674 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the temperature of the sheep manure begau to become less than that 

 of the cheek. 



When the daily records, or for those days that the records were taken, 

 are arrancjed in averages for the whole period, namely, from December 

 2Sth to April 10th, it is found that in every case the rise of temperature 

 increased very regularly and gradually with the increase in the amount 

 of manure so that the difference between the soil with no manure and 

 that containing 40 tons of manure was for horse manure 1.23°, for cow 

 manure .91°, and for the sheep manure, .80° C. ; while the difference be- 

 tween no manure and 10 tons of manure was for the horse manure .30°, 

 for cow .49°, and for sheep .20° C. 



From these results it would seem that the application of 40 tons of 

 manure and especially of horse manure, would raise the soil tempera- 

 ture quite appreciably above that of the unmanured soil and keep it 

 warmer for a long period, but such heavy applications or dressings are 

 very seldom applied. The most common and practical dressing is about 

 10 tons to the acre. This amount raised the temperature of the soil 

 about half a degi-ee and at the end of the whole period this soil was 

 only about a quarter of a degree warmer than the wholly unmanured 

 soil. This warmth or rise is unimportant for practical conditions; 

 it is too small to have any important influence. Furthermore, when it 

 is considered that the decomposition processes require a high tempera- 

 ture for their maximum activity, then manure, even in fairly large 

 amounts, can add no or very little heat to the soil at the time when the 

 latter needs it the most. 



