142 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



a ton of well-rotted manure is worth more than a ton 

 of fresh manure. The trouble is that after exposure there 

 are so few tons. One farmer who looked over these figures 

 remarked that he hauled 200 loads of manure to a pile 

 beside a field in the spring, and that when he came to 

 spread it in the fall, he had 60 loads. 



* Manure exposed in yard. 



$2.96 



$4.80 



Stall manure. 



Stall manure and acid phosphate. 



FIG. 60. Relative values of crops grown from stall manure and from an equaJ 

 quantity of manure left exposed in yard and from stall manure reinforced witfc 

 23 cents' worth of acid phosphate per ton. 



At the Ohio Station, manure exposed three months 

 in an open barnyard lost one-third of its fertilizing value. 

 This manure was used on crops and was found to be 27 

 per cent less effective than the same amount of manure 

 that had not been thus exposed (Fig. 60). As manure is 

 exposed under the eaves in barnyards, it certainly loses 

 much more than half of its value. But merely being 

 under cover is not a sure preventive of loss. Unless it is 

 kept moist and compact, it will ferment, and a large part 

 of the nitrogen will pass off into the air. 



The ideal way to care for manure is to spread it on 

 the land as fast as it is made. One can keep a wagon or 

 manure-spreader on which the manure is thrown each day. 

 When a load is ready, it is hauled to the field and spread 

 at once. This is not so difficult as at first appears. It 

 saves the labor of handling the manure twice, once to 



