Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 172, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1914 — GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO CLEAN UP YARDS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO CLEAN UP YARDS

(By ELMER HENDERSON.) Just between com planting and com plowing there is a little time when the work in the fields Is not so crowding. This affords a good opportunity to clean the manure from the yards and land it out Into the fields. At this time of the year most probably the only place’to land ItbTthe~hay ground. This is a goOd place for it, as the growing meadow will take up all the nitrateß as fast as they are released from the decaying manure and apply it to their own use. It has been proved time and again by actual tests reported by our experiment stations that the manure that is allowed to lie around and rot loses three-fourths of its value. This is due to decomposition of the material, nitrification and the escape of ammonia and to leaching or washing by rains. When manure decays there is liberated by this process, nitrogen, which is one of the most valuable factors on the American farm today. H tMs nitrogen ls ailowed to escape, itß value Is lost to the crop, which probably needs It very much. As much as three-fourths of the available nitrogen in a soil may escape during the summer. When It Is considered that this Is one of the most valuable constituents of the manure, the extent of the loss is at once apparent. As to the loss by leaching or washing, I need only remind you of the stream of muddy water that issues

ig or wi

from a manure pile during and after every heavy rain. Every drop of water is rich in this valuable nitrogen, not to mention the other elementa that are of so much value to the growing crops. - The average manure imthe spring, before leaching or begun, is worth anywhere from $2.50 to $3 per ton; allowed remain in the yard until fall, it is worth barely a third of that price. In our calculations we have left the sanitary aspect out of consideration. There should be nothing more sanitary than a clean, well-kept barnyard. On the other hand, there Is not a better place for the germs of disease than in the foul, filthy yards that are so common on many homesteads. Many a fine horse has been ruined by being compelled to tramp to Mid from trough throughoneof these diegraceful barn lots. Grease, rot and all its. kindred ailments are only too common to animals allowed to remain in these places. Then, brother farmers, clean up. If not for your stock’s sake, then for your pqcketbook’s sake. But it is dollars to doughnuts that the man who allows his manure to lie around all* summer, also lets his other work lag. Clean up! It is more sanitary; things look better—have a /leaner, better smell. The elements that Insult your nostrils, in a dirty barnyard, are the same that make the big crop of fragrant hay next summer.

There Is Nothing More Sanitary Than a Clean, Well-Kept Barnyard.

By Contrast, Note the Neglect Here.