652 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



rather than retarding, decomposition. Dry earth is unequaled 

 as an absorbent of gases. 



Dry Earth an Absorbent and Disinfectant. The ex- 

 ceeding great value of dry earth as an absorbent of moisture 

 and gases is not generally appreciated. Muck and peat have 

 been used and commended as absorbents for stables and pens 

 by those who have them convenient, but these are few, com- 

 pared with farmers who have no muck beds or peat bogs 

 within reach. As absorbents of moisture they excel loam or 

 clay, but as absorbents of gases they are not equal to either. 

 Clay possesses, to a greater degree, the property of absorbing 

 and retaining ammonia. A moist soil absorbs more ammonia 

 than a dry one. Now, we see why muck, containing a large 

 per cent of clay-wash, is so grand a disinfectant. The humus in 

 the muck absorbs moisture to a rare degree. This moisture in- 

 creases the capacity of the clay particles to absorb ammonia. 

 Humus acts chemically and mechanically ; so does the clay. 

 Ammonia enters chemically with silica and alumina, and forms 

 double silicates. All soils contain some ingredients which tend 

 to fix the ammonia, and a remarkable feature of it is that, year 

 by year, this soil may be used as a disinfectant, and after dry- 

 ing, it seems to have as great power to appropriate moisture 

 and ammonia as when first used. Compared with straw or saw- 

 dust, dry earth is vastly superior as an absorbent, but it has 

 this objection: When wet, it adheres to the animals, which 

 straw and sawdust do not. The perfection of bedding is a 

 layer of dry earth, covered with clean straw. 



That the farmer may see how completely he is provided 

 with a ready means of keeping up fertility while protecting his 

 stables against disease, and promoting health, and thrift, and 

 neatness, we give a table to show the property of soils to re- 

 tain moisture : 



One hundred pounds of dry soils, named below, will retain as many 

 pounds of water as the ^figures opposite indicate : 



Quartz sand 25 Loam 51 



Clay loam 40 Garden mold 89 



Heavy clay 61 Humus 181 



