420 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



gards production rank lowest as regards quality. Hogs, however, 

 stand in the front rank as regards both amount and quality of man- 

 ure produced. These differences are explained to a large extent by 

 the dissimilar feeding habits of the different kinds of animals. 



Waste of Manure. Even though manure is regarded highly 

 by all farmers in sections where fertilizers are needed, nevertheless 

 there is probably no product of equal value which is so much neg- 

 lected and so poorly cared for. The first great source of loss is 

 through the incomplete absorption of the urine. It is not infre- 

 quent to see no attempt being made to save this portion of the man- 

 ure. When it is remembered that the urine is richer in both nitro- 

 gen and potash than the dung, and that they are more available to 

 crops in the urine than in the dung, it should be self-evident to all 

 that it is highly essential that this part of the manure be carefully 

 saved. 



The second greatest source of waste of manure is the loss in- 

 curred by leaching. If manure is piled against the side of the 

 stable where the water from the roof can drip on it, or if it is piled 

 on the hillside, or other exposed places, the rain water in leaching 

 through the manure washes out of it much nitrogen and potash, 

 which is seen in the dark-brown liquid oozing from the base of the 

 pile. 



The third common source of loss is that incurred by heating 

 and fermenting. When manure is thrown in piles it soon heats and 

 throws off more or less vapor and gas. This heating is caused by 

 fermenting or breaking down of the materials composing the man- 

 ure. The fermentation is caused by the action of bacteria or low 

 orders of microscopic plants. The bacteria which produces the 

 most rapid fermentation in manure need plenty of air or oxygen. 

 Therefore, fermentation will be more rapid in loosely piled manure. 

 A certain, amount of moisture is necessary for fermentation, but if 

 the manure is wet fermentation is checked, because it lowers the 

 temperature, and excludes part of the supply of air. The fermenta- 

 tion which takes place in manure breaks down the organic matters, 

 and cause a loss of humus, and also of nitrogen through the am- 

 monium compounds, which are volatilized. The odor of ammonia, 

 which is commonly noticeable about horse stables and piles of horse 

 manure, is an evidence of the fermentation and loss which is taking 

 place. 



Fresh manure loses in the process of decay from 20 to 70 per 

 cent of its original weight. An 80 ton heap of cow manure left ex- 

 posed for one year lost 66 per cent of its dry substance. Some tests 

 conducted by the Cornell Experiment Station showed that 2 tons 

 of horse manure exposed in a pile for five months lost 57 per cent 

 of its gross weight, 60 per cent of its nitrogen, 47 per cent of its 

 phosphoric acid and 76 per cent of its potash. Five tons of cow 

 manure exposed for the same length of time in compact pile lost 49 

 per cent of its gross weight, 41 per cent of its nitrogen, 19 per cent 

 of its phosphoric acid and 8 per cent of its potash. 



