24 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. f Vol. 36 



in a fermenting mixture of manure and shavings, as compared with straw- 

 littered manure and unlittered manure, are reported. A basal manure prepared 

 by mixing one part by weight of fresh horse manure with two parts fresh cow 

 manure and litters prepared by sifting finely cut oat straw, oak shavings, and 

 Georgia pine shavings to uniform size, were used. Twenty-five lbs. of manure 

 were mixed with 2 lbs. of litter. 



It was found that " the loss of total organic matter during 12 weeks of fer- 

 mentation ranged from 33 to 51 per cent. It was most rapid and greatest in 

 the straw-littered manure, where bacteria were most numerous." 



The water-soluble organic matter, ranging from 10 to 13 per cent of the 

 total organic matter in the fresh manures, decreased continuously during 12 

 weeks of fermentation with the loss of from 60 to 80 per cent of the original 

 amount, the loss being most rapid during the first two weeks. Humus ranging 

 from 11.8 to 15.5 per cent of the total organic matter in the fresh manures 

 decreased continuously, but more gradually than the water-soluble organic 

 matter, during 12 weeks from 26 to 35 per cent. The losses from the littered 

 manures were nearly equal and about one-third greater than from the control 

 manure. 



The water-soluble ash, ranging from 37.5 to 40.9 per cent of the total ash in 

 the fresh manures, decreased gradually in all of the manures during 12 weeks 

 of fermentation. The decrease ranged from 14 to 30 per cent of the amount 

 originally soluble, being less in the straw-littered manure than in the other lots. 



" The total nitrogen increased in all the manures until the fourth week of 

 fermentation, the gains ranging from 8 per cent of the original amount in the 

 control manure to 20 per cent in the straw-littered manure. More or less rapid 

 loss of nitrogen occurred from the fourth to the eighth week of fermentation. 

 After twelve weeks a net loss of nitrogen obtained in all of the manures. This 

 net loss ranged from 3 to 13 per cent of the original amount of nitrogen, being 

 less in the straw-littered manure than in the other manures. 



" The water-soluble nitrogen decreased rapidly in all of the manures during 

 the first four weeks. It suffered greater loss than any other constituent inves- 

 tigated, its curve being quite similar to that of the total organic matter. This 

 constituent formed from 41.4 to 48.4 per cent of the total nitrogen at the begin- 

 ning of the investigation. Losses of the water-soluble nitrogen ranged from 

 77 to 90 per cent of the original amounts and were somewhat greater in the 

 shavings-littered manures than in the other lots. 



" Humus nitrogen formed from 46.8 to 56.8 per cent of the total nitrogen in 

 the fresh manures. Losses of this constituent ranged from 2 to 10 per cent 

 of the original amounts, being greatest in the control manure. The fluctuation 

 was similar in all of the manures, the humus nitrogen decreasing 10 to 20 per 

 cent during the first four to eight weeks of fermentation and then gradually in- 

 creasing. 



" Ammoniacal nitrogen formed only 0.7 to 1.2 per cent of the total nitrogen 

 at the beginning of the experiment. It rose to a maximum value in the control 

 and shavings-littered manures during the first two weeks of fermentation, 

 thereafter rapidly decreasing to about the original value after four weeks. In 

 the straw-littered manure, on the other hand, the maximum production of 

 ammonia was attained and passed gradually at about the fourth week. Am- 

 moniacal nitrogen reached its greatest value in the control manure. In all 

 cases, however, its values, ranging from 0.5 to 6.6 per cent of the total nitrogen, 

 were too low to allow the placing of great importance on its fluctuations." 



Fertilizer experiments, F. T. Shtjtt {Canada Expt. Farms Rpts. 1915, pp. 

 95-110). — A number of different fertilizer experiments begun in 1913 at Fred- 



