346 Bacteria in Relation to Country Life 



LITTER, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BACTERIA IN MANURE 



Materials like straw, wood-shavings, sawdust, peat- 

 moss and dead leaves, used as litter, are not so readily 

 decomposable as the solid and liquid excreta. Some of 

 them, like peat and peat-moss, contain substances more 

 or less injurious to the bacteria, and when present in 

 large proportion may, for a time, check their growth. 

 In consequence of this, the addition of litter to the 

 animal excreta must necessarily affect the bacterial 

 activities in the latter. 



The influence thus produced is modified by both 

 the chemical and the mechanical nature of the materials 

 employed. For instance, finely cut straw is superior to 

 coarse straw because it presents a larger surface and, 

 therefore, absorbs more liquid and, at the same time, 

 allows a better circulation of air in the manure pile. 

 Again, dead leaves and pine needles make a poorer 

 manure than straw. They are inferior in their ability 

 to absorb liquids, do not favor the circulation of air in 

 the manure pile to as great an extent, and do not decom- 

 pose as readily in the soil. 



Peat and peat^moss have a very high absorptive 

 power and are, in this respect, superior to straw. On 

 the other hand, they are quite resistant to decay on 

 account of the acid substances and other products con- 

 tained in them. When left to themselves they decom- 

 pose very slowly, but when mixed with manure, their 

 decay is hastened. In certain districts in Europe, they 

 are held in high esteem, not only on account of their 

 absorptive power, but, also, on account of their ability 



