FARM MANURES 



583 



EFFECT OF RATION ON MANURIAL COMPOSITION 



487. Handling manure. In dealing with a product 

 of which almost one-half is liquid, there is great danger 

 that a considerable amount of valuable plant-food will be 

 lost by leaching. The modification and consequent 

 lowering of the plant-food value of farm manure is a 

 vital question in the economic handling of this product. 

 Next to the litter, lack of care is perhaps the most im- 

 portant single factor concerned in altering the chemical 

 composition of manures in general. The influence of 

 handling is so clearly brought out by the following figures 

 from Schutt, 1 on mixed horse and cow manure, that further 

 discussion seems unnecessary. The protected manure in 

 this case was in a bin under a shed. The exposed sample 

 was in a similar bin but unprotected from the weather : 



1 Schutt, M. A. Barnyard Manure. Canadian Dept. Agr., 

 Centr. Exp. Farm, Bui. 31. 1898. 



