120 



PRACTICAL FARM CHEMISTRY. 



thus obtained is far more valuable than the leached 

 stuff so often misnamed "stable manure." In a 

 comparative short time it will be in best possible 

 condition for immediate application, unsurpassed as 

 a top-dressing, especially for garden crops. 



We may, however, not keep much, or any, stock 



that will help us to convert raw muck into a first 



quality of manure, and in such cases we 



Artificial y^m ]jq forced to resort to other means. 



Manure. For instance, we take a ton of muck hav- 

 ing twelve pounds of nitrogen, add to it 

 200 pounds of unleached wood ashes, having eleven 

 pounds of potash and three and one half pounds of 

 phosphoric acid, and finally fifteen pounds of dis- 

 solved bone, having two and one half pounds of 

 phosphoric acid. Now we have 



This material is now thoroughly composted in a 

 similar way as in the former case. No nitrogen is 

 added, as was done by the addition of animal void- 

 ings, but the chemical action also helps to render 

 the original nitrogen of the muck gradually avail- 

 able. In the course of manipulation, we probably 

 deprive the muck of some of its moisture, and in 

 the end we will have about one ton of compost, 

 containing twelve pounds of nitrogen, six pounds 

 of phosphoric acid, and eleven pounds of potash, 

 hence being the equal in every way to a ton of an 



