The Harvester World: Volume 8, number 5, May 1917

              Use Manure to Increase Production

By W. V. Couch'MAN, Division Manager

ALTHOUGH great efforts are being made to plant every available acre, extra patches, lots, roadways, etc., to some food crop, the increase from these sources will scarcely be great enough to make up the present food supply shortage. We must also remember that the March, 1917, Government Report shows prospects of only about two-thirds of a winter wheat crop. The general tendency of the late spring will be to materially reduce the yields of all crops. This makes it imperative that there should be no let-up in the efforts to make the ultimate production of all foodstuffs as great as possible.
While much has been accomplished by increasing the acreage, the real gain must come from an increased yield per acre. This can be brought about by proper cultivation and the use of farm manures. Manure will hasten crop growth, and thus help materially to offset the effect of the backward season. Every possible ton of manure should be put to work some place on the farm. Aside from the critical needs of the world for more food, the unusual prospect for high market prices for farm products should prove an incentive to the far¬ mer to take advantage of every possible chance for bigger yields.
The value of the manure on the farms of the United States is enormous; far beyond what one would naturally expect. Taking the value placed on manure by Circular 49 of Purdue University, and the number of the dif¬ ferent kinds of stock in the United States from the Government monthly crop report of January, 1917—the value of manure is in the neighborhood of $1,528,000,000 annually. This takes into account only such manure as can be saved. The value of it is based on the plant food contained in the manure and does not give any credit for its value as a humus producer. Experiments show that manure left in piles around the yards or barns will lose from one-fourth to one-half of its value in a very short time — an enormous loss that comes to the American farmer by improper handling of farm manures.
Some may have the idea that it is too late to apply manure now, but such is not the case. There is still time to use it as a top dressing which, according to many experimental station reports, is the most profit¬ able way to apply manure. According to the Maryland Experiment Station Bulletin 122, which gives the results of a test comparing top dressing with plowing manure under, where fresh manure was used there was a gain of about eleven bushels of corn and SSO pounds of fodder to the acre in favor of top dressing. With wheat, top dressing showed a gain of two bushels and 80 pounds of straw. The same experiment showed a gain of five bushels of corn to the acre for fresh
manure over the use of rotted man¬ ure. This shows the advantage of hauling the man¬ ure  direct from
farm to fields and not allowing it to remain in piles where much of its value as a fertilizer will be lost.
A Minnesota farmer, using a manure spreader, top- dressed a portion of his wheatfield with only a small amount of manure. When the grain was threshed, the top-dressed wheat gave a yield of more than nine bushels to the acre over the rest of the field. At the farm mar¬ ket price on April 1st, of $1.80 a bushel, this increase in yield would have amounted to $16.20 an acre.
At the Ohio Experiment Station, a fourteen-year average of applying manure with a spreader gave an increase of 18.6 bushels of corn, 9% bushels of wheat, and 800 pounds of hay. At the April 1st farm market price for corn, this increase would be worth $21.00 an acre. For the farmer who is able only to top-dress ten acres of corn, at this rate the increase in value will be $210.00.
If it is not possible for the manure to be put on small grain or corn, it is far better that it should be spread on the pasture at this time of year rather than piled up where much of it will leach away. Spread it on pas¬ tures that may later be cultivated. If it is on pastures, the leaching plant food will help to stimulate the growth of grass and will not be lost.
An experiment conducted at Iowa State College, re¬ ported in bulletin No. 167, shows that light applications give best results. On corn, with three tons of manure applied the first, second, and fourth years, the average yield was sixty-seven bushels, while where nine tons were applied at once, the average yield was sixty-four bushels. With oats there was a difference of over two bushels an acre. Although these yields per acre do not seem to be very large, yet where there is fifty acres of corn there will be an increase of ISO bushels, which at the April 1st farm market price will amount to $169.50.
We all realize the value of the manure spreader as compared with spreading by hand. It tears the manure up in such shape as to make the fertility more quickly available for use by the plant. Many experiments have been conducted comparing hand spreading with ma¬ chine spreading. The results have always been very favorable to machine spreading. Director C, E, Thorn of the Ohio Experiment Station, says that where fifty loads of manure are applied annually, the gain by using a spreader will pay from twenty-five to fifty per cent of the cost of the machine in one year. He also says that eight loads put on with a spreader are worth twelve loads spread by hand,
A manure spreader is a valuable part of the farm equipment under ordinary conditions. This year it is far more important.    He will not only save a lot of
labor and time, but will help to greatly increase crop yields by en¬ abling the farmer to spread the manure properly and economically.