Newspapers / The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.) / Feb. 1, 1857, edition 1 / Page 14
Part of The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
TIIE ABATOR Should thatdanger however, bo apprehended, an addition of road scrapings, or earth of any kind, will prevent it; and in winter tho cleanings of the cow-house, as being of a colder nature) will answer the purpose, ' v ' . WJien plants apd their cced3 are consumed by, animals, nearly half of their weight in a dry state, $ is given out from their lungs, or by perspiration from tho skin, in a gaseous form, chiefly as carbo nic acid gas and water, with some ammonia j, the remainder of their substance, together with the cf feto or dead matter of tho animal organs, arc re Jectcd, as dung oi urine, except that portion re stained a3 nourishment; by growing and fattening animals. 'The solid excrement contains the woody fibre, tho insoluble animal matter, and salts; and the xoine, the nioro soluble . salts and substance rich in nitrogen, If no care be taken of tho urine and it bo allowed to run about tho yard, it soon 'putrifics its nitrogen flies off in theshape of am monia ; it3 salts are carried, away by every shower of rain j and, although a portion of it may bo saved -by its mixture with the dung of tho cattle, yet the greater part of its valuable contents arc evapora ted by the action of tho atmosphere. If it bo al lowed to drain into a tank or other receptable, it there also rapidly undergoes putrefaction; and if this be not checked a considerable part of the am monia produced will sscape with tho sulphur snd phosphorus, resulting from the decomposition of tho salts containing these substances ; occasioning the intolerable stench observed in snch eases. Now the ammonia) and the alkaline and earthy salts, arc by much tho most valuable part of farm yard or stable dung, and the former is always more abuudant, when cattle arc fed with corn, oil cake, and other rich food. Without ammonia no flccd could be produced; and without alkaline and earthy salts, neither seeds nor plauta could exist. It i3 the deficiency of some of these substances, when moisture is not wanting, which is the cause of land producing poor crops ; and it is tho almost total absence of some or all of them, which is the cause of complete sterilty. Instances may almost every where be found of land, which though abound ing in humus such as healthy and peaty soils arc, notwithstanding, incapable of bearing grain. Jf the valuable substances above mentioned )e wasted in the manner described which is too of ten the case, to an enormous extent the crops will bo very deficient; and if to this waste be ad ded, the carrying away, of Jargc portions of the produce as when hay and straw are sold and no manure returned the land will soon1 cease to bear crops. To increaso tho quantity of manure raised on tHo land should therefore be the constant aim oT every farmer ; hay should never bo sold unless two tons of stable litter are returned for every load sent Off the farm; and, unless the farm contains a larger portion of rough pasture, the horse teams should bo kept in the stables, and soiled during the summer "and autumn on green food ; every portion of apparently refuse vegetable and animal matter should bo carfully collected ' and added id the dung-heap; and in this manner it is inconceiv able what additional quantities 'of excellent muck may bo produced. The manure thus made, and not fermented, is generally applied either in its fresh state, or only partially turned, to clay land fallows which are to be sown with wheat : as being of v colder nature than winter-made dung, it will not- occasion the crop to be pushed so hastily for ward as to occasion straw instead of corn. If attempts be made to supply the place of farm yard dung, by any one salt, or, in ofiier words, by two or three only of the elements of plants nitrato of soda, or nitrate of potash, or sulpnate of lime, (gypsumf) for instance it will eucccu only when all the others happen to be present on he Boil by the effect of previous manuring; and williu cvita bly fail where those other needful substances are either absent or very deficient. Now, it is extreme ly different to ascertain in what salt the soil isreal ly deficient; care must be taken therefore, intjio application of artificial manures, that they contaiu all tho elements included in the muck for which' they aro substituted. They are usnaly found, more or less in the dung heap ; how needful, there fore it is that tho farmer should take care of that manure produced upon his own laud which certain he knows lie can safely rely. It has been stated before, that tho most efficient part of farm-yard dung U that small portion, invis ible in the mass, which consists of earthy and al kaline salts and ammonia. The other ingredients which constitute the great bulk of manures, consis ting of carbon and the elements of water, arc abun dantly supplied by the atmosphere to the growing plants, and therefore, a loss of these by nccdlcs3 fermentation or neglect, is of little importance, were it not that their los3 is unavoidably accompa nied with the waste of the more essential substances in the manure described. It should be the object of the farmer, not only to prevent the waste of such precious substances by every means that knowledge and ingenuity can devise, but also to
The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 1, 1857, edition 1
14
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75