Talks on Manures Part 40

Double the quant.i.ty of manure, costing $20, gives an increase of 28 bushels of barley, and over one ton of straw. In this case the extra barley costs 57 cents a bushel.

On plot 2_a._, 50 lbs. of ammonia and 3 cwt. of superphosphate, give 3,437 lbs. of grain, equal to 71 of our bushels per acre.

On plot 2_a.a._, 100 lbs. of ammonia and 3 cwt. of superphosphate, give 3,643 lbs. of grain, which lacks only 5 lbs. of 76 bushels per acre, and nearly 2 tons of straw.

"That will do," said the Deacon, "but I see that in 1857, this same plot, with the same manure, produced 66 bushels of dressed grain per acre, weighing 53 lbs. to the bushel, or a total weight of 3,696 lbs., equal to just 77 of our bushels per acre."

"And yet," said the Doctor, "this same year, the plot which had 84 tons of farm-yard manure per acre, produced only 2,915 lbs. of grain, or less than 61 of our bushels of barley per acre."

The Squire happened in at this time, and heard the last remark. "What are you saying," he remarked, "about _only_ 61 bushels of barley per acre. I should like to see such a crop. Last year, in this neighborhood, there were hundreds of acres of barley that did not yield 20 bushels per acre, and very little of it would weigh 44 lbs. to the bushel."

This is true. And the maltsters find it almost impossible to get six-rowed barley weighing 48 lbs. per bushel. They told me, that they would pay $1.10 per bushel for good bright barley weighing 48 lbs. per bushel, and for each pound it weighed less than this, they deducted 10 cents a bushel from the price. In other words, they would pay $1.00 a bushel for barley weighing 47 lbs. to the bushel; 90 cents for barley weighing 46 lbs.; 80 cents for barley weighing 45 lbs., and 70 cents for barley weighing 44 lbs.--and at these figures they much preferred the heaviest barley.

It is certainly well worth our while, if we raise barley at all, to see if we cannot manage not only to raise larger crops per acre, but to produce barley of better quality. And these wonderful experiments of Mr.

Lawes are well worth careful examination and study.

The Squire put on his spectacles and looked at the tables of figures.

"Like everybody else," said he, "you pick out the big figures, and to hear you talk, one would think you scientific gentlemen never have any poor crops, and yet I see that in 1860, there are three different crops of only 12?, 12, and 13 bushels per acre."

"Those," said I, "are the three plots which have grown barley every year without any manure, and you have selected the worst year of the whole twenty."

"Perhaps so," said the Squire, "but we have got to take the bad with the good, and I have often heard you say that a good farmer who has his land rich and clean makes more money in an unfavorable than in a favorable season. Now, this year 1860, seems to have been an unfavorable one, and yet your pet manure, superphosphate, only gives an _increase_ of 148 lbs. of barley--or three bushels and 4 lbs. Yet this plot has had a tremendous dressing of 3 cwt. of superphosphate yearly since 1852.

I always told you you lost money in buying superphosphate."

"That depends on what you do with it. I use it for turnips, and tomatoes, cabbages, lettuce, melons, cuc.u.mbers, etc., and would not like to be without it; but I have never recommended any one to use it on wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, or potatoes, except as an experiment.

What I have recommended you to get for barley is, nitrate of soda, and superphosphate, or Peruvian guano. And you will see that even in this decidedly unfavorable season, the plot 2_a.a._, dressed with superphosphate and 275 lbs. of nitrate of soda, produced 2,338 lbs. of barley, or 48 bushels per acre. This is an _increase_ over the unmanured plots of 33 bushels per acre, and an _increase_ of 1,872 lbs.

of straw. And the plot dressed with superphosphate and 200 lbs. of salts of ammonia, gave equally as good results."

And this, mark you, is the year which the Squire selected as the one most likely to show that artificial manures did not pay.

"I never knew a man except you," said the Squire, "who wanted unfavorable seasons."

I have never said I wanted unfavorable seasons. I should not dare to say so, or even to cherish the wish for one moment. But I do say, that when we have a season so favorable that even poorly worked land will produce a fair crop, we are almost certain to have prices below the average cost of production. But when we have an unfavorable season, such crops as barley, potatoes, and beans, often advance to extravagantly high prices, and the farmer who has good crops in such a season, gets something like adequate pay for his patient waiting, and for his efforts to improve his land.

"That sounds all very well," said the Squire, "but will it pay to use these artificial manures?"

I do not wish to wander too much from the point, but would like to remark before I answer that question, that I am not a special advocate of artificial manures. I think we can often make manures on our farms far cheaper than we can buy them. But as the Squire has asked the question, and as he has selected from Mr. Lawes' results, the year 1860, I will meet him on his own ground. He has selected a season specially unfavorable for the growth of barley. Now, in such an unfavorable year in this country, barley would be likely to bring, at least, $1.25 per bushel, and in a favorable season not over 75 cents a bushel.

Mr. Lawes keeps his land _clean_, which is more than can be said of many barley-growers. And in this unfavorable season of 1860, he gets on his three unmanured plots an average of 730 lbs. of barley, equal to 15 bushels per acre, and not quite 800 lbs. of straw.

Many of our farmers frequently do no better than this. And you must recollect that in such careful experiments as those of Mr. Lawes and Dr.

Gilbert, great pains would be taken to get all the barley that grew on the land. With us, barley is cut with a reaper, and admirable as our machines are, it is not an easy matter to cut a light, spindling crop of barley perfectly clean. Then, in pitching the crop and drawing it in, more or less barley is scattered, and even after we have been over the field two or three times with a steel-tooth rake, there is still considerable barley left on the ground. I think we may safely a.s.sume that at least as much barley is left on the ground as we usually sow--say two bushels per acre. And so, instead of having 15 bushels per acre, as Mr. Lawes had, we should only harvest 13 bushels.

Of all our ordinary farm crops, barley is attended with the least labor and expense. We usually sow it after corn or potatoes. On such strong land as that of Mr. Lawes, we ought to plow the land in the autumn and again in the spring, or at least stir up the land thoroughly with a two or three-horse cultivator or gang-plow.

Let us say that the cost of plowing, harrowing, drilling, and rolling, is $5.00 per acre. Seed, $2.00. Harvesting, $2.00. Thres.h.i.+ng, 6 cents a bushel.

Receipts:

13 bushels barley @ 1.25 $16.57 800 lbs. of straw @ $4. per ton 1.60 ------ Putting in and harvesting the crop $9.00 Thres.h.i.+ng 13 bushels @ 6c .80 9.80 ------ Rent and profit per acre $ 8.37

"That is a better showing than I expected," said the Squire, "and as barley occupies the land only a few months, and as we sow wheat after it, we cannot expect large profits."

"Very well," said I, "Now let us take the crop, this same unfavorable year, on plot 2_a.a._, dressed with superphosphate and nitrate of soda."

The expense of plowing, harrowing, drilling, rolling, seed, and harvesting, would be about the same, or we will say $2.00 an acre more for extra labor in harvesting. And we will allow two bushels per acre for scatterings--though there is nothing like as much barley left on the ground when we have a good crop, as when we have a poor crop. But I want to be liberal.

The yield on plot 2_a.a._, was 48 bushels per acre, and 2,715 lbs. of straw.

Receipts:

46 bushels @ $1.25 $58.43 2,715 lbs. straw @ $4. per ton 5.43 ------ $63.86 Putting in the crop and harvesting $11.00 Thres.h.i.+ng 46 bushels @ 6 c 2.80 275 lbs. nitrate of soda @ 4 c 11.00 392 lbs. superphosphate @ 2 c 7.84 ------ $32.64 ------ Rent and profit $31.22

In ordinary farm practice, I feel sure we can do better than this.

Growing barley year after year on the same land, is not the most economical way of getting the full value of the manure. There is much nitrogen and phosphoric acid left in the land, which barley or even wheat does not seem capable of taking up, but which would probably be of great benefit to the clover.

MANURE AND ROTATION OF CROPS.

The old notion that there is any real chemical necessity for a rotation of crops is unfounded. Wheat can be grown after wheat, and barley after barley, and corn after corn, provided we use the necessary manures and get the soil clean and in the right mechanical condition.

"What, then, do we gain by a rotation?" asked the Deacon.

Much every way. A good rotation enables us to clean the land. We can put in different crops at different seasons.

"So we could," broke in the Deacon, "if we sowed wheat after wheat, barley after barley, and corn after corn."

True, but if we sowed winter-wheat after winter-wheat, there would not be time enough to clean the land.

"Just as much as when we sow wheat after oats, or peas, or barley."

"True again, Deacon," I replied, "but we are supposed to have cleaned the land while it was in corn the previous year. I say supposed, because in point of fact, many of our farmers do not half clean their land while it is in corn. It is the weak spot in our agriculture. If our land was as clean as it should be to start with, there is no rotation so convenient in this section, as corn the first year, barley, peas, or oats the second year, followed by winter-wheat seeded down. But to carry out this rotation to the best advantage we need artificial manures."

"But will they pay?" asks the Deacon.

"They will pay well, provided we can get them at a fair price and get fair prices for our produce. If we could get a good superphosphate made from Charleston phosphates for 1 cent per lb., and nitrate of soda for 3 or 4 cents per lb., and the German potash-salts for cent per lb., and could get on the average $1.25 per bushel for barley, and $1.75 for good white wheat, we could use these manures to great advantage."

"Nothing like barn-yard manure," says the Deacon.

No doubt on that point, provided it is good manure. Barn-yard manure, whether rich or poor, contains all the elements of plant-food, but there is a great difference between rich and poor manure. The rich manure contains twice or three times as much nitrogen and phosphoric acid as ordinary or poor manure. And this is the reason why artificial manures are valuable in proportion to the nitrogen and phosphoric acid that they contain in an available condition. When we use two or three hundred pounds per acre of a good artificial manure we in effect, directly or indirectly, convert poor manure into rich manure. There is manure in our soil, but it is poor. There is manure in our barn-yard, but it is poor also. Nitrogen and phosphoric acid will make these manures rich. This is the reason why a few pounds of a good artificial manure will produce as great an effect as tons of common manure. Depend upon it, the coming farmer will avail himself of the discoveries of science, and will use more artificial fertilizers.

But whether we use artificial fertilizers or farm-yard manure, we shall not get the full effect of the manures unless we adopt a judicious rotation of crops.

When we sow wheat after wheat, or barley after barley, or oats after oats, we certainly do not get the full effect of the manures used. Mr.

Lawes' experiments afford conclusive evidence on this point. You will recollect that in 1846, one of the plots of wheat (10_b_), which had received a liberal dressing of salts of ammonia the year previous, was left without manure, and the yield of wheat on this plot was no greater than on the plot which was continuously unmanured. In other words, _the ammonia which was left in the soil from the previous year, had no effect on the wheat_.

The following table shows the amount of nitrogen furnished by the manure, and the amount recovered in the crop, when wheat is grown after wheat for a series of years, and also when barley is grown after barley, and oats after oats.