296 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



time during rainy weather, we may expect that from one- 

 fourth to one-half of the plant food will be lost. The Ohio 

 Experiment Station conducted an experiment to determine the 

 difference in crop product'on between manure hauled directly 

 from the stable to the field and manure left lying in the barn- 

 yard for some time. In each case the manure was applied to 

 the ground in a three year rotation of corn, wheat and hay. In 

 one case the manure was, hauled directly from the stable to the 

 field about midwinter, and in the other case it was thrown out 

 into the barnyard and left in a pile, as is the common practice 

 with some farmers, for two or three months. It was then scat- 

 tered over the corn ground in the spring. This experiment has 

 run sixteen years now, and the increase on crops produced by 

 the stall over the yard manure will be quoted. Stall manure 

 produced five and one-tenth bushels more corn, one and three- 

 tenths bushels more wheat, and practically 600 pounds more 

 hay on an average each year. Figured by the increased crop 

 over the plots where no manure was used, the stall manure was 

 worth $3.30 per ton and the yard manure $2.60, making a differ- 

 ence of 70c per ton in the value of the stall manure as measured 

 by the crop produced. This seems to show that there is a 

 decided loss in manure when allowed to remain in the barnyard 

 and that this loss can be detected by the crop. This is a ques- 

 tion of where the leaching occurs. If it occurs in the field the 

 plant food goes into the soil where it can be used by the crops ; 

 if it occurs in the barnyard, this plant food is a total loss, so 

 far as crop production is concerned. The remedy for this is to 

 prevent the leaching of manure except on the field where crops 

 are to be grown. 



The third loss in manure is by fermentation or heating. This 

 occurs when the manure is thrown into a loose pile where it 

 will heat, and decomposition begins. This loss falls only on 

 the nitrogen but there is considerable loss of the organic mat- 

 ter content of the manure, which should be incorporated with 

 the soil. Where the manure is so loosely piled that it heats 

 when rotting, we may expect a loss of from 30 to 80% of 

 the nitrogen, but no loss of phosphoric acid or potash. This 

 loss occurs only when air has access to the manure pile. The 

 remedy, then, is to keep the manure pile moist and compact to 

 exclude the air. If the manure does not heat while rotting, 

 there will not be any considerable loss of nitrogen. 



