278 



ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



Off. Doc. 



as has the man who feeds under shelter; and often they are right, 

 so far as the mere bulk of this material is concerned. 



In order to investigate the losses which may occur in manure ex- 

 posed in this manner, we have at several times put out weighed 

 lots of manure at the beginning of winter, sampling and anaylzing 

 them when put out, and weighing, sampling and analyzing the 

 residue found in the spring. 



Sometimes we have taken up more pounds of manure in April 

 than w^e had put out in January, but when we take the manure to 

 the laboratory the chemist tells us that it has lost from one-third 

 to one-half its fertilizing value, in the nitrogen, phosphorus and 

 potassium which have been leached out and replaced by water from 

 the clouds. 



The accompanying table gives the results of an experiment in 

 which several lots of manure, of 1,000 pounds each, were treated 

 with various preservative or re-enforcing materials and then ex- 

 posed to the weather from January till April. 



TABLE 1— The Waste of Manure. 



Treatment. 



Nitrogen. 



o 



oi 



Phosphorus. 



o 





Potassium. 



o 







Untreated: 



Pounds In January, 

 Pounds in April, .. 

 Per cent, loss 



Gypsum: 



Pounds in January, 

 Pounds in April, .. 

 Per cent, loss 



Kainit: 



Pounds in January, 

 Pounds in April, .. 

 Per cent, loss 



Floats: 



Pounds in January, 

 Pounds In April, .. 

 Per cent, loss, 



Acid Phosphate: 



Pounds in January, 

 Pounds in April, .. 

 Per cent, loss 



$2 05 



1 30 



37 



1 92 



1 36 



28 



2 11 

 1 34 



36 



The table shows that there has been a great loss in all the fertilizing 

 constituents, and especially in the most valuable part — that already 

 soluble in water. Of the various materials used for treatment, gyp- 

 sum is the only one which has shown any marked effect in reducing 

 the losses, and this in the nitrogen and phosphorus; the potassium 

 shows an even greater loss in the gypsum-treated lot than in any of 

 the others. Some may ask the question whether these findings of 

 the chemist would be verified by actual test in the field, and an 

 answer to this question has been sought by a series of field experi- 

 ments, begun at the Ohio Station in 1897, and still in progress. 



In these experiments two lots of manure, the one taken from 

 the open barnyard, where it has lain for several months, the other 

 taken fresh from the stable, and spread on plots lying side by side 

 at the rate of 8 tons per acre and plowed under for corn, the corn 

 being followed by wheat and that by clover in a 3-year rotation. 



