FERTILIZERS. 133 



become too dry. That decomposition was more rapid in the covered 

 heap than in the uncovered heap is shown by the fact that the loss of 

 organic matter was 30 per cent in the former and only 22 per cent in 

 the latter. This shows the importance, especially in case of covered 

 manure heaps, of keeping - the manure moist and well compacted. 



In case of the covered and uncovered heaps the liquid manure was 

 allowed to drain off and was collected in separate receptacles. Under 

 these conditions there was almost a total loss of the nitrogen iu the 

 liquid, the amount falling from 0.2-0.3 per cent to 0.01-0.05 per cent. 



It appears that during the decomposition which goes on in the 

 manure heap considerable amounts of nitrogen in the simpler forms 

 are converted into albuminoid and similar complex compounds, this 

 change being greater in case of deep-stall manure than in that from 

 ordinary stalls. By adding an excess of 0.5 per cent of sulphuric acid 

 to the manure which had remained in the deep stalls 136 days the 

 amount of albuminoid nitrogen was reduced from 65.1 per cent to 47.5 

 per cent of the total nitrogen, ammoniacal and amid nitrogen being- 

 correspond ingly increased. 



The addition of 30 per cent of marl to the manure reduced the loss 

 of nitrogen from 22.6 to 9.9 per cent, and the addition of 30 per cent of 

 marl and 2 per cent of peat reduced the loss to 6.1 per cent. The best 

 results, however, were obtained by adding 6 per cent of sodium bisul- 

 phate, corresponding to 1.5 per cent of sulphuric acid, which reduced 

 the loss to 1.3 per cent. The manure treated with sodium bisulphate 

 remained practically unchanged. 



On the losses of ammonia which take place in the preparation 

 of barnyard manure, P. P. Deherain (Gompt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, 

 126 (1898), No. 19, pp. 1305-1310).— This is a brief account of laboratory 

 experiments with ammonium carbonate, urine, and urine and straw, 

 undertaken for the purpose of explaining the losses of nitrogen from 

 manure. A solution of ammonium carbonate lost 73 per cent of its 

 nitrogen in 30 days in the open air. In a closed flask in which was 

 suspended a dilute solution of sulphuric acid to absorb ammonia 12.1 

 per cent of the nitrogen passed off from a solution of ammonium car- 

 bonate in 3 days and 21.2 per cent in 8 days. In closed flasks provided 

 with sulphuric acid to absorb ammonia and sodium hydrate to absorb 

 carbon dioxid 39.3 per cent of the nitrogen escaped in 3 days and 83 

 per cent in 8 days. In an atmosphere charged with carbon dioxid the 

 escape of ammonia was very slight. Urine exposed to the air lost 45 

 per cent of its nitrogen in one month. In a closed flask the loss in the 

 same time was only from 5.6 to 6.6 per cent. In flasks provided with 

 sulphuric acid for absorbing the ammonia 21 per cent of the nitrogen 

 of the urine escaped in 5 days, but at the end of that time none of the 

 ammonia formed had been absorbed by the sulphuric acid. At the end 

 of 11 days, however, 19 per cent of the nitrogen of the urine was found 

 in the sulphuric acid. When provision was made for absorption of 



