The Bulletin. 



03 



Professor Shutt, olieniist for the Experinioiit Stntlon (if Ciiiiiulii. exposed two 

 tons of manure four months from April 2*Jth to Auj;ust 2!)th. At the be^inninK 

 this manure contained l,i)88 pounds of vegetable matter and 48.1 pounds of 

 the precious plant-food element, nitrogen. At the end the vegetable matter 

 had \^eeu reduced to <!;") jiounds ; the nitrogen to 27.7 pounds. A loss of 1,283 

 pounds of humus and 20.4 pounds of nitrogen — two things absolutely essential 

 to fertile soils and large crops. 



One more illustration: This is from the Cornell Experiment Station and 

 shows the loss by a five months exposure for horse and cow manure. 



HORSE MANURE. 



COW MANURE. 



Without attempting to remember all these figures, one readily sees what 

 is indicated in the per cent column. The horse manure lost in a five months 

 exposure, generally si^eaking, from one-half to three-fourths of its original 

 amounts; the cow manure from' one-fourth to one-half. From all these illus- 

 trations one can safely get the general working proposition, that stable manure 

 will lose more than one-half of its value in a four months exposure. 



How is the loss to be overcome? By the adoption of better methods of sav- 

 ing stable manure. Dig a pit sufficiently large to meet each one's require- 

 ments. Line it with cement plaster. Cover it to protect it from the rains. 

 Into this pit dump all the manures as fast as they accumulate and then keep 

 it sufficiently moist to prevent fermentation. In winter when the rate of 

 evaporation is low the liquid manure will be sufficient for tlus. Just here let 

 me say it is all-important to save the liquid manure, for. in general terms, 

 three-fourths of the nitrogen and four-fifths of the potash are contained in 

 the urine of the animals. 



The only trouble with this method is. only up-to-date farmers will adopt it. 

 thus leaving the rest to waste their manures in the same old way. Some other 

 way must be found. The next 'best is to allow the manure to accumulate in 

 the stalls till it can be conveyed to the fields. The tramping of the animals 

 and the liquid manure will keep the whole mass compact and prevent fermenta- 

 tion. This works all right with horses ; but with cattle, on account of the 

 much larger accumulation, it does not work so well if the time before remov- 

 ing is considerable, as it is likely to be in the winter-time. This can be over- 

 come by each man building a large covered shed for his cattle. This will give 

 his cattle room to exercise without exposure to inclement weather and will 

 afford the best facilities for saving his manure. I have seen this trietl, and 

 so far as I could observe the manure was saved perfectly. 



