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4 VALUE OF MANURE. The manure pile is the backbone of the farm. With a good supply of manure any farmer can thrive on any farm. Hence the management of the manure is worthy a portion of the best thought of every ambitious farmer. The most valuable manure for farm use is that of the farm yard. Since the most ancient times animal excreta have been used to increase the fertility of tho soil. The richness of manure varies according to the care that has been bestowed upon it, the quality of the litter, etc. The matter not necessary to the animal, for the production of milk, wool, flesh, etc., is given off and forms the excreta. It is found that the manure does not contain as much fertilizing matter as the foods, because there are numerous losses by infiltration into the soil, evaporation, washing by rain water, etc. Usually the animal excrement is not al lowed to fall directly on to the floor of the stable, but on to a litter composed of vegetable matter, which serves the double object of forming a bed for the animals and retain ing the solid and liquid excreta. It is this mixture of litter and excreta of which farmyard manure is composed, and whose fertilizing elements are therefore derived from both of these exponents. The quality of the manure depends on the class and age of the animals producing it; on the quantity and quality of the food eaten by the animals; on the character and the amount of the litter used; on the length of time the manure has been kept, and upon the manner in which it has been cared for. The solid excrement of the animals consists largely of the undigested portions of food; these are mostly insoluble, and therefore not readily available as plant food. The urine contains those portions of food which have been digested. Its constituents are all in a soluble form, and readily avail able as plant food, and therefore more valuable than the in soluble fertilizing material contained in the solid excrement. It follows, therefore, that the more digestive food is, the larger is the proportion of its fertilizing constituents that will appear in the urine. The value of farmyard manure for fertilizing purposes is due mostly to the nitrogen compounds contained in it, and, in a lesser degree, to its phosphorus and potassium com pounds. These fertilizing elements are distributed in dif ferent portions in the various products of digestion. Nitro gen is found, in food materials in the form of albuminoid substances, which, in'a great measure, are made soluble in the intestinal tract and pass into the circulation; a certain quantity escapes this action and is found in the solid ex creta, in a form differing but little from that in which it ex isted in the food. The quantity which thus escapes varies with the nature of the food, and with the individuality of the animal. As to the nitrogenous matter which enters into the circulation, a part is fixed and enters into the formation of the tissues, or of the milk, but the greater part having under gone considerable modification, consisting in an incomplete combustion, becomes iiseless to the system; it is rejected in the urine, not in the albuminoid form, but as much simpler compounds, as urea, uric and heppuric acids, etc. The nitro gen introduced by the food is found principally in the liquid excreta. Phosphoric acid exists in food materials almost entirely as mineral salts. A small part is retained for the formation and repair of the bones, the rest passes into the faeces; it appears that the organism gathers from the food only just what quantity of phosphoric acid is strictly necessary for the elaboration of the tissues, and for this reason urine is found to contain scarcely any of the substance. As to the potash which is chiefly found in the food as or ganic salts, it circulates freely in the liquids of the animal economy owing to its solubility; and liquid excreta contains the greater portion of that which is eliminated from the system. The age of the animal has an influence on the composition of the manure. A young, growing animal requires and re tains in its body a greater quantity of nitrogenous and mineral constituents than does a grown animal; and, there fore, manure from a young animal is of less value than that from a grown animal. In the case of any one class of ani mals, the value of the manure is, as a rule, more dependent upon the kind of food than any other one condition. Of two foods costing the same price, and having equal feeding values, it is economy to use that one which contains the largest amount of fertilizing elements. Cotton and lin seed will furnish the richest manure; next leguminous crops as clover, peas, etc., then follow grains, and lastly root crops. RANCHE AND RANGE. MINNESOTA ft LOOK AT NORTH DAKOTA \ _ _ MONTANA |A> I±l Jli OlAlJliO IDAHO 3 To choose from WASHINGTON § on the orregon IT Northern Pacific You can have whatever you wish!— Grazing Lands,— Fruit Lands, —Timber Lands, —Grain Lands, —Vegetable Lands, —Meadow Lands, —Mineral Lands. You can have them in Valleys, on Plains or Prairies, or among the Mountains. You can can obtain lands that need Irrigation or that will grow crops without irrigation, just as you prefer. You can find lands at Sea Level, or from 100 to 500 feet above sea level. You can find any variety of climate you desire. Write us. CHAS. S. FEE, Gen'l Pass. Agent, St. Paul, Minn. t r\r\xr Am ~n RED RIVER LOOK AT A • YELLOWSTONE THE VALLEYS «_ £££!£ ttyp HELLGATE To choose from Hp BITTER ROOT on the <=^n PALOUSE Northern Pacific % Willamette Northern Pacific II Willamette WILSON, ROGERS & CO. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL HAY, GRAIN, FLOUR, FEED, ETC. 1105-1109 Western Aye. Seattle, Wash. GALBRAITH GRAIN CO. DEALERS IN Hay, Grain, Flour, Feed, Lime, Plaster and Cement Office and Warehouse: B. o ii \i7o«,v. Galbraith Dock, foot of Washington street. OedlUe, W aSil. ALDRIDGE, JOHNSON & CO. 0"11"""8""1 merchants SSStt. FRUITS, HAY, GRAIN, BEANS, PRODUCE 1525 Pacific Aye., San Francisco office- 121-123-125 Washington St. TACOMA, WASH. P. O. Box 2256. WANTED Canteloil Pcs> Muskmelons. Water llnil ILU melons, Pears, Peaches and Grapes Also HAY, GRAIN, Etc. ED. ADAMS' SONS 1531-1533 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Wash. COMMISSION _______ STENCILS... For fruit growers, creamery men, shippers, commission men RUBBER STAMPS of all kinds, made especially for stamping honey sections. Butter Stamp carving at prices that can't be discounted. Send for Price List and be convinced. H. E. SHARP, BOX 315 ELLENSBURG, WASH. PUGET SOUND NURSERY AND SEED CO. THE BEST. THE FRESHEST. THE CHEAPEST Importers and growers of all kinds of seeds and nursery stock, evergreens bulbs, vines, shrubs, roses, etc. 1201 Second avenue. SEATTLE WASH* Bee supplies at lowest prices. C. N. SANDAHL, Prop. J BLOWERS <& KINETH A. D. Blowers, A. R. Kincth 7 2 Commission Merchants, Purchasing: Agents. Dealers in Produce * • Butter, Eggs, Fruit, etc. Consignments solicited; prompt returns' • m Reference, Puget Sound National Bank. • ')L 2 817 Western Aye., SEATTLE, WASH. W flrw w w wvw w w w y^h WE PAY SPOT CASH For all kinds of HAY and GRAIN Atkinson & Zerwehk RR- B A[ c i;i A E.? LERWAY