18 THE HANDBOOK FOE PKACTICAL FARMERS- 



properly store and handle the animal excrements. The three 

 principal sources of loss are : (1) Failure to preserve the licpiid 

 manure; (2) leaching by rain; (3) hot fermentation. 



The necessity for preserving the liquid as well as the solid 

 manure is apparent from the following table which gives the 

 approximate composition of the solid and liquid excrement from 

 different classes of animals. 



Pla^^t Food JNIaterials per 1000 Pouxds of ExCREiirxT 



rOUXDS OF ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS 



Xitroffen 



Phosiilioric 

 acid 



Potash 



Horse : 



Solid . 



Liquid 

 Cow: 



Solid . 



Liquid 

 Swine : 



Solid . 



Liquid 

 Sheep : 



Solid . 



Liquid 



5.0.5 

 12.00 



3.00 

 S.OO 



6.00 

 3.00 



7.50 

 14.00 



3.50 

 0.00 



2.50 

 0.00 



4.50 

 1.25 



COO 



0.50 



3.00 

 15.00 



1.00 

 14.00 



5.00 

 2.00 



3.00 

 20.00 



From this table it will be seen that for horse, cow, and sheep 

 manure more than two-thirds of the nitrogen is in the liquid 

 manure, and that the potassium is from five to fourteen times 

 more abundant in the liquid than in the solid manure. 

 Practically none of the phosphorus, however, is contained in the 

 licpiid excrement. These facts point to the necessity of having 



