BARNYARD MANURE 



141 



for each cow kept. Straw, or some other absorbing ma- 

 terial, should be used so freely that none of the liquid 

 is lost. It is also desirable to have cement gutters in 

 cow barns. 



If the manure is exposed to heavy rains, the results 

 are still more serious, as the drainage from a manure heap 

 is even more valuable than the liquid manure: 1 



Roberts" exposed 4,000 pounds of manure from April 

 25 to September 22. At the end of this time there were 

 only 1,730 pounds: 



Not only was there a loss of 63 per cent of the value 

 of the plant-food, but the loss in weight was due mostly 

 to loss of organic matter, which should have been saved 

 to make humus. At the New Jersey Station, manure 

 exposed for four months lost over half of its value. 3 



Farmers usually fail to appreciate this loss, because 



iCyclopedia of American Agriculture, Vol. I, p. 491. 

 3 1. P. Roberts, The Fertility of the Land, p. 192. 

 3 Farmers' Bulletin No. 192, p. 20. 



