TKUCK FARMING. 



593 



carbonate of ammonia, which is produced during fermentation. It is 

 impracticable for the truck farmer to avoid this by turaiug his manure. 

 Moisture and compacting it to preclude the air will prevent the rapid 

 fermentation and accompanying loss. The trampling of hogs may be 

 made effective. Extensive truck farmers, located favorably near large 

 cities, preserve their large accumulations from this danger by daily de- 

 posits of partly fluid night soil upon their manure, considerably aug- 

 Dionting its value. The wagons are driven over the pile and the i'rc- 

 <ii!ei!t delivery tends to compact it. A recent city ordinance prohibits 

 the deposit of night soil within 3 miles of the city limits of Savannah ; 

 thus the nearer and otherwise more favorably located farmers are de- 

 barred from this source of manure. Gardeners near cities, who collect 

 large quantities of stable manure by daily accumulations, rarely place 

 more than four hundred wagon-loads in a single pile, but prefer to have 

 it deposited in suitable quantities ujion the headlands of each field, 

 where it may be convenient for application. By covering each pile, 

 when finished and practicable, to the thickness of several inches with 

 soil, too rapid fermentation by exclusion of air would be prevented, and 

 any volatile and escaping ammonia would be absorbed by the covering 

 earth. The truck farmers located remotely from the cities may augment 

 their manure piles by composting it with muck, frequently much richer 

 in nitrogen than the best stable manure, woods, earth, or good garden 

 soil, thus preventing a too rapid fermentation ; or they may use their 

 smaller stock of stable manure as a basis for compost heaps of every 

 possible material which can, after decay, form plant-food. It will induce 

 and sustain the fermentation so necessary to break down these crude 

 vegetable materials in order that their elements may become available. 

 The manurial value of the excrements of all animals will depend upon 

 the constituents of their feed. A horse fed on corn or oats and good 

 hay, will void better manure than one fed on straw. Block estimated 

 that a horse will void 172 pounds fresh dung if fed on 100 pounds of hay, 

 204 pounds when fed on 100 pounds of oats, and only 43 pounds if fed 

 on 100 pounds of grass. A single horse, if well fed, voids about 

 12,000 pounds of solid dung, and 3,000 pounds of urine annually. John- 

 son found that the manure of the horse-car stables in New York con- 

 tained 0.53 per cent, of nitrogen. If two-thirds of both the solid and 

 liquid excrements were saved during the year there would remain for 

 each horse 5 tons of manure containing 53 pounds of nitrogen. Accord- 

 ing to the analysis of Dr. Emil Wolff 5 tons of stable manure contains 

 58 ijounds of nitrogen. 



Below is a table, according to Professor Wolff, showing the amount 

 of nitrogen, j)Iiosphoric acid, and i^otashin 1 ton of the fresh dung and 

 fresh urine of different domestic animals : 



38 AG— '85 



