Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 February 1918 — THE NEIGHBORHOOD CORNER [ARTICLE]

THE NEIGHBORHOOD CORNER

A DEPARTMENT OF FARM WELFARE CONDUCTED BY CO. AGENT LEAMING. I **MHMMa* * The Conservation of Farm Manures A paper prepared for the North Union Farmers’ club by R. L. Budd. The American people as a people are so constituted that it is useless to talk to them on the conservation of any substance so long as that substance is plenteous. Not many years ago it was no uncommon sight to see large piles of logs rolled together and burned to get rid of them whereas now everything possible of the trees is saved even to the sawdust for some purpose or other. And the same might be said of hundreds of other industries, objects once considered a nusiance are now saved with great care and have become sources of large revenues. But the American people must be shown, they will not save until there is a vital need for it.

So it must be well at the beginning of my talk to again bring to your attention the value of farm manures in general. Experiments carried on in the state of Indiana show value per ton of manure of from $1.62 to $1.45 for the increase in the crop due to its use. These values were based on the pre-war prices of $.50 and SI.OO for corn and $2.00 for wheat, places a value of from $2.34 to $8.90 per ton. The lower figure is due to the fact that the ground where the manure was applied was much better to begin with than the latter figure. Therefore we would say that one means of conservation would be to place our manure on our poorer ground. Experiments conducted over a period of 20 years in England on a good type of soil show an average increase of 2% bushels of wheat per ton of manure applied, at present prices meaining a value of about $5.00 per ton. Experiments at Purdue show an average of almost 4 bushel of corn per ton of manure applied, at present prices meaning a value of almost S4.OQ. So you can see it is well worth our while to save every bit possible. Now, that we may get a better idea of the ways to save this valuable product, let us see of what it consists, and their relation to the body as a whole. We find that manure is made up of the ten principal constituents that make it a complete plant food. Of these we will mention only three as almost all soils have the other parts in abundance. These three are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and , potash. The first of these, nitrogen is generally considered the most important as there is nothing that so helps a crop like an abundance of this part and there is nothing so readily removed by cropping and also by poor farm practices, one of which that might be stated here is the practice of farming ground wet. However, nature seems to have given us an ample sufficiency of.-nitrogen for our present needs. Nitrogen is found chiefly -in the liquid part of. the manure. Next comes the phosphoric acid, which is found almost entirely in the dry matter of the manure. Then we have the potash, which being a salt and very soluble is found almost entirely in the liquid. So, to keep the manure at its best proportion, we must keep it thoroughly mixed. * There are several methods in vogue of caring for the farm manures. Probably the oldest method is that of throwing the manure out of the stable window. This method cannot be top much condemned for it does not take many rains to wash out the most valuable parts. One experiment showed a loss of 70 percent of the fertilizing value of manure when stored in an open yard for a period of 12 months. This loss will “be sustained much sooner when the manure is stored under the eayes.

The average manure contains about 11 pounds of potash to the ton and about 10 pounds of this* is soluble with the 14 pounds of nitrogen contained in that same ton is gradually washed away. Another method that has been practiced for many years is to put plenty of bedding in the stables and allow the manure to lay there until hauled to the field- This is one of the best methods known if one his plenty of bedding material. By putting in a thick layer of straw or other material in the stable before turning in the stock, the stock will tramp the bedding down so compactly that none of the liquid will seep through. And also the manure as made will be tramped so as to prevent the entrance of air, which causes heating or so called firing. This process is a very damaging one as it is a chemical change that allows the nitrogen to escape into the air. When this method is used it is best to allow the stock the run of the stables. The dement floor has been of great benefit in the saving of manure, as it prevents leaching through the floor. But Ido not believe there is any f one improvement on the farm more abused than a cement floor.. Far on by far to many farms the fertilizing elements saved by aid of the cement floor are throwed out in a pile to be lost-by both firJ (Continued, on Page Four.)