100 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



This, as well as other matters referred to, were all 

 analyzed by Professor Apjohn, so far as to ascertain 

 their manurial value, and from his report I subjoin the 

 following extract : — " In wether's dung : 



Water 58-96 



Dry matter 4104 



Tlie dry matter is composed of 

 Organic matter . . 

 . V J Insoluble iu muristic acid 

 '*'° I Soluble iu do. 



10000 



66-50 

 15-30 

 18 20 



10000 

 The 18-20 parts soluble in muriatic acid contained 

 3*72 phosphoric acid = 8*07 phosphate of lime. 100 

 parts of the dry dung gave 2-49 ammonia ; extracting the 

 money value of this from the phosphate of lime and am- 

 monia, J find that 



One ton when dried is worth £2 12 2 



Do. before being dried 117 



Dung of the ewe — 



Water 7029 



Dry matter 2971 



100 

 The dry matter gave 



Organic matter 65 91 



^ , r Insoluble iu muriatic acid . . . . 19-72 

 ^^^ I Soluble in muriatic acid , . . . 14-37 



100 

 In the 14-37 parts of ash were found 2*44 phosphoric 

 acid = 5*31 phosphate of lime. 100 parts of the dung 

 gave 2-51 ammonia. Money value — 



Dry dung £2 7 



Dung before drying 14 



The wether's dung, was, therefore (allowing for the 

 quantity rendered), valued at Is. O^d., and the ewes 

 Sid. per cwt. The monthly value of the dung would 

 be, in the wether lOd., ewe Gd. 



The analysis of the urine was as follows : — " Urine of 

 ewe, sp. grav. rO09. It was strongly acidulated with 

 muriatic acid, and then evaporated down, until upon 

 cooling it was converted into a solid ; the residuum was 

 weighed, and found to constitute 2-G09 per cent, of the 

 weight of the urine ; such amount of it (2-60Q per cent.) 

 was then burnt with soda lime, and in this way it was 

 found to yield 0-542 per cent, of ammonia = 0-390 

 nitrogen. Urine of wether, sp. grav. r057 ; treated 

 in the same way it gave a much larger residuum, con- 

 sisting of 25-43 per cent, of urine, and this, when burnt 

 with soda lime, gave 9- 105 per cent, of ammonia = 7-45 

 nitrogen. The comparison gives — 



Sp. gr. 



Urine of ewe 1009 



Urine of wether 1057 



Ammonia. Nitrogen. 



. . 0-542 0-390 



. 9165 7-486 



We then arrive at this conclusion, that the urine of the 

 wether yields very nearly seventeen times as much 

 ammonia as that of the ewe, and that using the ammonia 

 as a measure, the value of the urine of the wether is to 

 that of the br^' Pthv' n guano in the ratio of 9 to 17." 

 The greater quantity rendered in this case by the ewe 

 reduces the ratio from 17 to 12, and the value of the 



urine would be per month, wether 4s., ewe 4d. ; so 

 that we have in ammonia and phosphate of lime a 

 differential value in favour of the wether fed on oilcake 

 of 4s. Id., or lGs.4d. out of the JLI 2s. 9d., to give to 

 the improvement of the land ; and the corrected state- 

 ment of the cost of the two lots going into the show- 

 yard would be — 



Mr. Tuite's £9 19 3 



Mine 7 8 



The nine per cent, stored up in the carcass, accord- 

 ing to Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, will be valued at 

 2s. 6d. The exudation (which is probably added to the 

 value of the sheep track) would, according to Barrall, as 

 quoted by Mr. Horsfall, be one shilling's worth, leaving 

 only Ss- unaccounted for, and this is probably owing to 

 the exorbitant price of oilcake. At £9 10s. per ton, 

 my account would have balanced. 



I have thus reasoned upon the manurial value of the 

 excretions to show that though the feeding of my sheep 

 cost 4s. more than the feeding of Mr. Tuite's, yet that 

 my gain was three times that sum in improvement of 

 the land. I have my money to turn again, instead of 

 losing a year's interest upon it ; and besides, all the 

 chances that the use of next summer's grass may give 

 in ; besides, I shall shear a hogget while he shears a two- 

 year-old sheep. 



Let us now take the differential weights. I have in 

 nineteen months produced nearly as much mutton as 

 Mr. Tuite has in thirty-one months, or, as the quanti- 

 ties were, as 105 to 101 nearly, and his increase was 

 3st. 61b. per month, unassisted. I may assume that 

 mine, increasing at somewhat of the same rate, 3st. 61b. 

 on the gross, owed 401b. in 101b. per month to the 

 extra feeding, equal at the rate — 



They sold for . . £1 4 

 But the extra feed cOat . 1 2 9^ 



Money gained . . £0 1 2^ 

 unless we admit what the judges ignored — the great 

 tendency to early maturity in the Shropshire Downs. 



I havj made these calculations on the results of the 

 first experiments, which I believe to have been the best, 

 as between a sheep wholly grass-fed and one fed on oil- 

 cake, &c. As, however, the result seemed so unex- 

 pected. I made a second trial between two wethers 

 that had been fed equally on oilcake and oats, dropping 

 the artificial food with one (No. 2), and feeding him on 

 grass alone for three days previous to his being shut up 

 for twenty-four hours. The urine alone was analyzed, 

 and contained per pound avoirdupois — 



Sp. Grav. Grs. Ammonia. Grs. Phos. Lime. 

 No. 1.... 10428 252-80 392 



No. 2.... 10057 33-12 1.76 



The per-centage difference is not the same as in the 

 other case, but threo days was probably not sufficient to 

 prevent the previous highly nitrogenized feeding from 

 having told on the secrelions of No. 2 ; but the experi- 

 ment is the more satisfactory, as showing how com- 

 pletely the value of the excretion follows the quality of 

 the food. 



I had the oilcake also carefully analyzed by Dr. 



