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Dung and Urine. — The value of these depends on the food, age, 

 breed, condition and work of the animal. The richer the food, 

 the richer the excreta ; the older the animal, the richer the excreta. 

 A working animal will yield more value in excreta tban one which 

 is fattening. 



Dung. — This consists of the undigested and undissolved por- 

 tion of the food. It is much poorer in plant food than the Urine, 

 which has more manurial value, and should be most carefully saved 

 and used. It consists of substances which have been digested, 

 and which are therefore very quickly assimilated by plants. 



The following table (from Wolff) shows the percentages of nitro- 

 gen in the original food which go into the dung and urine of the 

 respective animals : — 



Phosphoric acid is practically wanting in horse and cow urine ; 

 sheep urine has somewhat more. The largest amount is in pig 

 urine, but even there it is present only in traces. Sheep urine is 

 the most valuable : next comes horse urine, then cow urine, and, 

 last of all, pig urine, counting all the elements together. 



Litter. — The qualities which should be looked for in a good lit- 

 ter are : — 



1. A conservative action on the fermenting dung and urine. 



2. Rapidity of disintegration. 



3. A high water absorbing and retaining power. 



4. Cleanliness. 



5. Relatively high contents of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric 

 acid. 



6. Low market value. 



The following list contains most of the materials commonly used, 

 and as to the above qualities 1, 2, 3 and 5, it gives them in the 

 order of their values, beginning with peat moss, the highest ia 

 value : — 



Peat moss. 

 Peat. 

 Dry loam. 

 Dry muck. 

 Summer rye straw. 

 Oat straw. 



Winter rye straw. 

 Barley straw. 

 Wheat straw. 

 Sawdust. 

 Dry leaves. 



