MANURE 



MAPANIA 



1993 



Animals fed on a liighly iiilrojii'iious or narrow 

 ration (as 1:4), as wcro the pijjs in the aV)o\o investi- 

 gations, consume large quantities of water and produce 

 a large amount of manure, the weight of which often 

 exceeds the amount of food consumed; while those 

 fed on a carbonaceous or wide ration (as 1 :'J) consume 

 comparatively little water and produce less weiglit of 

 manure. 



Some conditions ;iiTecting the jjroduction of manure 

 and its value may be statcil as follows: If the i)lant- 

 food value of manure is computed at the price that is 

 paid for the same constituents in fertilizers, it is found 

 that the value of manure pro<iuced by animals is equal 

 to 30 to 50 per cent of the cost of their food. Young 

 animals produce i)oorer manure than matuft ones. 

 The excrements of animals which give a product, as 

 milk or yoimg, are poorer than those from non-pro- 

 ductive animals. The more abundant the ration the 

 less complete the digestion and the greater the value 

 of the manure ])roduced. Concentrated and nitrog- 

 enous foods result in richer and more valuable excre- 

 ments than unconcentrated or carbonaceous foods. 

 Liberal salting and excessively succulent foods dimin- 

 ish the value a ton of manures. The amount and kind 

 of bedding affect not only the quantity but the value 

 a ton. Animals kept in cold quarters iLrink little water, 

 digest their food closely and produce a manure rela- 

 tively small in amount and poor in quality. 



Rich manures are relatively more valuable to the 

 unit of contained fertiUty than poor ones, because their 

 fertihzing constituents are more quickly available 

 than are those of poor ones. Plants receive greater 

 benefit from extra nourishment in the early stages of 

 their growth than when they approach maturity. 

 Coarse low-grade manures should be weathered or 

 rotted to improve their availability, even though some 

 loss may occur. A unit of jilant-food in high-grade 

 fertilizers or well-preserved rotted manures is worth 

 more than in low grades. The valuable constituents 

 in farm-manures are not so quickly available as they 

 are in high-grade fertilizers, but they have an addi- 

 tional value, since they furnish humus, hghten the 

 soil, inoculate it with nitrifj-ing organisms and 

 increase its power to hold moisture, while assisting in 

 hbcrating the mineral constituents of the soil. The 

 value of manure as set dowTi below is determined by 

 investigations during the winter months, and the 

 nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are computed at 

 15, 6 and 4' 2 cents a pound, respectively. The indirect 

 beneficial effects of manure are considered an equal 

 offset for the slightly less availability of their plant- 

 food constituents iis compared with fertilizers: 



Kind of manure. Value a ton. 



Sheep S3 30 



Calves 2 17 



Pigs 3 29 



Cows 2 02 



Horses 2 21 



Limited amounts of bedding were used in the tests from 

 whicli the foregoing figures were made. 



Kind of animal. 



Fowl! 



sheep 



Calves 



Pigs 



Cows 



Horses 



Value a year. 



(l.WM) p.Mindaof) $51 10 



26 09 



^^. 24 45 



60 88 



29 27 



27 74 



Usually these animals are kept in the stables but half of 

 the year, and inevitably some loss will occur; therefore 

 it will be safe to estimate the recovered value a year 

 at one-third to one-fourth of the above. 



Heretofore the wa.ste of the valuable con.stituents of 

 manures in the United States has been very great. 

 Until recently, large open barnyards have been the 

 rule. In the northern and central parts of the United 

 States the rainfall exceeds 30 inches per annum. Many 



barnj-ards c(jntain from J<4 to J 2 acre. One inch of 

 rainfall equals 1 13 tons of water an acre. If this be mul- 

 tii)lied by thirty, a fairly accurate estimate is secured 

 of the water wliich largely pa.sses through or over the 

 inamire and carries off its most soluble and hence most 

 valuable constituents. The loss of value in manures 

 exposed at Ithaca, New York, in loose heaps of two to 

 ten tons, during six months, was as follows: 



Per cent 



1889. Horse-manure 42 



1890. Horse-manure 62 



1S90. Cow-manure 30 



1889. Mixed, compacted 9 



Even in horticulture, where a more liberal use of 

 manure than in general farming is admissible, too much 

 reliance is often placed on manures and too little on 

 tillage. Manures may furnish plant-food, improve the 

 physical condition of the soil, conserve and increase 

 heat and moisture. Ten to twenty times as much food 

 as the plants can utilize is frequently applied at one 

 dressing, which is poor economy, since manures give 

 best results when apphed in moderate quantities, in a 

 well-rotted condition and in close contact with the 

 seed. Growth and development are more largely 

 determined by the amount of moisture than by the 

 amount of plant-food. Five tons of preserved barn- 

 maniire contain of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, 

 sixty, thirty and forty-five pounds, respectively. 

 Twenty-five bushels of wheat, with straw, contain 

 forty-five pounds of nitrogen, eighteen pounds of 

 phosphoric acid, and twenty-seven pounds of potash. 

 Most soils contain large amounts of unavailable or dif- 

 ficultly available plant-food. Manures should be used 

 largely to feed plants between the time the nutrients 

 in the seed have been exhausted and that when the 

 plants have secured a firm hold on the soil by manifold 

 rootlets. Except when otherwise most suitable and 

 convenient, fresh manures should be spread thinly in 

 the autumn or early winter on the surface where plants 

 are growing, thus imitating nature's methods of main- 

 taining and increasing productivity. 



It is usually found to be both difficult and expensive 

 to maintain productivity by means of barn-manures 

 suijplemented with light applications of fertilizers. In 

 this case, unless plant-food can be secured from outside 

 sources easily, recourse should be had to green-manur- 

 ing. In some cases this is the cheapest and the best 

 method of rejuvenating old, weedy, tired lands. By 

 raising and plowing under two crops — one at least a 

 legume — in one season many weeds may be destroyed, 

 quantities of humus and nitrogen added, and inert 

 plant-food transformed into readily available forms. 

 At the same time the .soil is improved physically and 

 its power to pass the free water of prcciiiitation through 

 its subsoil is augmented while the tendency to pud- 

 dhng is diminished. Added humus and tillage combined 

 hasten nitrification and the liberation of inert mineral 

 plant-food while imparting to the land a greater 

 capacity to hold moisture by capillary action. See 

 FerlHiUj. j. p. Roberts. 



MAPANIA (an aboriginal name). Cyperaa^se. Grass- 

 like or sedge-like plants, sometimes grown under cover 

 for the foliage effects. 



Stem very short, bearing long and often striking Ivs.: 

 scapes mostly leafless, bearing congested infl.: spikelet 

 of 6 (sometimes 5) glumes: fr. a bony nut either dry 

 or succulent. — There are perhaps 50 species in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres, comprising strong often 

 tall-lvd. j)erennial herbs. Two species, .apparently good 

 pot subjects, have been listed in recent years. M. 

 paiidan-X'fdlia, Hort., is represented as dracena-like, 

 caulescent, 3-4 ft. high, with long narrow graceful 

 stifliish Ivs. 24 in. long by 1 in. wide. G.C. III. 21:349. 

 Gt. 46, p. 523. It is perhaps M. Pandaiiophyllum, 

 Schum. & Hollr., which is M. hypolytrt/ldes, Benth., of 



