12 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 395 



layers should not be over 6 inches thick. The chemicals are scattered over each 

 layer of organic material, and a shovelful or two of garden soil or barnyard manure 

 sprinkled on each layer as the pile is being built will serve as an inoculating 

 agent. Each layer of organic material should be sprinkled with water as it is 

 packed down by tramping. Care should be taken that not enough water is used 

 to leach out of the bottom of the pile. If the pile is built outdoors, the top may be 

 left flat so as to retain rain water instead of shedding it. If the pile bgins to 

 heat up greatly in two or three days, the temperature should be lowered by 

 sprinkling on more water, but not an excessive amount. 



After four or five weeks, the whole pile should be forked over into another pile, 

 throwing the outside portion into the center of the new pile and adding more 

 water. The forking-over process is repeated once more at the end of about eight 

 weeks, and the pile is then allowed to stand until the organic material is decayed, 

 or until the heating stops. The product may then be used in the sam? manner 

 as stable manure. 



Summary 



Artificial manure was prepared from corn stover, mixed deciduous leaves, oat 

 straw, and mixed leaves and garbage, in order to study the method of preparation, 

 rate of decomposition, heat and moisture relationships, and volume and appear- 

 ance of the finished product. Chemical analyses were made of the various pro- 

 ducts and they were used .in both pot and field experiments. 



Both chemical and vegetation tests showed that when Cyanamid or ammonium 

 sulfate was used in the preparation of manure from corn stover, oat straw, or 

 leaves and garbage, a finished product resembling well-rotted farmyard manure 

 was obtained. Leaves used alone decomposed to form artificial mmure very 

 slowly, while corn stover decomposed most rapidly. 



Field tests showed that artificial manure can be used satisfactorily in growing 

 corn, and hay yields were increased considerably where it was applied. 



Detailed general directions are given for both small- and large-scale preparation 

 of artificial manure. 



