64 THE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



1. Manures. — Eecent investigations prove that the f cecal 

 material should be preserved in a fresh unfermented condition ; 

 that the best manure is that which consists of a mixture of the 

 solid and liquid excrements, with just so much litter as will 

 cause the liquid portion to be absorbed by the cellular structure 

 of the absorbing material, thus offering the most resistance to 

 the fermenting action of the oxygen in the soil ; so that the 

 ingredients are gradually rendered soluble and available as 

 plant food, and that manure should be applied either to growing 

 crops, or immediately before the sowing of the crop for which 

 it is intended. These facts being admitted, it is evident that the 

 former practice of keeping manures till a year old, carting into 

 heaps and frequent turnings to promote fermentation, separating 

 the liquid from the solid excrement, must be condemned as 

 unscientific and wasteful. Loss from excess of moisture, causing 

 drainings from the manure in open yards, is proportional to the 

 manuring value of the food, the more liberal our treatment the 

 greater the loss. If manure is properly made under cover, the 

 whole of the soluble matters, which are the most valuable, are 

 preserved. The manure under the weight of the animals is so 

 compressed that it is not affected by the air, and only when 

 moved is there any perceptible heat or smell. It is, of course, 

 richer, because the proportion of straw to fcecal matter is so 

 much smaller, and it is uniform in quality for the food used, 

 because the proportion of litter is uniform. Many have failed 

 of success from using an excess of litter, by which the manure 

 is injured ; inasmuch as air gets access, fermentation occurs, 

 and the result is fire-fanged manure, with great loss of manur- 

 ing elements and probable injury to the animals, who rest on 

 a hot bed instead of a perfectly cool bottom. Well made manure 

 in covered yards is considered to be weight for weight worth 

 double that in open yards, supposing the same class of animals are 

 kept on similar food ; but, owing to the smaller quantity of litter 

 employed, the weight per beast is reduced fully one-third. Writers 

 have estimated the quantity of litter required both for open 

 courts and covered yards far too high. Mr. P. D. Tuckett, at 

 the Surveyor's Institution in 1883, " supposed that a beast fed 

 all winter under cover would convert from 3 to 4 tons of straw 

 into 16 cubic yards of manure. Mr. Moscrop in his Essay, 



