-158- 



RKCAPITULATION. 



Value of one ton of well tramped mixed manure . . . . I2.38 

 Value of same after leaching for six months 2.16 



L,oss $.22 per ton or 9.2 per cent. 



It will be noticed that much the largest loss in both amount 

 and value, falls on the potash. While potash is not the most 

 valuable constituent of manure, it is still of so much importance 

 that its loss cannot be ignored. It is usuall}^ supposed that the 

 nitrogen is very easily lost from manure, the small amount lost in 

 this case may be, and very likely is, due to the fact that the nitro- 

 gen was still largely in an organic and for that reason insoluble 

 form, and decomposition being checked, by the close packing of 

 the mass and by the large amounts of water, very little of the 

 nitrogen was lost. 



Attention is called to the fact that in this experiment all the 

 conditions favoring loss were less than would ordinarily occur in 

 farm practice with the single exception of the rainfall. 



Loss of Manure in Drying, 



In this experiment two samples of the same manure as that 

 used in the leaching experiment were spread out thinly in galvan- 

 ized iron pans. They were exposed to the air all the time and on 

 pleasant days were exposed to the sunshine ; but care was taken 

 not to allow any rain to fall upon them. The result was that they 

 slowly dried out without fermentation. Owing to circumstances 

 over which we had no control, we do not feel justified in publish- 

 ing any figures of results at present ; but so far as we have any 

 indication at all it is that under these circumstances no appre- 

 ciable loss of fertilizing constituents takes place. 



Summary. 



The results of one season's trial seem to show that horse manure 

 thrown in a loose pile and subjected to the action of the elements 

 will lose nearly one half of its valuable fertilizing constituents in 

 the course of six months ; that mixed horse and cow manure in a 

 compact mass and so placed that all water falling upon it quickly 

 runs through and off is subjected to a considerable, though not so 

 great a loss, and that no appreciable loss takes place when manure 

 simply dries. 



