FABMYARD MANURIH 51 



excrements of the farm stock, phis the Htter em- 

 ployed. Its composition will vary according to the 

 character of the animals contribating to it, the quality 

 of their food, and the nature and proportion of the 

 litter. This part of the subject will be discussed in 

 Chapter X. 



The treatment of the manure is most important. 

 The largest part of the nitrogen is voided in the form 

 of urine, and generally the richer the diet the higher 

 will this proportion be. If the liquid manure is lost, 

 or the solid matter is washed by rain, and the wash- 

 ings are allowed to drain away, serious losses of 

 nitrogen and potash will occur. Hence the great 

 superiority of box manure to that made in an open 

 yard. Holdefliess found that a quantity of food and 

 litter which, in a deep stall, yielded 10 tons of manure, 

 containing 108 lbs. of nitrogen, yielded, when carried 

 daily to a heap, only 7J tons, containing 64 lbs. of 

 nitrogen. 



It must also be recollected that the urea, which 

 forms the chief nitrogenous ingredient of urine, is 

 speedily changed by fermentation into carbonate of 

 ammonium ; and, as this is a volatile substance, a con- 

 siderable loss of nitrogen will easily occur. This loss 

 takes place chiefly while the manure is in the stable. 

 Miintz and Girard found the loss in the case of horses 

 and cows to amount to about 30 per cent, of the 

 nitrogen voided by the animal. A still greater loss 

 occurred with sheep, in consequence of the concen- 

 trated nature of their urine. This loss may be dim- 

 inished by a hberal use of litter, and especially by 

 using peat or peat moss instead of straw (p. 212). The 

 addition of loam to straw considerably increases its 



