FOODS WHICH MAKE RICH MANURE.
The amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, contained in
different foods, has been accurately determined by many able and
reliable chemists.
The following table was prepared by Dr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamsted,
England, and was first published in this country in the “Genesee
Farmer,” for May, 1860. Since then, it has been repeatedly published in
nearly all the leading agricultural journals of the world, and has given
rise to much discussion. The following is the table, with some recent
additions:
TD: Total dry matter.
TM: Total mineral matter (ash).
Ph: Phosphoric acid reckoned as phosphate of lime.
P: Potash.
N: Nitrogen.
V: Value of manure in dollars and cents from 1 ton (2,000 lbs.)
of food.
-----------------------+----------------------------------+-------
| Per Cent. |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| TD | TM | Ph | P | N | V
-----------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------
1. Linseed cake | 88.0 | 7.00 | 4.92 | 1.65 | 4.75 | 19.72
2. Cotton-seed cake* | 89.0 | 8.00 | 7.00 | 3.12 | 6.50 | 27.86
3. Rape-cake | 89.0 | 8.00 | 5.75 | 1.76 | 5.00 | 21.01
4. Linseed | 90.0 | 4.00 | 3.38 | 1.37 | 3.80 | 15.65
5. Beans | 84.0 | 3.00 | 2.20 | 1.27 | 4.00 | 15.75
6. Peas | 84.5 | 2.40 | 1.84 | 0.96 | 3.40 | 13.38
7. Tares | 84.0 | 2.00 | 1.63 | 0.66 | 4.20 | 16.75
8. Lentils | 88.0 | 3.00 | 1.89 | 0.96 | 4.30 | 16.51
9. Malt-dust | 94.0 | 8.50 | 5.23 | 2.12 | 4.20 | 18.21
10. Locust beans | 85.0 | 1.75 | .... | .... | 1.25 | 4.81
11. Indian-meal | 88.0 | 1.30 | 1.13 | 0.35 | 1.80 | 6.65
12. Wheat | 85.0 | 1.70 | 1.87 | 0.50 | 1.80 | 7.08
13. Barley | 84.0 | 2.20 | 1.35 | 0.55 | 1.65 | 6.32
14. Malt | 95.0 | 2.60 | 1.60 | 0.65 | 1.70 | 6.65
15. Oats | 86.0 | 2.85 | 1.17 | 0.50 | 2.00 | 7.70
16. Fine pollard† | 86.0 | 5.60 | 6.44 | 1.46 | 2.00 | 13.53
17. Coarse pollard‡ | 86.0 | 6.20 | 7.52 | 1.49 | 2.58 | 14.36
18. Wheat-bran | 86.0 | 6.60 | 7.95 | 1.45 | 2.55 | 14.59
19. Clover-hay | 84.0 | 7.50 | 1.25 | 1.30 | 2.50 | 9.64
20. Meadow-hay | 84.0 | 6.00 | 0.88 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 6.43
21. Bean-straw | 82.5 | 5.55 | 0.90 | 1.11 | 0.90 | 3.87
22. Pea-straw | 82.0 | 5.95 | 0.85 | 0.89 | .... | 3.74
23. Wheat-straw | 84.0 | 5.00 | 0.55 | 0.65 | 0.60 | 2.68
24. Barley-straw | 85.0 | 4.50 | 0.37 | 0.63 | 0.50 | 2.25
25. Oat-straw | 83.0 | 5.50 | 0.48 | 0.93 | 0.60 | 2.90
26. Mangel-wurzel | 12.5 | 1.00 | 0.09 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 1.07
27. Swedish turnips | 11.0 | 0.68 | 0.13 | 0.18 | 0.22 | 0.91
28. Common turnips | 8.0 | 0.68 | 0.11 | 0.29 | 0.18 | 0.86
29. Potatoes | 24.0 | 1.00 | 0.32 | 0.43 | 0.35 | 1.50
30. Carrots | 13.5 | 0.70 | 0.13 | 0.23 | 0.20 | 0.80
31. Parsnips | 15.0 | 1.00 | 0.42 | 0.36 | 0.22 | 1.14
-----------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------
* The manure from a ton of undecorticated cotton-seed cake is worth
$15.74; that from a ton of cotton-seed, after being ground and sifted,
is worth $13.25. The grinding and sifting in Mr. Lawes’ experiments,
removed about 8 per cent of husk and cotton. Cotton-seed, so treated,
proved to be a very rich and economical food.
† Middlings, Canielle.
‡ Shipstuff.
Of all vegetable substances used for food, it will be seen that
decorticated cotton-seed cake is the richest in nitrogen, phosphoric
acid, and potash, and consequently makes the richest and most valuable
manure. According to Mr. Lawes’ estimate, the manure from a ton of
decorticated cotton-seed cake is worth $27.86 in gold.
Rape-cake comes next. Twenty-five to thirty years ago, rape-cake, ground
as fine as corn-meal, was used quite extensively on many of the
light-land farms of England as a manure for turnips, and not
unfrequently as a manure for wheat. Mr. Lawes used it for many years in
his experiments on turnips and on wheat.
Of late years, however, it has been fed to sheep and cattle. In other
words, it has been used, not as formerly, for manure alone, but for food
first, and manure afterwards. The oil and other carbonaceous matter
which the cake contains is of little value for manure, while it is of
great value as food. The animals take out this carbonaceous matter, and
leave nearly all the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the
manure. Farmers who had found it profitable to use on wheat and turnips
for manure alone, found it still more profitable to use it first for
food, and then for manure afterwards. Mr. Lawes, it will be seen,
estimates the manure produced from the consumption of a ton of rape-cake
at $21.01.
Linseed-oil cake comes next. Pure linseed-cake is exceedingly valuable,
both for food and manure. It is a favorite food with all cattle and
sheep breeders and feeders. It has a wonderful effect in improving the
appearance of cattle and sheep. An English farmer thinks he cannot get
along without “cake” for his calves, lambs, cattle, and sheep. In this
country, it is not so extensively used, except by the breeders of
improved stock. It is so popular in England that the price is fully up
to its intrinsic value, and not unfrequently other foods, in proportion
to the nutritive and manurial value, can be bought cheaper. This fact
shows the value of a good reputation. Linseed-cake, however, is often
adulterated, and farmers need to be cautious who they deal with. When
pure, it will be seen that the manure made by the consumption of a ton
of linseed-cake is worth $19.72.
Malt-dust stands next on the list. This article is known by different
names. In England, it is often called “malt-combs;” here it is known as
“malt-_sprouts_,” or “malt-_roots_.” In making barley into malt, the
barley is soaked in water, and afterwards kept in a warm room until it
germinates, and throws out sprouts and roots. It is then dried, and
before the malt is used, these dried sprouts and roots are sifted out,
and are sold for cattle-food. They weigh from 22 to 25 lbs. per bushel
of 40 quarts. They are frequently mixed at the breweries with the
“grains,” and are sold to milkmen at the same price--from 12 to 15 cents
per bushel. Where their value is not known, they can, doubtless, be
sometimes obtained at a mere nominal price. Milkmen, I believe, prefer
the “grains” to the malt-dust. The latter, however, is a good food for
sheep. It has one advantage over brewer’s “grains.” The latter contain
76 per cent of water, while the malt-dust contains only 6 per cent of
water. We can afford, therefore, to transport malt-dust to a greater
distance than the grains. We do not want to carry _water_ many miles.
There is another advantage: brewer’s grains soon ferment, and become
sour; while the malt-dust, being dry, will keep for any length of time.
It will be seen that Mr. Lawes estimates the value of the manure left
from the consumption of a ton of malt-dust at $18.21.
Tares or vetches, lentils, linseed or flaxseed, beans, wheat, bran,
middlings, fine mill-feed, undecorticated cotton-seed cake, peas, and
cotton-seed, stand next on the list. The value of these for manure
ranging from $13.25 to $16.75 per ton.
Then comes clover-hay. Mr. Lawes estimates the value of the manure from
the consumption of a ton of clover-hay at $9.64. This is from early cut
clover-hay.
When clover is allowed to grow until it is nearly out of flower, the hay
would not contain so much nitrogen, and would not be worth quite so much
per ton for manure. When mixed with timothy or other grasses, or with
weeds, it would not be so valuable. The above estimate is for the
average quality of good pure English clover-hay. Our best farmers raise
clover equally as good; but I have seen much clover-hay that certainly
would not come up to this standard. Still, even our common clover-hay
makes rich manure. In Wolff’s Table, given in the appendix, it will be
seen that clover-hay contains only 1.97 per cent of nitrogen and 5.7 per
cent of ash. Mr. Lawes’ clover contains more nitrogen and ash. This
means richer land and a less mature condition of the crop.
The cereal grains, wheat, barley, oats, and Indian corn, stand next on
the list, being worth from $6.32 to $7.70 per ton for manure.
“Meadow-hay,” which in the table is estimated as worth $6.43 per ton for
manure, is the hay from permanent meadows. It is a quite different
article from the “English Meadow-hay” of New England. It is, in fact,
the perfection of hay. The meadows are frequently top-dressed with
composted manure or artificial fertilizers, and the hay is composed of a
number of the best grasses, cut early and carefully cured. It will be
noticed, however, that even this choice meadow-hay is not as valuable
for manure as clover-hay.
English bean-straw is estimated as worth $3.87 per ton for manure. The
English “horse bean,” which is the kind here alluded to, has a very
stiff, coarse long straw, and looks as though it was much inferior as
fodder, to the straw of our ordinary white beans. See Wolff’s table in
the appendix.
Pea-straw is estimated at $3.74 per ton. When the peas are not allowed
to grow until dead ripe, and when the straw is carefully cured, it makes
capital food for sheep. Taking the grain and straw together, it will be
seen that peas are an unusually valuable crop to grow for the purpose of
making rich manure.
The straw of oats, wheat, and barley, is worth from $2.25 to $2.90 per
ton. Barley straw being the poorest for manure, and oat straw the
richest.
Potatoes are worth $1.50 per ton, or nearly 5 cents a bushel for manure.
The manurial value of roots varies from 80 cents a ton for carrots, to
$1.07 for mangel-wurzel, and $1.14 for parsnips.
I am very anxious that there should be no misapprehension as to the
meaning of these figures. I am sure they are well worth the careful
study of every intelligent farmer. Mr. Lawes has been engaged in making
experiments for over thirty years. There is no man more competent to
speak with authority on such a subject. The figures showing the money
value of the manure made from the different foods, are based on the
amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, which they contain. Mr.
Lawes has been buying and using artificial manures for many years, and
is quite competent to form a correct conclusion as to the cheapest
sources of obtaining nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. He has
certainly not overestimated their _cost_. They can not be bought at
lower rates, either in England or America. But of course it does not
follow from this that these manures are worth to the farmer the price
charged for them; that is a matter depending on many conditions. All
that can be said is, that if you are going to buy commercial manures,
you will have to pay at least as much for the nitrogen, phosphoric acid,
and potash, as the price fixed upon by Mr. Lawes. And you should
recollect that there are other ingredients in the manure obtained from
the food of animals, which are not estimated as of any value in the
table. For instance, there is a large amount of carbonaceous matter in
the manure of animals, which, for some crops, is not without value, but
which is not here taken into account.
Viewed from a farmer’s stand-point, the table of money values must be
taken only in a comparative sense. It is not claimed that the manure
from a ton of wheat-straw is worth $2.68. This may, or may not, be the
case. But _if_ the manure from a ton of wheat-straw is worth $2.08,
_then_ the manure from a ton of pea-straw is worth $3.74, and the manure
from a ton of corn-meal is worth $6.65, and the manure from a ton of
clover-hay is worth $9.64, and the manure from a ton of wheat-bran is
worth $14.59. _If_ the manure from a ton of corn meal is _not_ worth
$6.65, then the manure from a ton of bran is not worth $14.59. If the
manure from the ton of corn is worth _more_ than $6.65, then the manure
from a ton of bran is worth _more_ than $14.59. There need be no doubt
on this point.
Settle in your own mind what the manure from a ton of any one of the
foods mentioned is worth on your farm, and you can easily calculate what
the manure is worth from all the others. If you say that the manure from
a ton of wheat-straw is worth $1.34, then the manure from a ton of
Indian corn is worth $3.33, and the manure from a ton of bran is worth
$7.30, and the manure from a ton of clover-hay is worth $4.82.
In this section, however, few good farmers are willing to sell straw,
though they can get from $8.00 to $10.00 per ton for it. They think it
must be consumed on the farm, or used for bedding, or their land will
run down. I do not say they are wrong, but I do say, that if a ton of
straw is worth $2.68 for manure alone, then a ton of clover-hay is worth
$9.64 for manure alone. This may be accepted as a general truth, and one
which a farmer can act upon. And so, too, in regard to the value of
corn-meal, bran, and all the other articles given in the table.
There is another point of great importance which should be mentioned in
this connection. The nitrogen in the better class of foods is worth more
for manure than the nitrogen in straw, corn-stalks, and other coarse
fodder. Nearly all the nitrogen in grain, and other rich foods, is
digested by the animals, and is voided in solution in the urine. In
other words, the nitrogen in the manure is in an active and available
condition. On the other hand, only about half the nitrogen in the coarse
fodders and straw is digestible. The other half passes off in a crude
and comparatively unavailable condition, in the solid excrement. In
estimating the value of the manure from a ton of food, these facts
should be remembered.
I have said that if the manure from a ton of straw is worth $2.68, the
manure from a ton of corn is worth $6.65; but I will not reverse the
proposition, and say that if the manure from a ton of corn is worth
$6.65, the manure from a ton of straw is worth $2.68. The manure from
the grain is nearly all in an available condition, while that from the
straw is not. A pound of nitrogen in rich manure is worth more than a
pound of nitrogen in poor manure. This is another reason why we should
try to make rich manure.