THE FERMENTATIONS OF MANURE. 71 
all of that in the liquid manure. From manure heaped upon soft 
ground, large amounts of this are completely lost by draining away 
or soaking into the ground. If the manure is left exposed to rains 
this loss is greatly increased. As a result the ordinary manure heap 
decreases very much in value during the weeks or months that it is 
stored in the pile. This part of the loss can be entirely prevented 
by storing the manure where the liquids will not leach into the 
soil. 2. By fermentation. This subject requires a more extended 
consideration. 
THE FERMENTATIONS OP MANURE. 
Destructive. The first chemical changes which go on are 
those of general decomposition. An ammoniacal fermentation is 
universal. The liquid manure is most rapidly decomposed by this 
fermentation, the substance undergoing in a very few days, sometimes 
in a few hours, a reduction into ammonia compounds, as already 
mentioned above. This is completed before the ammoniacal fer- 
mentation of the other nitrogen bodies has fairly begun, and suggests 
that the proper method of handling manure will be to treat the 
liquid manure separately from the solid portion. Eventually the 
nitrogenous compounds in the solid manure will also undergo am- 
moniacal fermentation. The starches, sugars, cellulose and woody 
tissue undergo a decomposition by which CO 2 is set free and various 
other substances are left. The fats and fatty acids are also decom- 
posed, liberating CO 2 with other less known bodies. The decom- 
position of the proteids liberates sulphur, commonly as H 2 S, and this 
may unite with water to form sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid 
may combine with the ammonia to form ammonium sulphate, or the 
ammonia may combine with the carbon to form carbonates. A 
large quantity of material is lost from the manure during these 
changes. The loss includes carbon in large amount, a matter of no 
significance, however, as it has simply gone into the air from which 
it can readily be reclaimed by plants. But the loss includes much 
nitrogen, and this is a misfortune, since it is the nitrogen that the 
farmer desires to keep. 
