Small
farms
Fertility Farming

by Newman Turner

Appendix 1

Estimating Quantities of Silage, Hay, Straw, Roots and Compost, in Stacks and Heaps

Estimating Stack Weights

  1. (a) If rectangular, multiply length by breadth by height.
    (b) If circular, multiply circumference by itself and by .08 and then by height.
    (c) If prism, multiply length by breadth at base and then by half the height.
    (d) If cone, multiply circumference at base by itself and by .08 and then by one-third the perpendicular height.

  2. Add (a) and (c) or (b) and (d) together: the result will be contents in cubic feet if measurements taken in feet.

  3. Reduce to cubic yards by dividing by 27.

  4. Reduce to tons by dividing by one of the following numbers according to the shape and condition of the stack:

Number of Cubic Yards Per Ton
Hay Weights
Rectangular
Round
If not settled
12
13
If compact
8
9
Straw
Number of Cubic Yards Per Ton
Wheat 18-20, Oats 20-23, Barley 20-23
Roots
Weight Per Cubic Foot in Clamp
Turnips 33 lb., Mangolds 35 lb., Carrots 31 lb., Swedes 34 lb., Potatoes 42 lb., Parsnips 31 lb.

Compost. One cubic yard of compost weighs 12 to 16 cwt., or one ton of compost bulks 1-1/4 to 1-3/8 cubic yards, when mature.

Silos. A silo 15 feet diameter and 30 feet high (5,300 cubic feet) holds 100 tons of silage, the yield of 6 acres of maize, 10 acres of oats and vetches, 13 acres of clover ley, 20 acres meadow grass, 12 acres sainfoin or lucerne: one cut in each case.

A silo 12 feet diameter and 24 feet high has half the above capacity.

Pit Silage. One cubic yard of finished silage weighs approximately one ton.


Appendix 2

Recommended Suppliers -- Recommended Reading

Recommended Suppliers

Where to get the things recommended in this book:

Sewage Sludge --
Your nearest Borough Engineer will tell you.

All herbal products and veterinary herbs for the natural prevention and treatment of disease, herbal ley seeds, and seaweed foods --
Organic Herbal Products, 33 Cornhill, Bridgwater.

Books of all kinds on agricultural and country subjects --
Landsman's Library, Hartford, Huntingdon.

Tripods for weatherproof haymaking and harvesting --
Proctor's Weatherproof Tripods, The Haugh, Blairgowrie, Perthshire.

Organically grown foodstuffs --
Whole Food Society, Sutton Mallet, near Bridgwater, which is the non-profit body formed to facilitate the supply of all organically grown produce and foodstuffs between producers and consumers, both animal and human.

Recommended Reading

An Agricultural Testament, Sir Albert Howard (Oxford University Press, 15s.).

Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease, Sir Albert Howard (Faber & Faber Limited, 15s.).

Problems in Tree Nutrition, M. C. Rayner and W. Neilson-Jones (Faber & Faber Limited, 12s. 6d.).

The Earth's Green Carpet, Louise E. Howard (Faber & Faber Limited, 8s. 6d.).

The Living Soil, Eve Balfour (Faber & Faber Limited, 15s.).

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Weston A. Price (The Author, 42s.)

Ploughman's Folly, E. H. Faulkner (Michael Joseph Limited, 8s. 6d.).

The Green Leaf, Louise E. Howard (Howard Foundation, 2s.).

Soil Fertility and Sewage, J. P. J. van Vuren (Faber & Faber Limited, 18s.).

Soil Conditions and Plant Growth, Sir E. John Russell (Longmans, Green & Company Limited, 35s.).

Gardening with Compost, F. C. King (Faber & Faber Limited, 6s.).

Use Our Sewage and Refuse, Dr. H. Martin-Leake (Howard Foundation, 5s.).

Municipal Composting, L. P. Brunt (Supplement to above, 2s. 6d.).

Humus and the Farmer, Friend Sykes (Faber & Faber Limited, 15s.).

Reconstruction by Way of the Soil, G. T. Wrench (Faber & Faber Limited, 12s. 6d.).

The Clifton Park System of Farming, Robert H. Elliot (Faber & Faber Limited, 12s. 6d.).

Cleanliness and Godliness, Reginald Reynolds (Allen & Unwin Limited, 12s. 6d.).

Organic Husbandry -- A Symposium, J. S. Blackburn (2s. 6d.).

The author of Fertility Farming is also author of --
Cure Your Own Cattle, giving detailed herbal remedies for all common cattle diseases, illustrated, price 3s. 9d. post free from The Farmer Publications, Bridgwater, Somerset.

If you wish to follow the methods described in this book on farm or garden, subscribe annually to --
The Farmer Year Book & Diary, 7s. 6d. each year. Information about fertility farming and gardening, with weekly farming and gardening notes; a diary section, giving agricultural show dates; a herd register with 96 pedigree forms, and numerous articles, tables and hints.

And, for regular illustrated articles and advice on fertility farming and gardening --
The Farmer (including The Gardener), 10s. per annum post free; quarterly 2s. 6d. Both founded and edited by Newman Turner. From The Farmer, Bridgwater, Somerset.


Appendix 3

Visitors

So that no one may make a fruitless journey, I ought to mention here that for very obvious reasons visitors to Goosegreen Farm cannot be received without prior arrangement.

Opportunities for Study

Serious students of the methods described in this book are provided for by Resident Week-end Courses at Goosegreen, details of which are available from the Editor, The Farmer, Goosegreen, Bridgwater.


Dairy Farm Layout

Click here for bigger image

The plan of dairy farm buildings is designed for the most economical utilization of space, time and labour. The buildings are grouped around the yards into which goes all the food and out of which comes the farmyard manure. Thus, the silos or pits for silage and the Dutch barns for hay and straw are immediately adjoining the yards so that silage may be fed directly to the yards as well as straw for bedding. A concrete road runs right through the yards to carry silage in to the cows and manure out to the compost terraces (which are stepped for ease of loading and turning if necessary). The liquid manure tanks adjoin the compost terraces so that liquid manure may be sprayed over surplus straw (from the Dutch barns) on the compost terraces.

The passage of the cows is from the night-yards down the north to south through-road, to the assembly yards. From there they pass to the washing stalls thence to be milked in the milking stalls and out to the dispersal yard. From the dispersal yard, gates are arranged so that access may be allowed to each yard separately. Ramps surround the silage pits and lofted buildings for ease of loading, both into the silage pits and the lofts above the food store and loose boxes. The roadway through the silage pits is at ground level for ease of emptying the silage pits.




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