424 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



than one-half of the constituents in the total animal manure product 

 of the cow may be lost by an exposure of less than four months. 



In experiments at the Canada Experimental Farms a 4-ton lot 

 of horse manure (with litter) kept in an open bin lost one-third of 

 its nitrogen, one sixth of its phosphoric acid, and a little more than 

 one-third of its potash in one year. A similar lot of manure kept 

 in a closed shed lost only one-fifth of its nitrogen and practically 

 no phosphoric acid and potash. 



The unavoidable mechanical losses of stable manure occur 

 through dropping manure on or outside the farm where it cannot 

 be recovered. These losses cannot, of course, be entirely eliminated 

 except through permanent stabling of the animals, a system that 

 is only practiced in case of dairy cows in some sections and which 

 cannot be recommended under the conditions of farming present 

 in this country. The losses occurring through avoidable sources 

 are, however, greater than many farmers realize; at a conservative 

 estimate not more than one-half of the fertilizer value which manure 

 contains is preserved and contributes to make good the losses of 

 plant food in the soil from the culture of grain and other crops. 

 Careful trials by several experiment stations have shown that the 

 losses of fertilizer constituents in the manure under ordinary condi- 

 tions of piling and exposure during the summer months alone 

 amount to from 30 to 50 per cent. These losses may be largely 

 avoided by protecting the manure from leaching and from fermen- 

 tation, the two great causes of its deterioration. 



The liability of manure to a rapid loss of its constituents, and 

 consequently the important bearing of proper handling upon the 

 actual value of the product made, are not so fully recognized as 

 they should be. It follows, too, from the general character of the 

 material, that the richer the original manure is in the essential fer- 

 tility constituents, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, the greater 

 is the liability to loss, first, because of the greater tendency to rapid 

 fermentation of a substance rich in nitrogenous substances, which 

 results in a loss of nitrogen, and second, because of the greater possi- 

 bility of loss from leaching in substances containing large amounts 

 of soluble mineral salts. Farm manures are really nitrogenous in 

 their character, for the chief valuable constituent is nitrogen; in 

 average manure, valuing the constituents by commercial methods, 

 the nitrogen would be worth twice as much as the minerals, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash, hence the losses liable to occur through fer- 

 mentation affect the most expensive constituent, the one which prob- 

 ably contributes more to the maintenance of condition in soils than 

 do the minerals. 



Preservation of Manure. Manure cannot be so handled as to 

 prevent all loss of constituents before they are applied to the land, 

 because the changes take place so rapidly. The greatest losses are 

 liable to fall upon the combined solid and liquid, hence the great- 

 est care should be exercised to prevent conditions which favor such 

 loss. An effective way to preserve for the soil most of the valuable 

 constituents of the manure is to haul it directly from the stalls 



