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Show m I Value of Straw I And Manure H H I By d;orge W. Greaves of the Idaho K j Experiment Station B We arc Just beginning to realize tho value of Btablo manure. While B I tho market gardener lias for years 8: depended upon it for success the gen- H I eral farmer Is Just beginning to see H 1 I its valuo and to give it a placo in H ' lila farming scheme. With Its more B general use Is also coming moro crtro B in saving It, without a loss of tho In- PB grcdicnts. V Tho liquid portion of manure con- VB Btitutcs an important part of it. It 8 may be of interest to note that over Va half the nitrogen and nearly half of VC tho potash produced by horses Is in VM tho liquid excrement. Over half the BAsB nitrogen from cows is found In the MAS liquid white thero Is five times as B much potash In the liquid as in the Va solid excrement. Liquid manure from VS tho pig contains ono fifth of the nl- trogen and ono third of the potash. 1 Sheep liquid manure contains one- BVAv I I half of the nitrogen and two-thirds of BVS the potash. In general It may bo SB said that tho liquid manure Is as val- BBBj liable as tho solids when wo think BBSS of tho total plant food, but when we BBBJ I consider tho availability wo find that BBBJ ' that found in tho liquid is Immediate- BBBJ 1 ly available- while that In tho solid BBBJ becomes so only slowly. While tlio BBBJ nutrients in the liquid aro easily BBBJ nvallable they aro very easily lost, BBBJ ' nnd that Is ono of tho big problems BBBJ wo run against In conserving iho BBBJ manuro whllo It Is accumulating. BBBJ How can wo best savo It? Tho BBBf first thing to do Is to seo that the BBBJ I iloor of the stablo is water tight. BBBJ 1 Quit using dirt floors. Then caUli BBBJ tho liquid. This can be host done BBBJ , by tho uso of an absorbent. Fortun- BBBft ' ' utely we havo at hand a cheap nnd BBBK j an efficient abuorbent. Wo want to BBB l:ccp tho nnlmnls clean nnd this ab- BBVfl J sorbent is Ideal for that purposo nl- BBB I so. I refer, of course to straw. BBB j I Straw will absorb several times its H , 1 own weight. In addition to this, it BBB ' contains valuablo fertilizing clcmcits BBBSj in itself. It contains ono-thlrd of tho BBBVJ nitrogen, one-fourth of tho phosphor- BbBbJ us, nnd three-fourths of tho potnssl- BBBV urn of tho wheat crop., With tho BBVfl j combination, then, wo aro returning BBVfl a considerable amount of fertility to BBBB I tho soil. Certainly thero Is no profit BBBB I In burning our straw stacks. That is BBBB n practico of ilfty years ago, and lias BBBB no place In tho modem farm. It Is BBBB worth figuring pretty closoly whether BBBB it Is oven wise to bale nnd sell the BBBB straw, or sell It to a moro progress- BBBB 1 tvo neighbor to uso ns fertilizer on BBBB ' 1 tho farm across tho road. |