368 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Stable manure loses its value in two wavs, bv heatiu" and bv 

 leacbiu^-. In heating', the nitrogen and the vegetable matter are 

 lost. The phosphoric acid and potash are unaffected even if the 

 heating- is carried out to complete combustion. 



In leaching, the nitrogen and the potash are the principal in- 

 gredients lost. The problem of the preservation of the value of the 

 manure is simpl}- the problem of regulating the amount of moisture 

 in the manure, keeping it wet enough to prevent heating and not 

 so wet that any surplus water will leach away. 



The most perfect method of keeping manure is in a water-tight 

 basement manure cellar. Unfortunately many barns will not per- 

 mit the construction of a basement manure cellar, and owing to the 

 liability of odors, it is hardly advisable to employ a basement man- 

 ure cellar, even though it is the perfect way of saving all the value of 

 the manure. Next in value comes the covered barnyard with water- 

 tight floor. 



One of the common methods and the worst of all, is throwing the 

 manure out by the side of the barn under the eaves. This is the 

 easiest way of cleaning the stable and is used for this reason, and 

 yet this method becomes among the best, if the ground is first hol- 

 lowed slightly and made water-tight, and then a shed roof is built 

 above to keep off the rain and carry off the water from the eaves. 

 If it becomes necessary to pile the manure in a yard the pile should 

 be rather small with straight sides and a somewhat dishing top to 

 catch and hold all the rain. Manure should never be spread out in 

 a barnyard and mixed with straw in the expectation that the straw 

 will absorb the rain and prevent leaching. Too much moisture falls 

 in Pennsylvania to make such a method advisable. A small barn- 

 yard a hundred feet on a side contains about a quarter of an acre, 

 and on such a yard, a thousand tons of water, in rain and snow, fall 

 each year. 



On most farms the best way of handling the manure is to haul it 

 to the field as soon as convenient after it is produced and spread it 

 at once broadcast over the land. Most of the manure is produced 

 during the >vinter season and an excellent metli/)d is to begin haul- 

 ing as soon as the ground freezes in the fall, so that a large load 

 can be hauled without cutting into the soil. Continue hauling all 

 winter long, without regard to snow, since it is perfectly safe to 

 scatter manure on top of deep snow without fear that plant food 

 will be lost. 



Attention has been called to the double value of stable manure, 

 i. e., its value as a fertilizer and also its value as an improver of the 

 mechanical condition of the soil. Both these values should be kept 

 in mind in dc^termining the proper treatment of the manure. When- 

 ever the manure pile heats or leaches, some plant food is lost; 



