BARNYARD, STABLE, GREEN MANURES 79 



that have ceased to grow and animals that are being fattened void prac- 

 tically all of the plant-food constituents in their excrements. For this 

 reason the manure from different classes of animals varies considerably 

 in its plant-food constituents. 



Mature animals, neither gaining nor losing in weight, excrete prac- 

 tically all of the fertilizer constituents in the food consumed. Growing 

 animals may excrete as little as 50 per cent of such constituents. Milch 

 cows excrete 65 to 85 per cent; fattening and working animals 85 to 95 

 per cent. As regards the value of equal weights of manure under average 

 farm conditions, farm animals stand in the following order : poultry, sheep, 

 pi^s, horses, cows. At the Mississippi Experiment Station young fatten- 

 ing steers excreted on an average 84 per cent of the nitrogen, 86 per cent 

 of the phosphoric acid and 92 per cent of the potash in the food consumed. 

 At the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, cows in milk excreted 83 per cent 

 of nitrogen, 75 per cent of phosphoric acid and 92 per cent of the potash 

 of their food. The amount of manure produced per thousand pounds of 

 live weight of animals also varies with the class of animals, as well as 

 with the methdd of feeding and the character of the feed consumed. Sheep 

 and hogs produce the smallest amount of manure, but yield manure of 

 the greatest value per ton. Cows stand first in the amount of manure 

 produced, but rank lowest in the quality of manure. 



Horse Manure. Horse manure is more variable in its composition 

 than that of any other class of farm animals. This is due to the fluctua- 

 tion in the amount and character of the feed given to the horse, depend- 

 ing on whether he is doing heavy or light work, or whether he is idle. 

 Horse manure is drier than that from cattle, and generally contains more 

 fibrous material. It ferments easily, and is, therefore, considered a hot, 

 quick manure. When placed in piles by itself it ferments rapidly and 

 soon loses a large part of its nitrogen in the form of ammonia. Because 

 of its dry condition and rapid fermentation the temperature of the ma- 

 nure pile becomes very high, causing it to dry out quickly. This results in 

 what is commonly called fire-fanging. To prevent this, horse manure 

 should be mixed with cold, heavy cow or pig manure, or the piles of horse 

 manure should be compacted and kept constantly wet in order to reduce 

 the presence of air and consequent rapid fermentation. The quality of 

 horse manure makes it especially valuable for use in hotbeds, for the 

 growing of mushrooms and for application to cold, wet soils. Horse 

 manure is more bulky than that of any other class of farm animals and 

 weighs less per cubic foot. 



Cattle Manure. Cow and steer manure contains more water than 

 that from other domestic animals. It is ranked as a cold manure, and 

 has the lowest value, both from the standpoint of its plant-food con- 

 stituents and its fertilizing value. The average cow produces 40 to 50 

 pounds of dung or solid manure, and 20 to 30 pounds of urine per day. 



Hog Manure. The manure from hogs is fairly uniform in its com- 

 7 



