Talks on Manures Part 12

"Why so?" asked the Deacon.

"Simply because the poor manure is not so active as the richer manure.

It will not decompose so readily. Its nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, are not so available. The twenty tons, _may_, in the long run, do as much good as the ten tons, but I very much doubt it. At any rate, I would greatly prefer the ten tons of the good manure to twenty tons of the poor--even when spread out on the land, ready to plow under. What the difference would be in the value of the manure _in the yard_, you can figure for yourself. It would depend on the cost of handling, drawing, and spreading the extra ten tons."

The Deacon estimates the cost of loading, drawing, unloading, and spreading, at fifty cents a ton. This is probably not far out of the way, though much depends on the distance the manure has to be drawn, and also on the condition of the manure, etc.

The four tons of feed and bedding will make, at a rough estimate about ten tons of manure.

This ten tons of straw and corn manure, according to Mr. Lawes'

estimate, is worth, _in the field_, $14.69. And if it costs fifty cents a load to get it on the land, its value, _in the yard_, would be $9.69--or nearly ninety-seven cents a ton.

The ten tons of good manure, according to the same estimate, is worth, _in the field_, $34.72, and, consequently, would be worth, _in the yard_, $29.72. In other words, a ton of poor manure is worth, in the yard, ninety-seven cents a ton, and the good manure $2.97.

And so in describing John Johnston's method of managing manure, this fact must be borne in mind. It might not pay the Deacon to spend much labor on manure worth only ninety-seven cents a ton, while it might pay John Johnston to bestow some considerable time and labor on manure worth $2.97 per ton.

"But is it really worth this sum?" asked the Deacon.

"In reply to that," said I, "all I claim is that the figures are comparative. If your manure, made as above described, is worth ninety-seven cents a ton in the yard, _then_ John Johnston's manure, made as stated, is _certainly_ worth, at least, $2.97 per ton in the yard."

Of this there can be no doubt.

"If you think," I continued, "your manure, so made, is worth only half as much as Mr. Lawes' estimate; in other words, if your ten tons of manure, instead of being worth $14.69 in the field, is worth only $7.35; then John Johnston's ten tons of manure, instead of being worth $34.72 in the field, is worth only $17.36."

"That looks a little more reasonable," said the Deacon, "John Johnston's manure, instead of being worth $2.97 per ton in the yard, is worth only $1.48 per ton, and mine, instead of being worth ninety-seven cents a ton, is worth forty-eight and a half cents a ton."

The Deacon sat for a few minutes looking at these figures. "They do not seem so extravagantly high as I thought them at first," he said, "and if you will reduce the figures in Mr. Lawes' table one-half all through, it will be much nearer the truth. I think my manure is worth forty-eight and a half cents a ton in the yard, and if your figures are correct, I suppose I must admit that John Johnston's manure is worth $1.48 per ton in the yard."

I was very glad to get such an admission from the Deacon. He did not see that he had made a mistake in the figures, and so I got him to go over the calculation again.

"You take a pencil, Deacon," said I, "and write down the figures:

Manure from a ton of oil-cake $19.72 Manure from a ton of clover-hay 9.64 Manure from two tons of straw 5.36 -------- $34.72

"This would make about ten tons of manure. We have agreed to reduce the estimate one-half, and consequently we have $17.36 as the value of the ten tons of manure.

"This is John Johnston's manure. It is worth $1.73 per ton in the field.

"It costs, we have estimated, 50 cents a ton to handle the manure, and consequently it is worth in the yard $1.23 per ton."

"This is less than we made it before," said the Deacon.

"Never mind that," said I, "the figures are correct. Now write down what your manure is worth:

Manure from 1 ton of corn $6.65 Manure from 3 tons of straw 8.04 -------- $14.69

"This will make about ten tons of manure. In this case, as in the other, we are to reduce the estimate one-half. Consequently, we have $7.35 as the value of this ten tons of manure in the field, or 73 cents a ton.

It costs, we have estimated, 50 cents a ton to handle the manure, and, therefore, it is worth _in the yard_, 23 cents a ton."

"John Johnston's manure is worth in the yard, $1.23 per ton. The Deacon's manure is worth in the yard, 23 cents per ton."

"There is some mistake," exclaimed the Deacon, "you said, at first, that one load of John Johnston's manure was worth as much as two of my loads.

Now you make one load of his manure worth more than five loads of my manure. This is absurd."

"Not at all, Deacon," said I, "you made the figures yourself. You thought Mr. Lawes' estimate too high. You reduced it one-half. The figures are correct, and you must accept the conclusion. If John Johnston's manure is only worth $1.23 per ton in the yard, yours, made from 1 ton of corn and 3 tons of straw, is only worth 23 cents per ton."

"And now, Deacon," I continued, "while you have a pencil in your hand, I want you to make one more calculation. a.s.suming that Mr. Lawes'

estimate is too high, and we reduce it one-half, figure up what manure is worth when made from straw alone. You take 4 tons of wheat straw, feed out part, and use part for bedding. It will give you about 10 tons of manure. And this 10 tons cost you 50 cents a ton to load, draw out, and spread. Now figure:

"Four tons of straw is worth, for manure, according to Mr. Lawes' table, $2.68 per ton. We have agreed to reduce the figures one half, and so the

10 tons of manure from the 4 tons of straw is worth $5.36 Drawing out 10 tons of manure at 50 cents 5.00 -------- Value of 10 tons of straw-manure _in yard_ $0.36

"In other words, if John Johnston's manure is worth only $1.23 per ton in the yard, the straw-made manure is worth only a little over 3 cents a ton in the yard."

"That is _too_ absurd," said the Deacon.

"Very well," I replied, "for once I am glad to agree with you. But if this is absurd, then it follows that Mr. Lawes' estimate of the value of certain foods for manure is not so extravagant as you supposed--which is precisely what I wished to prove."

"You have not told us how Mr. Johnston manages his manure," said the Deacon.

"There is nothing very remarkable about it," I replied. "There are many farmers in this neighborhood who adopt the same method. I think, however, John Johnston was the first to recommend it, and subjected himself to some criticism from some of the so-called scientific writers at the time.

"His general plan is to leave the manure in the yards, bas.e.m.e.nts, and sheds, under the sheep, until spring. He usually sells his fat sheep in March. As soon as the sheep are removed, the manure is either thrown up into loose heaps in the yard, or drawn directly to the field, where it is to be used, and made into a heap there. The manure is not spread on the land until the autumn. It remains in the heaps or piles all summer, being usually turned once, and sometimes twice. The manure becomes thoroughly rotted."

Mr. Johnston, like the Deacon, applies his manure to the corn crop. But the Deacon draws out his fresh green manure in the spring, on sod-land, and plows it under. Mr. Johnston, on the other hand, keeps his manure in a heap through the summer, spreads it on the sod in September, or the first week in October. Here it lies until next spring. The gra.s.s and clover grow up through manure, and the gra.s.s and manure are turned under next spring, and the land planted to corn.

Mr. Johnston is thoroughly convinced that he gets far more benefit from the manure when applied on the surface, and left exposed for several months, than if he plowed it under at once.

I like to write and talk about John Johnston. I like to visit him. He is so delightfully enthusiastic, believes so thoroughly in good farming, and has been so eminently successful, that a day spent in his company can not fail to encourage any farmer to renewed efforts in improving his soil. "You _must_ drain," he wrote to me; "when I first commenced farming, I never made any money until I began to underdrain." But it is not underdraining alone that is the cause of his eminent success. When he bought his farm, "near Geneva," over fifty years ago, there was a pile of manure in the yard that had lain there year after year, until it was, as he said, "as black as my hat." The former owner regarded it as a nuisance, and a few months before young Johnston bought the farm, had given some darkies a cow on condition that they would draw out this manure. They drew out six loads, took the cow--and that was the last seen of them. Johnston drew out this manure, raised a good crop of wheat, and that gave him a start. He says he has been asked a great many times to what he owes his success as a farmer, and he has replied that he could not tell whether it was "dung or credit." It was probably neither. It was the man--his intelligence, industry, and good common sense. That heap of black mould was merely an instrument in his hands that he could turn to good account.

His first crop of wheat gave him "credit" and this also he used to advantage. He believed that good farming would pay, and it was this faith in a generous soil that made him willing to spend the money obtained from the first crop of wheat in enriching the land, and to avail himself of his credit. Had he lacked this faith--had he h.o.a.rded every sixpence he could have ground out of the soil, who would have ever heard of John Johnston? He has been liberal with his crops and his animals, and has ever found them grateful. This is the real lesson which his life teaches.

He once wrote me he had something to show me. He did not tell me what it was, and when I got there, he took me to a field of gra.s.s that was to be mown for hay. The field had been in winter wheat the year before. At the time of sowing the wheat, the whole field was seeded down with timothy.

No clover was sown, either then or in the spring; but after the wheat was sown, he put on a slight dressing of manure on two portions of the field that he thought were poor. He told the man to spread it out of the wagon just as thin as he could distribute it evenly over the land. It was a very light manuring, but the manure was rich, and thoroughly rotted. I do not recollect whether the effect of the manure was particularly noticed on the wheat; but on the gra.s.s, the following spring, the effect was sufficiently striking. Those two portions of the field where the manure was spread were _covered with a splendid crop of red clover_. You could see the exact line, in both cases, where the manure reached. It looked quite curious. No clover-seed was sown, and yet there was as fine a crop of clover as one could desire.

On looking into the matter more closely, we found that there was more or less clover all over the field, but where the manure was not used, it could hardly be seen. The plants were small, and the timothy hid them from view. But where the manure was used, these plants of clover had been stimulated in their growth until they covered the ground. The leaves were broad and vigorous, while in the other case they were small, and almost dried up. This is probably the right explanation. The manure did not "bring in the clover;" it simply increased the growth of that already in the soil. It shows the value of manure for gra.s.s.

This is what Mr. Johnston wanted to show me. "I might have written and told you, but you would not have got a clear idea of the matter." This is true. One had to see the great luxuriance of that piece of clover to fully appreciate the effect of the manure. Mr. J. said the manure on that gra.s.s was worth $30 an acre--that is, on the three crops of gra.s.s, before the field is again plowed. I have no doubt that this is true, and that the future crops on the land will also be benefited--not directly from the manure, perhaps, but from the clover-roots in the soil. And if the field were pastured, the effect on future crops would be very decided.

CHAPTER XX.

MY OWN PLAN OF MANAGING MANURE.