MANURES FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 



317 



It is always wise to first note the nature of the food of the animals* 

 The following- table has been prepared as a guide to show the com- 

 parative value of manure from different foods. The table gives the 

 number of pounds of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in a 

 ton of the food. The value of the manure is directly proportioned 

 to these amounts. As a rule, about 80 per cent of these amounts, as 

 given in the table, ia returned in the manure. When the manure is 

 not properly collected and taken care of, as is frequently the case, 

 the amount of fertility in the manure may be less than 25 per cent 

 of the amount in the food: 



FERTILIZER VALUE OF FOODS. 



The kind of the manure, as horse manure, cow manure or sheep 

 manure, does not have so much to do with its composition as the 

 quality of the food and the way in which the manure is cared for. 

 When only the solid excrements are collected and the liquid excre- 

 ments are wasted, from one-half to three-fourths of the value of 

 the manure is lost. The liquid excrements contain the larger part of 

 the nitrogen, and this nitrogen is in a soluble and quick acting 

 form. The nitrogen in the solid excrements is insoluble and slow 

 in its action. When the liquid excrements are lost and the solid 

 excrements are exposed to leaching rains, this manure contains 

 about 20 per cent of the original fertility of the food; when the 

 liquids and solids are both collected and used, about 80 per cent is 

 returned to the soil. 



Let us take, for example, two lots of manure and see how the dif- 

 ferences in composition of food and method of handling influence 

 the value of the manure: One lot of the manure is from hay-fed 

 animals, the manure having been exposed; the other lot is from ani- 

 mals fed on hay and grain, and the manure was properly cared for. 

 The foods in each case contained the following amounts of fertility: 



Timothy hay, 1 ton 



Timothy hay, 1500 lbs., and 500 lbs. bran. 



Nitrogen, 

 lbs. 

 25 

 31 



Phos. Acid, 



lbs. 



10 



22 



Potash, 

 lbs. 

 32 

 32 



In the first case, the liquids were lost and the solids were leached 

 by rains, which resulted in the return of only 20 per cent of the orig- 

 inal fertility in the food. In the second case, the manure is prop- 

 erly cared for and 80 per cent of the fertility is retained. 



