THE RURAL NLW-YOKKKK 
1511 
How to Handle Chicken Manure 
Keep Dry and Mix With Chemicals 
F we were to decide the most important popular 
subject now before our readers on the basis of 
a vote we should certainly name chicken manure, 
and how to use it with greatest profit. Hardly a 
day passes without one or more questions regarding 
this manure. In the past we have discussed the 
subject many times. Our people do not seem to have 
read what has been printed, or else these requests 
come from newer readers. Most people who write 
say they have been told that the chicken manure 
is rich in potash, and the shortage of this element 
in fertilizers this year makes them think that the 
chicken manure can be used as a potash carrier. 
Such manure does contain considerable potash— 
more than manure from the larger animals. In 
these larger animals a greater proportion of the 
potash is voided in the liquid, while in the case of 
poultry the liquids and solids are voided together. 
Thus the dry hen manure will contain a higher 
proportion of potash than ordinary stable manure, 
or even manure from sheep, and it is a wise thing 
to save it if possible. 
This chicken manure may be roughly divided into 
two classes, that found on the dropping boards un¬ 
der the perches, and that found on the floor among 
the litter. As good a way to handle the latter as 
any is to fork it out and spread it 
directly upon grass or grain, or under 
fruit trees. It is generally quite bulky 
by reason of the litter mixed with it, 
and can he quickly handled in this 
way. Some people prefer to mix this 
litter manure into the ordinary ma¬ 
nure pile, especially on dairy farms 
where the bulk of the manure comes 
from cows. The cow manure is gen¬ 
erally cold and slow to ferment, and 
the addition of the more active hen 
manure mixed through it will start 
fermentation and put the manure pile 
in better condition. In cases where 
the Winter is spent in hauling muck 
or peat from the swamp, this lifter 
manure, with lime mixed through the 
pile of muck, will start fermentation 
and put the muck in far better condi¬ 
tion. The best part of the chicken ma¬ 
nure is the pure article left on the 
droppings board through the night. 
The best way to handle this, provided 
the hen man is ready to do the work, 
is to keep this manure under the perch¬ 
es thoroughly dusted with land plaster, 
dry dirt, or some similar dry material. 
Probably land plaster will be most use¬ 
ful, and if it is used this manure 
should be kept thoroughly white. This 
dusted manure is scraped off frequent¬ 
ly and kept in boxes or barrels under 
cover. Do not let it be exposed to the 
rain so that it will leach. Use plenty 
of the plaster, and keep the manure 
dry. in the Spring, after this treat¬ 
ment, it will be found in dry hard 
chunks, the size of the fist or larger. 
These may be broken up by beating 
with a heavy spade or maul, or using a grinder for 
the purpose if the quantity of the manure is large. 
The fine sifted manure may then be mixed with 
chemicals such as nitrate of soda, acid phosphate 
or bone and potash when it can be bought. In this 
vs ay an excellent fertilizing mixture can be made, 
which may he drilled like any other fertilizer, and 
may he varied by the addition of different chemi¬ 
cals, so as to feed almost every crop. This is the 
best way of handling the manure, although some 
1 oultrymen think it too much work and therefore 
scrape out the house from time to time and simply 
put the manure right on the grass land or else 
hold it until Spring, and then throw it in chunks 
on the hills of potatoes or corn. This is not the 
most economical way to use the manure. The plan 
of drying and grinding is much better. The thing 
to do now is to keep the manure as dry as possible, 
and also keep it thoroughly dusted with plaster 
or some other dry material. Then in the Spring it 
can be crushed and mixed to the best advantage. 
Turnips for Feeding Cows 
ARIETIES USED.—In speaking of Cow-liorn 
turnips, on page 1429, Mr. Brinton says, “But 
what are they good for? Neither cows, pigs nor 
horses care for them.” Tiie It. N.-Y. says in a foot¬ 
note, “We use them as a green manure.” This leads 
me to relate my recent experience with turnips as 
a profitable milk feed. The variety used was Yel¬ 
low Stone, but in former years I have fed Cow- 
horn turnips with equally good results, except that 
they are not so easily pulled. There is a prejudice 
in the public mind against turnips for cows on ac¬ 
count of danger of imparting a turnip flavor to the 
milk. This is wholly unfounded if the turnips are 
fed right after milking time. 
THE COWS.—Years ago I heard farmers’ insti¬ 
tute workers advise the use of a registered sire in 
order to breed up a herd to better performance at 
slight cost. I was keeping a few cows as a side 
line to poultry, and about 10 years ago I made up 
my mind to try it out for myself. Many of my 
near neighbors were keeping registered sires of the 
Holstein breed, so I thought it better to pay for 
service rather than keep one of my own for so 
small a herd. The first move was to buy four grade 
heifer calves at a week old at $5 each. Many were 
going to dealers in “veal” then at that price or less. 
The next year I bought four more, turning off com¬ 
mon cows as fast as these got old enough to take 
their place. Since then I have bred these to some 
neighbor’s sire, never having to pay more than a 
dollar each for service. Three of the original eight 
are still on hand and enough of their progeny to 
make 10 in all ranging in age from two to 10 years. 
Besides these I have six still younger that are not 
ready for the pail. 
TIIE FEED.—Believing that in connection with 
As New Years Comes to the North this Year. Fig. 578 
good cows “a full paunch of some succulent home¬ 
grown feed” is the secret of producing milk at low 
cost I made plans one stormy day last Winter to 
raise such a supply for the coming season. The 
plans included of course good pasture grass for 
May, June and possibly July. Also green oats for 
July, green corn fodder for August and September, 
with plenty of turnips from early in August to freez¬ 
ing weather late in November, followed by mangels 
for remainder of Winter. The turnips were sown 
broadcast at different periods. First sowing was 
among apple trees cultivated the early part of 
season with the seed sown in early June. They 
were ready to use by the time the green oats were 
gone and so was some of the early sweet corn. Tiie 
supply was abundant from that time until within a 
few days of Thanksgiving and they had just all 
they could “lay to” morning and night immediately 
after being milked. Each afternoon a supply was 
pulled and drawn to barn untopped, with a double 
supply on Saturday afternoon. 
FEEDING A VARIETY.—The aim was to get a 
“full paunch” twice a day. Upon being stabled the 
first food given was the grain feed or concentrates. 
This consisted of gluten meal two parts by weight, 
cornmeal two parts, dried brewers’ grains one part, 
and wheat bran one part. As soon as milking was 
completed the untopped turnips were given, all they 
would eat, and they ate a lot (50 to 60 pounds each 
a day). This was usually followed by some other 
kind of soiling crop, such as green corn fodder, but 
tops, or some of the mangel roots if nothing else 
was available. When they cried “enough” in the 
stable, they were turned in the meadows where they 
could usually get a “full bite” of second growth 
grass, and they always seemed to have a corner 
left somewhere to stow’ away quite a bit of grass 
before seeking a good spot to lie and chew the cud. 
They would not eat much of the high-cost grain 
mixture under such treatment, about five to eight 
pounds a day, and during the month of October, 
while we had a full supply of beet tops to add to 
the turnips we often had to remove part of the 2% 
pounds given at a feeding. 
RESULTS.—Beginning September 1st, we began 
to weigh and record each mess, and expect to keep 
it up for a year at least. There is no cow-testing 
association near me. One cow had freshened in 
early June, three in July and three in August, so 
that there were seven milking at that time with three 
to follow' later, one being but two years old. The 
seven that were in milk for the w'hole mouth of 
September gave 9345 pounds for the month, an av¬ 
erage of 44% pounds each per day. The eight that 
were in milk the whole of October gave 10315 
pounds, an average of 41% pounds a day. The 
whole 10 were in milk for the month of November 
and gave 12094 pounds, an average of 40% pounds 
each a day. Three of the lot reached 60 pounds 
each a day at the maximum. I sell my milk to a 
dealer who peddles it in our local mar¬ 
ket, a city of about 20,000 inhabitants 
and there was absolutely no complaint 
of turnip flavor in the milk. He pays 
the Borden price for 3.8% milk with¬ 
out testing it and returns for milk 
sold from these 10 turnip fed cow's for 
these three months amounted to $603.- 
91, while the grain feed used cost 
$92.48. In addition four heifer calves 
and three families were supplied with 
milk at home. 
COST OF SOILING CROPS.—No 
record of cost of the turnips was kept, 
but I can raise mangels at a cost of 
$3 per ton, or less, stored in barn or 
cellar. This allows for interest, seed, 
fertilizer and labor, with fertilizer and 
manure all charged to the one crop of 
beets, man labor at 20 cents per hour, 
man and team 40 cents per hour, and 
man and one horse (cnltl— -.*■ °° 
cents per hour. I am qi 
the turnips cost still less, 
grown as a second or auxiliary vi U1 ,. 
I usually plan to sow turnips for main 
crop on land from which early pota¬ 
toes or oats and peas have been cut 
for hay. This year, however, we had 
a soaking rain as we finished haying, 
so we turned over a piece of sod 
ground intended for corn next year and 
raised the turnips on that, securing a 
big yield. It is not safe to depend on 
doing that, however, as dry weather 
is apt to interfere with such a plan. 
We got a fairly good stand by mixing 
the seed with some very fine chick 
grit and sowing by hand. Another 
year I shall try mixing with granu¬ 
lated cornmeal such as most grocers sell and sowing 
with wheelbarrow seeder such as I use for grass 
seed. The Hope Farm man may fool himself that 
a big turnip plant with its spreading leaves “does 
not interfere with clover or grass seeding,” but I 
hardly think he can fool the young grass plant 
under it. 0 . w. mapes. 
A Good Corn Crop 
R. L, D. WEEKS of the District of Columbia 
sends us the picture of the corn and the cover 
crop shown at Fig. 576. Some of this corn stood 
nearly 16 feet high. The land originally was very 
poor, and no fertilizer whatever has been used. 
This crop is the result of thorough culture and 
cover cropping for a term of years, the cover crop 
being plowed under when at good size to add to the 
organic matter in the soil. There was an acre of 
this corn which was handled by a government em¬ 
ployee after the regular day’s work was done. This 
is certainly “some corn,” and shows what can be 
done even upon poor, rather abandoned land by 
thorough cultivation and making the most of the 
land itself. There are many thousand acres 
throughout the country now practically idle which 
might be brought back to a high state of fertility at 
very light expense if handled much as Mr. Weeks 
has handled this crop of corn. A bare idle field at 
this season of the year is losing in fertility and or¬ 
ganic matter, which might be saved by some living 
crop and worked toward full production. 
