MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 115 



animals contributing to its formation, cattle, horses 

 and swine, some one or two of which may be absent ; 

 upon the fodder rations employed in feeding the stock ; 

 upon the export of milk from the farm ; upon the quan- 

 tity of foreign matter incorporated as bedding, or ab- 

 sorbents ; upon the percentage of the urine and dry 

 excrement, and upon the way in which it has been pre- 

 served, whether properly housed, or exposed to the 

 leaching of rains and winds. 



The Value of Manure as a fertilizer has been appre- 

 ciated for generations. The investigations of science 

 have not displaced its standing, or curtailed its use. 

 For it is both the cheapest, and, all things considered, 

 the best general manure at hand. It will always be 



FIG. 13. PLANT BED ARRANGED TO SHED WATER (Germany). 



used whenever the soil requires fertilizing, and where 

 live stock is kept. It meets the wants of the general 

 farmer better than any other fertilizer, and its appli- 

 cation is understood, and its general effects are well 

 known. 



The feed has a great effect upon the quality of the 

 manure. In its passage through the animal, the food 

 loses what is taken out by the growth of the animal and 

 by the milk. A good deal of carbonaceous matter, 

 which has no fertilizing value, is also burned in the sys- 

 tem to supply animal heat, but all the rest of the food 

 passes into the dung or urine. The digested food is 

 voided in the urine, the undigested in the solid manure. 

 Of the two, the urine is the more valuable ; it is also 



