Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1909 — Utilizing Barn Manure. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Utilizing Barn Manure.

Many farmers are beginning to save their stable and lot manure and also to keep enough live stock to make large enough quantities to justify the use of a spreader. There are few farmers even at this enlightened period who conserve all the available plant food on their farms. There has been much improvement along this line since the days when barns were built without basements and the manure from the stables was thrown outside, there to leach through summer rain and winter snow. Much of the richness of this exposed fertilizer is soaked away into the surrounding soil with the water from rain and snow. The land surrounding these manure piles was often so satu-

rated with this waste as to be unable to support plant life. The strength of this absorbed fertilizer was more than plants could feed upon and live. Experiment has proved that manure thus exposed loses in a few months nearly or quite half its value.

With the building of barns with basement cellars a portion of this waste was prevented, but much of the liquid is still lost on most farms. Cemented manure cellars are the exception, yet they pay a big dividend on money invested. Cement is not expensive. band can be found on most farms, or at least would cost little, and any intelligent man can mix it and spread It. With a cemented cellar and a proper use of absorbents the liquid can be nearly all saved, and it is of more value than the solid, being more readily available for the use of plants. The illustration shows a manure spreader being loaded at the barn.

LOADING A MANURE SPREADER.