Section III., 1906. [ 37 ] Trans. R. S. C. 



III. — On the Conservation of Nitrogen in Manure. 

 By Thomas Macfarlane. 



Read May 23, 1906. 



On two former occasions ^ 1 addressed this section on the loss of sub- 

 stances useful as plant food, and more especially of nitrogen, during the 

 handling and storing of manure. I pointed out that the estimate 

 usually made of the value of the fertilizing substances, obtainable from 

 dwellers in cities, of $2.00 per year and person was altogether too high ; 

 that enormous losses took place in the collecting and handling of the 

 manure, owning principally to the escape of nitrogen in one form or 

 another. It was demonstrated also that this loss took place in spite 

 of the application of substances or acid mixtures ordinarily supposed 

 to be capable of retaining ammonia. These experiments of mine which 

 were begun with the view of deodorising human refuse by means of moss 

 litter, although perfectly successful in that direction and shewing how 

 rapidly the water in the resulting moss manure could be eliminated, all 

 ended as failures so far as the retention of the nitrogen was concerned. 

 Nevertheless I decided to continue the experiments in order if possible 

 to produce a dry and concentrated moss manure without sacrificing any 

 )oi its most valuable fertilizing constituent, nitrogen. In these trials 

 the material experimented upon was exclusively urine, because of the 

 large amount of nitrogen which its solids contain, and because of the 

 difficulty heretofore experienced in retaining it in natural manures of 

 of every description. 



I. In order to ascertain whether the recovery of all the nitrogen 

 was possible, by the use of acid and artificial heat, a trial was made in 

 which I made use of the cylindrical wire basket mentioned in my paper 

 of June 1904. Its height was S and diameter 6 inches with 3-8 inch 

 meshes, but it was modified by introducing in the centre a small wire 

 cylinder, 6 inches high and two in diameter, through whidi it became 

 possible to pass a current of heated air and so facilitate evaporation. 

 The moss used in the experiment occupied the space surrounding the 

 internal cylinder which formed a circle 6 inches deep and two inches 

 thick with an outside circumference of about 18 inches. The moss used 

 was a mixture of that from the bog near Caledonia Springs, and that 

 from the Welland marsh. It was saturated with urine to which had 

 been added an admixture of oil of vitriol sufficient to; fix the whole of 

 the nitrogen if it happened to be converted into ammonia. The drying 

 was effected by means of the products of combustion from' a small gas 



'Transactions of the Royal Societyof Canada, Vol. VIII., p. 87; Vol. X. 

 p. 61. 



