CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 499 



The liquid portion of the manure is very valuable, and 

 the plant food in it is readily available, hence the im- 

 portance of saving it in a way that will conserve its proper- 

 ties and make its application easily possible. The old 

 method of draining it into tanks and drawing it from these 

 is objectionable, first, because of the expense and second, 

 because of the extent to which nitrogen is lost when it is 

 kept for any considerable time in these. It is considered 

 preferable to absorb the liquid by using some kind of litter 

 which may then be applied to the land. Certain gases, 

 as ammonia, escape from manure in considerable quantities, 

 especially from horse and sheep manure, and to prevent 

 the same through fixation, certain substances are used. 

 These are also used in cow stables to lessen the presence 

 of odors that are injurious to milk. 



To absorb the liquids, straw is more commonly used 

 because of its plentifulness, but leaves, moss, peat, and dry 

 loam or muck, may also be used. Peat, loam, and muck in 

 addition to their absorptive powers also lessen the extent to 

 which odors are present. To prevent the escape of am- 

 monia, land plaster has been much recommended and used. 

 But the question of the profit resulting is not fully settled. 

 Some good authorities claim that acid phosphate is superior 

 to gypsum. Others claim that, cost considered, the use of 

 dry peat, loam or muck is superior to either gypsum or 

 acid phosphate. 



In localities where fertilizers are much prized, the free 

 use of the absorbents named adds greatly to the quantity 

 of fertilizing materials saved and also made. The increase 

 is usually more cheaply secured than it would be by com- 

 posting, more especially when the manure thus made is 

 drawn at once and spread on the land. A saving is thus 

 effected in labor, and the loss of plant food in the manure 

 through leaching and excessive fermentation is reduced 

 to the lowest minimum possible. But, of course, it is not 

 always practicable to apply manure to the land thus quickly. 

 Through the use of suitable absorbents, it should be easily 



