I want those farmers who find so much benefit from an application of hen-manure, ashes, and plaster, to their corn and potatoes, to feel that if they would keep better cows, sheep, and pigs, and feed them better, they would get good pay for their feed, and the manure would enable them to grow larger crops.
While we have been talking, the Deacon was looking over the tables. (See Appendix.) “I see,” said he, “that wheat and rye contain more nitrogen than hen-manure, but less potash and phosphoric acid.”
“This is true,” said I, “but the way to compare them, in order to see the effect of passing the wheat through the hen, is to look at the composition of the air-dried hen-dung. The fresh hen-dung, according to the table, contains 56 per cent of water, while wheat contains less than 14½ per cent.”
Let us compare the composition of 1,000 lbs. air-dried hen-dung with 1,000 lbs. of air-dried wheat and rye, and also with bran, malt-combs, etc.
| Nitrogen. | Potash. | Phosphoric Acid. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 20.8 | 5.3 | 7.9 |
| Wheat Bran | 22.4 | 14.3 | 27.3 |
| Rye | 17.6 | 5.6 | 8.4 |
| Rye Bran | 23.2 | 19.3 | 34.3 |
| Buckwheat | 14.4 | 2.7 | 5.7 |
| Buckwheat Bran | 27.2 | 11.2 | 12.5 |
| Malt-roots | 36.8 | 20.6 | 18.0 |
| Air-dry Hen-dung. | 32.6 | 17.0 | 30.8 |
“That table,” said the Doctor, “is well worth studying. You see, that when wheat is put through the process of milling, the miller takes out as much of the starch and gluten as he wants, and leaves you a product (bran), richer in phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen, than you gave him.”
“And the same is true,” continued the Doctor, “of the hen. You gave her 2,000 grains of wheat, containing 41.6 grains of nitrogen. She puts this through the mill, together with some ashes, and bones, that she picks up, and she takes out all the starch and fat, and nitrogen, and phosphate of lime, that she needs to sustain life, and to produce flesh, bones, feathers, and eggs, and leaves you 1,000 grains of manure containing 32.6 grains of nitrogen, 17.0 grains of potash, and 30.8 grains of phosphoric acid. I do not say,” continued the Doctor, “that it takes exactly 2,000 grains of wheat to make 1,000 grains of dry manure. I merely give these figures to enable the Deacon to understand why 1,000 lbs. of hen-dung is worth more for manure than 1,000 lbs. of wheat.”
“I must admit,” said the Deacon, “that I always have been troubled to understand why wheat-bran was worth more for manure than the wheat itself, I see now—it is because there is less of it. It is for the same reason that boiled cider is richer than the cider from which it is made. The cider has lost water, and the bran has lost starch. What is left is richer in nitrogen, and potash, and phosphoric acid. And so it is with manure. The animals take out of the food the starch and fat, and leave the manure richer in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash.”
“Exactly,” said I, “Mr. Lawes found by actual experiment, that if you feed 500 lbs. of barley-meal to a pig, containing 420 lbs. of dry substance, you get only 70 lbs. of dry substance in the manure. Of the 420 lbs. of dry substance, 276.2 lbs. are used to support respiration, etc.; 73.8 lbs. are found in the increase of the pig, and 70 lbs. in the manure.”