ 
ducts which have taken 
the place of old-time 
dairying and cattle 
Unpacking the Trees from the Nursery. See page 1216. Fig. 458. 
potash in farm manures. The following extract 
of taking the greatest care to hold this liquid ma- keeping. 
The table below shows the plant 
from an address from E. ,1. Russell shows what be- 
nure so that the potash will not be lost. The table 
food taken away from a farm in a ton of various 
comes of the potash in cattle food. 
below shows the comparative composition of liquid crops. We can see from these figures that most of 
Potash is less retained by live stock than any other 
ingredient of manurial value in their food. This was 
demonstrated in 1883 by Lawes and Gilbert, when they 
worked up the detailed analyses of the ashes of the 
animals slaughtered during their famous experiments 
of 1849-50. The increase of weight during fattening 
w-as found to contain 1.27 per cent, of nitrogen, 0.86 
per cent, of phosphoric acid, but only 0.11 per cent, of 
potash; in other words, for every hundred-weight of 
flesh laid on a fattening animal retains only two ounces 
of potash. Milch cows naturally retain more. Milk 
and solid manures. 
POUNDS IN ONE TON. . 
Nitrogen Phos. Acid Potash 
Horse—Solid . 11 6 8 
Liquid . 27 0 25 
Cow—Solid . 8 4 2 
Liquid . 20 0 27 
Sheep—Solid . 15 10 9 
Liquid . 27 1 42 
Pig—Solid . 11 10 S 
Liquid . 8 2 9 
our forage crops carry the greater part of their pot¬ 
ash in the straw or fodder. Such crops as potatoes, 
Alfalfa, and beans carry large quantities of potash 
away from the soil and as we have seen the greater 
part of the potash left on the farm as manure is 
contained in the liquid portion. In these times more 
than ever therefore, every precaution should be 
taken to save these liquids so that the potash may 
