The Elements of Agriculture

Describe this manure as compared with the excrements of other animals.

Does the use of night soil produce disagreeable properties in plants?

That which directly affects agriculture, as treated of in this book, is the value of this substance as a fertilizer. The manure of man consists (as is the case with that of other animals) of those parts of his food which are not retained in the increase of his body. If he be growing, his manure is poorer, as in the case of the ox, and it is subject to all the other modifications named in the early part of this chapter. His food is usually of a varied character, and is rich in nitrogen, the phosphates, and other inorganic constituents; consequently, his manure is made valuable by containing large quantities of these matters. As is the case with the ox, the dung contains the undigested food, the secretions (or leakings) of the digestive organs, and the insoluble parts of the ash of the digested food. The urine, in like manner, contains a large proportion of the nitrogen and the soluble inorganic parts of the digested food. When we consider how much richer the food of man is than that of horned cattle, we shall see the superior value of his excrement.

Night soil has been used as a manure, for ages, in China, which is, undoubtedly, one great secret of their success in supporting a dense population, for so long a time, without impoverishing the soil. It has been found, in many instances, to increase the productive power of the natural soil three-fold. That is, if a soil would produce ten bushels of wheat per acre, without manure, it would produce thirty bushels if manured with night soil.

Some have supposed that manuring with night soil would give disagreeable properties to plants: such is not the case; their quality is invariably improved. The color and odor of the rose become richer and more delicate by the use of the most offensive night soil as manure.

What is the direct object of plants?

What would result if this were not the case?

How may night soil be easily prepared for use, and its offensive odor prevented?

It is evident that this is the case from the fact that plants have it for their direct object to make over and put together the refuse organic matter, and the gases and the minerals found in nature, for the use of animals. If there were no natural means of rendering the excrement of animals available to plants, the earth must soon be shorn of its fertility, as the elements of growth when once consumed would be essentially destroyed, and no soil could survive the exhaustion. There is no reason why the manure of man should be rejected by vegetation more than that of any other animal; and indeed it is not, for ample experience has proved that for most soils there is no better manure in existence.

A single experiment will suffice to show that night soil may be so kept that there shall be no loss of its valuable gases, and consequently no offensive odor arising from it, while it may be removed and applied to crops without unpleasantness. All that is necessary to effect this wonderful change in night soil, and to turn it from its disagreeable character to one entirely inoffensive, is to mix with it a little charcoal dust, prepared muck, or any other good absorbent—thus making what is called poudrette. The mode of doing this must depend on circumstances. In many cases, it would be expedient to keep a barrel of the absorbent in the privy and throw down a small quantity every day. The effect on the odor of the house would amply repay the trouble.

Should pure night soil be used as a manure?

What precaution is necessary in preparing hog manure for use?

The manure thus made is of the most valuable character, and may be used under any circumstances with a certainty of obtaining a good crop. It should not be used unmixed with some absorbent, as it is of such strength as to kill plants.

For an analysis of human manure, see Section V.

HOG MANURE

Hog Manure is very valuable, but it must be used with care. It is so violent in its action that, when applied in a pure form to crops, it often produces injurious results. It is liable to make cabbages clump-footed, and to induce a disease in turnips called ambury (or fingers and toes). The only precaution necessary is to supply the stye with prepared muck, charcoal-dust, leaf-mould, or any absorbent in plentiful quantities, often adding fresh supplies. The hogs will work this over with the manure; and, when required for use, it will be found an excellent fertilizer. The absorbent will have overcome its injurious tendency, and it may be safely applied to any crop. From the variety and rich character of the food of this animal, his manure is of a superior quality.

Why is the manure from butchers' hog-pens very valuable?

How does the value of poultry manure compare with that of guano?

How may it be protected against loss?

Butchers' hog-pen manure is one of the best fertilizers known. It is made by animals that live almost entirely on blood and other animal refuse, and is very rich in nitrogen and the phosphates. It should be mixed with prepared muck, or its substitute, to prevent the loss of its ammonia, and as a protection against its injurious effect on plants.

POULTRY HOUSE MANURE

Next in value to night soil, among domestic manures, are the excrements of poultry, pigeons, etc. Birds live on the nice bits of creation, seeds, insects, etc., and they discharge their solid and liquid excrements together. Poultry-dung is nearly equal in value to guano (except that it contains more water), and it deserves to be carefully preserved and judiciously used. It is as well worth twenty-five cents per bushel as guano is worth fifty dollars a ton (at which price it is now sold).

Poultry-manure is liable to as much injury from evaporation and leaching as is any other manure, and equal care should be taken (by the same means) to prevent such loss. Good shelter over the roosts, and daily sprinkling with prepared muck or charcoal-dust will be amply repaid by the increased value of the manure, and its better action and greater durability in the soil. The value of this manure should be taken into consideration in calculating the profit of keeping poultry (as indeed with all other stock). It has been observed by a gentleman of much experience, in poultry raising, that the yearly manure of a hundred fowls applied to previously unmanured land would produce extra corn enough to keep them for a year. This is probably a large estimate, but it serves to show that this fertilizer is very valuable, and also that poultry may be kept with great profit, if their excrements are properly secured.

The manure of pigeons has been a favorite fertilizer in some countries for more than 2000 years.

Market gardeners attach much value to rabbit-manure.

SHEEP MANURE

What can you say of the manure of sheep?

The manure of sheep is less valuable than it would be, if so large a quantity of the nitrogen and mineral parts of the food were not employed in the formation of wool. This has a great effect on the richness of the excrements, but they are still a very good fertilizer, and should be protected from loss in the same way as stable manure.

GUANO

Should the use of guano induce us to disregard other manures?

Where and in what manner is the best guano deposited?

Guano as a manure has become world renowned. The worn-out tobacco lands of Virginia, and other fields in many parts of the country, which seemed to have yielded to the effect of an ignorant course of cultivation, and to have sunk to their final repose, have in many cases been revived to the production of excellent crops, and have had their value multiplied many fold by the use of guano. Although an excellent manure, it should not cause us to lose sight of those valuable materials which exist on almost every farm. Every ton of guano imported into the United States is an addition to our national wealth, but every ton of stable-manure, or poultry-dung, or night soil evaporated or carried away in rivers, is equally a deduction from our riches. If the imported manure is to really benefit us, we must not allow it to occasion the neglect and consequent loss of our domestic fertilizers.

The Peruvian guano (which is considered the best) is brought from islands near the coast of Peru. The birds which frequent these islands live almost entirely on fish, and drop their excrements here in a climate where rain is almost unknown, and where, from the dryness of the air, there is but little loss sustained by the manure. It is brought to this country in large quantities, and is an excellent fertilizer, superior even to night soil.

How should it be prepared for use?

It should be mixed with an absorbent before being used, unless it is plowed deeply under the soil, as it contains much ammonia which would be lost from evaporation. It would probably also injure plants. The best way to use guano, is in connection with sulphuric acid and bones, as will be described hereafter.

The composition of the various kinds of guano may be found in the section on analysis.

CHAPTER VII

OTHER ORGANIC MANURES

The number of organic manures is almost countless. The most common of these have been described in the previous chapters on the excrements of animals. The more prominent of the remaining ones will now be considered. As a universal rule, it may be stated that all organic matter (every thing which has had vegetable or animal life) is capable of fertilizing plants.

DEAD ANIMALS

What are the chief fertilizing constituents of dead animals?

What becomes of these when exposed to the atmosphere?

How may this be prevented?

The bodies of animals contain much nitrogen, as well as valuable quantities, the phosphates and other inorganic materials required in the growth of plants. On their decay, the nitrogen is resolved into ammonia,28 and the mineral matters become valuable as food for the inorganic parts of plants.

If the decomposition of animal bodies takes place in exposed situations, and without proper precautions, the ammonia escapes into the atmosphere, and much of the mineral portion is leached out by rains. The use of absorbents, such as charcoal-dust, prepared muck, etc., will entirely prevent evaporation, and will in a great measure serve as a protection against leaching.

If a dead horse be cut in pieces and mixed with ten loads of muck, the whole mass will, in a single season, become a most valuable compost. Small animals, such as dogs, cats, etc., may be with advantage buried by the roots of grape-vines or trees.

BONES

Of what do the bones of animals consist?

What is gelatine?

Describe the fertilizing qualities of fish.

The bones of animals contain phosphate of lime and gelatine. The gelatine is a nitrogenous substance, and produces ammonia on its decomposition. This subject will be spoken of more fully under the head of 'phosphate of lime' in the chapter on mineral manures, as the treatment of bones is more directly with reference to the fertilizing value of their inorganic matter.

FISH

In many localities near the sea-shore large quantities of fish are caught and applied to the soil. These make excellent manure. They contain much nitrogen, which renders them strongly ammoniacal on decomposition. Their bones consist of phosphate and carbonate of lime; and, being naturally soft, they decompose in the soil with great facility, and become available to plants. The scales of fish contain valuable quantities of nitrogen, phosphate of lime, etc., all of which are highly useful.

Refuse fishy matters from markets and from the house are well worth saving. These and fish caught for manure may be made into compost with prepared muck, etc.; and, as they putrefy rapidly, they soon become ready for use. They may be added to the compost of stable manure with great advantage.

Should these be applied as a top dressing to the soil?

What are the fertilizing properties of woollen rags?

What is the best way to use them?

Fish (like all other nitrogenous manures) should never be applied as a top dressing, unless previously mixed with a good absorbent of ammonia, but should when used alone be immediately plowed under to considerable depth, to prevent the evaporation—and consequent loss—of their fertilizing gases.

WOOLLEN RAGS, ETC

Woollen rags, hair, waste of woollen factories, etc., contain both nitrogen and phosphate of lime; and, like all other matters containing these ingredients, are excellent manures, but must be used in such a way as to prevent the escape of their fertilizing gases. They decompose slowly, and are therefore considered a lasting manure. Like all lasting manures, however, they are slow in their effects, and the most advantageous way to use them is to compost them with stable manure, or with some other rapidly fermenting substance, which will hasten their decomposition and render them sooner available.

Rags, hair, etc., thus treated, will in a short time be reduced to such a condition that they may be immediately used by plants instead of lying in the soil to be slowly taken up. It is better in all cases to have manures act quickly and give an immediate return for their cost, than to lie for a long time in the soil before their influence is felt.

What is their value compared with that of farm-yard manure?

How should old leather be treated?

Describe the manurial properties of tanners' refuse.

How should they be treated?

Are horn piths, etc. valuable?

A pound of woollen rags is worth, as a manure, twice as much as is paid for good linen shreds for paper making; still, while the latter are always preserved, the former are thrown away, although considered by good judges to be worth forty times as much as barn-yard manure.

Old leather should not be thrown away. It decomposes very slowly, and consequently is of but a little value; but, if put at the roots of young trees, it will in time produce appreciable effects.

Tanners' and curriers' refuse, and all other animal offal, including that of the slaughter-house, is well worth attention, as it contains more or less of those two most important ingredients of manures, nitrogen and phosphate of lime.

It is unnecessary to add that, in common with all other animal manures, these substances must be either composted, or immediately plowed under the soil. Horn piths, and horn shavings, if decomposed in compost, with substances which ferment rapidly, make very good manure, and are worth fully the price charged for them.

ORGANIC MANURES OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN

Muck, the most important of the purely vegetable manures, has been already sufficiently described. It should be particularly borne in mind that, when first taken from the swamp it is often sour, or cold, but that if exposed for a long time to the air, or if well treated with lime, unleached ashes, the lime and salt mixture, or any other alkali, its acids will be neutralized (or overcome), and it becomes a good application to any soil, except peat or other soils already containing large quantities of organic matter. In applying muck to the soil (as has been before stated), it should be made a vehicle for carrying ammoniacal manures.

SPENT TAN BARK

Why is decomposed bark more fertilizing than that of decayed wood?

Spent tan bark, if previously decomposed by the use of the lime and salt mixture, or potash, answers all the purposes of prepared muck, but is more difficult of decomposition.

How may bark be decomposed?

Why should tan bark be composted with an alkali?

Why is it good for mulching?

Is sawdust of any value?

The bark of trees contains a larger proportion of inorganic matter than the wood, and much of this, on the decomposition of the bark, becomes available as manure. The chemical effect on the bark, of using it in the tanning of leather, is such as to render it difficult to be rotted by the ordinary means, but, by the use of the lime and salt mixture it may be reduced to the finest condition, and becomes a most excellent manure. It probably contains small quantities of nitrogen (obtained from the leather), which adds to its value. Unless tan bark be composted with lime, or some other alkali, it may produce injurious effects from the tannic acid which it is liable to contain. Alkaline substances will neutralize this acid, and prevent it from being injurious.

One great benefit resulting from the use of spent tan bark, is due to its power of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. For this reason it is very valuable for mulching29 young trees and plants when first set out.

SAWDUST

Why is sawdust a good addition to the pig-stye?

What is the peculiarity of sawdust from the beech, etc.?

What is a peculiarity of soot?

Why may soot be used as a top dressing without losing its ammonia?

Sawdust in its natural state is of very little value to the land, but when decomposed, as may be done by the same method as was described for tan bark, it is of some importance, as it contains a large quantity of carbon. Its ash, too, which becomes available, contains soluble inorganic matter, and in this way it acts as a direct manure. So far as concerns the value of the ash, however, the bark is superior to sawdust. Sawdust may be partially rotted by mixing it with strong manure (as hog manure), while it acts as a divisor, and prevents the too rapid action of this when applied to the soil. Some kinds of sawdust, such as that from beech wood, form acetic acid on their decomposition, and these should be treated with, at least, a sufficient quantity of lime to correct the acid.

Soot is a good manure. It contains much carbon, and has, thus far, all of the beneficial effects of charcoal dust. The sulphur, which is one of its constituents, not only serves as food for plants, but, from its odor, is a good protection against some insects. By throwing a handful of soot on a melon vine, or young cabbage plant, it will keep away many insects.

Soot contains some ammonia, and as this is in the form of a sulphate, it is not volatile, and consequently does not evaporate when the soot is applied as a top dressing, which is the almost universal custom.

GREEN CROPS

What plants are most used as green crops?

What office is performed by the roots of green crops?

How do such manures increase the organic matter of soils?

Green crops, to plow under, are in many places largely raised, and are always beneficial. The plants most used for this purpose, in our country, are clover, buckwheat, and peas. These plants have very long roots, which they send deep in the soil, to draw up mineral matter for their support. This mineral matter is deposited in the plant. The leaves and roots receive carbonic acid and ammonia from the air, and from water. In this manner they obtain their carbon. When the crop is turned under the soil, it decomposes, and the carbon, as well as the mineral ingredients obtained from the subsoil, are deposited in the surface soil, and become of use to succeeding crops. The hollow stalks of the buckwheat and pea, serve as tubes, in the soil, for the passage of air, and thus, in heavy soils, give a much needed circulation of atmospheric fertilizers.

What office is performed by the straw of the buckwheat and pea?

What treatment may be substituted for the use of green crops?

Which course should be adopted in high farming?

Why is the use of green crops preferable in ordinary cultivation?

Name some other valuable manures.

Although green crops are of great benefit, and are managed with little labor, there is no doubt but the same results may be more economically produced. A few loads of prepared muck will do more towards increasing the organic matter in the soil, than a very heavy crop of clover, while it would be ready for immediate cultivation, instead of having to lie idle during the year required in the production and decomposition of the green crop. The effect of the roots penetrating the subsoil is, as we have seen, to draw up inorganic matter, to be deposited within reach of the roots of future crops. In the next section we shall show that this end may be much more efficiently attained by the use of the sub-soil plow, which makes a passage for the roots into the subsoil, where they can obtain for themselves what would, in the other case, be brought up for them by the roots of the green crop.

The offices of the hollow straws may be performed by a system of ridging and back furrowing, having previously covered the soil with leaves, or other refuse organic material.

In high farming, where the object of the cultivator is to make a profitable investment of labor, these last named methods will be found most expedient; but, if the farmer have a large quantity of land, and can afford but a limited amount of labor, the raising of green crops, to be plowed under in the fall, will probably be adopted.

Before closing this chapter, it may be well to remark that there are various other fertilizers, such as the ammoniacal liquor of gas-houses, soapers' wastes, bleachers' lye, lees of old oil casks, etc., which we have not space to consider at length, but which are all valuable as additions to the compost heap, or as applications, in a liquid form, to the soil.

What are the advantages arising from burying manure in its green state?

Which is generally preferable, this course, or composting? Why?

In many cases (when heavy manuring is practised), it may be well to apply organic manures to the soil in a green state, turn them under, and allow them to undergo decomposition in the ground. The advantages of this system are, that the heat, resulting from the chemical changes, will hasten the growth of plants, by making the soil warmer; the carbonic acid formed will be presented to the roots instead of escaping into the atmosphere; and if the soil be heavy, the rising of the gases will tend to loosen it, and the leaving vacant of the spaces occupied by the solid matters will, on their being resolved into gases, render the soil of a more porous character. As a general rule, however, in ordinary farming, where the amount of manure applied is only sufficient for the supply of food to the crop, it is undoubtedly better to have it previously decomposed—cooked as it were, for the uses of the plants—as they can then obtain the required amount of nutriment as fast as needed.

ABSORPTION OF MOISTURE

It is often convenient to know the relative power of different manures to absorb moisture from the atmosphere, especially when we wish to manure lands that suffer from drought. The following results are given by C. W. Johnson, in his essay on salt, (pp. 8 and 19). In these experiments the animal manures were employed without any admixture of straw.

[AF] Working Farmer, vol. 1, p. 55.

Muck is a most excellent absorbent of moisture, when thoroughly decomposed.

DISTRIBUTION OF MANURES

The following table from Johnson, on manures, will be found convenient in the distribution of manures.

By its assistance the farmer will know how many loads of manure he requires, dividing each load into a stated number of heaps, and placing them at certain distances. In this manner manure may be applied evenly, and calculation may be made as to the amount, per acre, which a certain quantity will supply.30

Example 1.—Required, the number of loads necessary to manure an acre of ground, dividing each load into six heaps, and placing them at a distance of 4½ yards from each other? The answer by the table is 39¾.

Example 2.—A farmer has a field containing 5½ acres, over which he wishes to spread 82 loads of dung. Now 82 divided by 5½, gives 15 loads per acre; and by referring to the table, it will be seen that the desired object may be accomplished, by making 4 heaps of a load, and placing them 9 yards apart, or by 9 heaps at 6 yards, as may be thought advisable.

CHAPTER VIII