Live Stock Breeders' Association. 249 



ing 60 pounds of nitrogen, 18 pounds of phosphorus and 80 pounds 

 of potassium. This rotted manure (with the same per cent of dry- 

 matter as the fresh) would contain in one ton 12 pounds of nitro- 

 gen, 3.6 pounds of phosphorus and 16 pounds of potassium. Rotted 

 manure produced in this way is usually richer per ton than fresh 

 manure, but the total amount of manure has been so reduced that 

 the actual loss is very great. 



These simple principles should be kept in mind : 



1. In leaching fresh manure there are great losses of nitro- 

 gen and potassium and moderate losses of phosphorus and organic 

 matter, the materials lost being carried away in the leach water. 



2. In fermentation and heating there are great losses of 

 nitrogen and organic matter in volatile products which escape into 

 the air, but if no leaching occurs there is no loss of phosphorous 

 or potassium. 



In an exact experiment conducted at Cornell University, 4,000 

 pounds of ordinary manure from the horse stable, worth $2.74 per 

 ton for the plant food it contained, were exposed in a pile out of 

 doors from April 25 to September 22 (less than five months) , but 

 at the end of that time the total weight had decreased to 1,730 

 pounds, and that was worth only $2.34 per ton. In other words, 

 the value of this pile of manure was reduced from $5.48 to $2.03 

 during five months' exposure. In another experiment, manure ex- 

 posed for six months lost 56 per cent, of its dry matter and 43 per 

 cent, of its plant food value. In this case the fresh manure was 

 worth $2.27 a ton, while the rotted manure was worth $3.01 a ton, 

 but the loss in total weight and in plant food was such that for each 

 ton originally worth $2.27 there remained only $1.30 worth after 

 six months' exposure. 



The plant food in a ton of manure varies somewhat with the 

 kind of live stock. Thus, young, growing animals and animals 

 giving milk will retain a larger proportion of the nitrogen and 

 phosphorous than fattening stock, work horses, or other mature 

 animals. On the other hand, it is well to understand that the 

 differences in value commonly recognized and most frequently 

 considered, as, for example, between sheep manure and cattle ma- 

 nure, are due almost entirely to differences in water content. As 

 a matter of fact, manure from work horses or from fattening 

 steers fed on clover hay and heavy grain rations is fully as rich and 

 valuable as sheep manure, if both are reduced to the same per- 

 centage of dry matter. Of course, sheep manure, containing only 



