l6o SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 



it encourages anaerobic fermentation bv excluding the 

 air. Excessive amounts of water, as that which falls 

 on piles from the eaves of buildings, is more than is 

 required for good fermentation. During a dry time it 

 is beneficial, if conditions admit, to water the compost 

 pile. 



193. Heat Produced during Fermentation. — Dur- 

 ing the active fermentation of horse manure and sheep 

 manure, a temperature of 175 F. may be reached by 

 the fermenting mass. Ordinarily, however, the tem- 

 perature of the manure pile ranges from no° to 130 

 F. The highest temperature is reached near the sur- 

 face where fermentation is most rapid. The tempera- 

 ture of fermentation mav be sufficiently high if the 

 manure is mixed with the proper litter to cause spon- 

 taneous combustion. 



194. Composting Manure May Improve Its Quality. 



— When manure is composted so that leaching and 

 rapid fermentation do not take place the manure may 

 be improved in quality by becoming more concentra- 

 ted. Pound for pound, composted manure is more 

 concentrated than fresh manure, because, if properly 

 cared for, nearly all of the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 

 and potash of the original manure are obtained in a 

 smaller bulk. A ton of composted manure is obtained 

 from about 2,800 pounds of stable manure. 



