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USiannnOIHOV IVOWOai aHX [March I, 1886 



no inducement, tbere is no economy iu storing and 

 using farmyard manure — it is a superfluous labour ; 

 but in all populous countries, and notably in our own. 

 where the soil has been reduced by centuries of 

 cropping, the basis of farmiug is the manure heap. 

 Although iu these days, importation of artificial manures 

 has made farmers less dependent on farmyard manure 

 than formerly, yet it is still, as of old, the central 

 system of the farm, and its careful manufacture, pre- 

 servation, and use are more than ever deserving of 

 careful attention. 



Farmyard manure consists of the solid and liquid 

 excrement of animals, combined with the straw or 

 other substance used as litter, and when fresh consists 

 of about one part solid matter and three parts water. 

 About one-half of the total dry matter contained in 

 an animal's foddur is found again iu the manure, so 

 that it is easy to estimate approximately the amount 

 of maniure produced upon a holding iu ordinary cir- 

 cumstances when the amount of dry mutter contained 

 in the fodder is known. For every 1,000 lb. live- weight 

 of the animals fed upon a farm, the amount of dry 

 fodder daily consumed is about 24 lb. and if we add 

 to the half of that one-fourth for litter, ri'-., G lb., 

 we obtain the sum of 18 lb., which represents the total 

 dry matter in the manure. To this has to be added 

 three times as much water, viz., 54 lb., and we obtain 

 a total of 72 lb. wet manure per 1,000 lb. live-weight 

 per day. This is only an average, for when animals 

 are fed mostly on turnips, containing 92 per cent of 

 water, the manure will be much wetter ; if on hay, 

 much drier. 



The loss of dry matter which occurs in convertmg 

 fodder into dung is mostly loss of carbon, which is 

 partly burned in the animal's body in keeping up its 

 temperature, and is partly stored up as fat and flesh. 

 There is also a loss of nitrogen, which amounts 00 an 

 average to about a fifth of the total nitrogen contained 

 in the dry fodder, but which may be more or less, 

 according to the kind and amount of fodder and the 

 state of nutrition of the stock. There is very little 

 loss of mineral matter. The potash contained in the 

 fodder is mostly voided in the urine, while the phos- 

 phoric acid is almost entirely contained in the solid 

 excrement. 



The manu value of the^rial dung is influenced by 

 various circumstances. In the case of oxeti iu forward 

 condition, the loss is very slight, while in the case of 

 cows giving milk and in th" case of calves or other 

 young stock, more than half the nitrogen and about 

 two-thirds of ths phosphoric acil are lost to the 

 manure. 



The general character of the dung made by vanous 

 kinds of stock is also very different owing to the differ- 

 ent kinds of fodder, and the more or less perfect 

 mastication and digestion to which it has been subjected. 

 Milch cows fed on watery diet produce a dung contain- 

 ing only about one-sixtn or a seventh of solid matter, 

 while the dung of most oxen fed on a dry diet contains 

 about one-fourth of solids. Owing to the perfect 

 mastication which takes place in the.rumiQating process, 

 the constituents of the dung are in a fine state of 

 division, and the whole forms a mass through which 

 air does not penetrate, so that the rotting process goes 

 on very slowly, rendering it a very slon-acting manure. 

 It is called a cold manure, since there is no apparent 

 heat generated during its very slow fermentation. On 

 that account it is necessary to mix it with a large 

 amount of litter, in order to keep it free and perme- 

 able to air, so that the rotting process may be hastened. 

 The dung of horses is a dry dung, and more open and 

 porous, so that it ferments very easily and heats 

 rapidly. When too concentrated, the heating is carried 

 so far as to kill out the ferments in the heap, and 

 cause a loss of manurial matter. 



The urine of horses is also a more concentrated 

 material than that of cows or oxen, and therefore it 

 is very advantageous that the manure derived from 

 oxen and horses, should not be collected sepatately, but 

 mixed together in a careful, uniform niinner. The 

 dung of sheep resembles somewhat that of horses, hut 

 it is somewhat drier, and therefor*' well adapted 



from counteracting the too fluid character of cow 

 ^ung. 



There are many questions that arise as to the making 

 and using of farmyard manure. It may be asked 

 whether fresh dung is not a better manure than that 

 which has been preserved in heaps. It will usually 

 happen that less loss of manurial matter occurs when 

 manure is made directly on the field, inasmuch as the 

 methods of preserving farmyard manure are usually 

 imperfect. It cannot be said that the droppings left 

 by cattle on a field are properly distributed ; on the 

 contrary, the manure is applied in about the worst 

 conceivable manner. It remains for months protected 

 by a hard resinous covering, and ferments with great 

 slowness ; it kills out the grass immadiately beneath it, 

 and renders that part of the pasture unfit for food for 

 many months ; the rank vegetation which grows on 

 the spot next season is not acceptable to cattle, and the 

 pasture becomes coarse and uneven. This might easily 

 be avoided by a little attention, such as the employ- 

 ment of boys, or other unskilled labom', to scatter tb« 

 dung and secure its more even distribution, or tha 

 removing of it altogether to the dung heap. The 

 applying of fresh cow dung to the soil is not attended 

 with any loss of substance, and in some cases is much to 

 be preferred to any other method. This is especially the 

 case when it is wanted to improve the mechanical CDn- 

 dition of stiff clay soils ; but. as a rule, some preparatory 

 fermentation in the heap is very beneficial. The chief 

 improvement that occurs to dung when heaped is the 

 rapid rotting of the substance, whereby the hard straw 

 or other litter is softened, and made more capable of 

 yielding up its manurial substance to the roots of 

 plants. The albuminoid matter in the heap is decona. 

 posed and converted into ammonia, and ihe ammonia 

 is in turn converted into nitric acid, so that, from being 

 a slow-actiug manure, the dung becomes one of the 

 strongest and most rapid manures on the farm. In 

 cases where it is desired to prolong the action of the 

 dung over a long period, it should be ploughed in fresh ; 

 but when it is wanted to expend itself chiefly on the 

 crop to which it is applied, it should be as well rotted 

 as possible. That the rotting process may be satisfactory, 

 it is necessary that the manure heap be carefully made. 

 It must be uniform throughout the whole mass, and 

 this uniformity should be attained during the making of 

 the heap rather than by turning it over at a later stage. 

 When a heap is not uniform or equally fermented, the 

 turning it over, although attended with some loss of 

 ammonia, is to be recommended, as it is highly desirable 

 to have the whole heap uniform ; and the loss of the 

 ammonia is not so great as is apt to be imagined from 

 the pungent smell during the operation. When a man- 

 ure heap is carefully mixed and layered in the making, 

 and where there is a due proportion of litter and dung, 

 the fermentation goes on equally through the heap, and 

 there is no need of turning. 



The preservation of farmyard manure is a subject 

 which has been much neglected. There are now many 

 covered courts and covered heaps, but as a rule the dung 

 heap is exposed to the weather. In wet climates this 

 is a great misfortune, as e%'en with the greatest CAre,it is 

 scarcely possible to prevent wast*-, and if there is no spec- 

 ial care taken, as is usually the case, the loss of fertilis- 

 ing material is enormous. An uncovered manure heap in 

 a wet district is the biggest hole in a farmer's pocket. 

 In dry districts the loss need not be very great ; and 

 if care is taken iu the m.iking of the heap, it may be 

 quite unimportant. \\'hile a dung heap is maturing 

 there is a constant evaporation of moisture from the 

 iiot mass, so that it is apt to become too dry ; and where 

 the heap is under cover, it becomes necessary to run 

 over the heap with water, or, better still, with urine. 

 In a dry climate the amount of rain which falls upon 

 the heap just about compensates for the loss of moLst- 

 ure during fermentation. In order that there may 

 be no loss in such circumstances, tlie bottom of the 

 heap requires attention. The water iu the h(-ap gradually 

 drops down, and flows away as a constant brown steam 

 hiRlily charged with potash salts, and this may occur 

 when the upper parts of the heap is too dry. It is 

 therefore neeessary to have the heap placed upon • 



