CHAPTER VI. 

 THE MANURE HEAP AND SEWAGE. 



CONTENTS OF THE MANURE HEAP. 



The value of the manure heap is recognized by every farmer. 

 So thoroughly is this appreciated that, in some countries, the wealth 

 of the farmer is measured by the size of his manure heap, which 

 is commonly exposed prominently in front of his house. Every- 

 where one may measure quite accurately the thrift of a farmer by 

 an examination of this somewhat unsavory product of farm life, 

 and the extent of his intelligence may likewise be gauged by the 

 care he bestows upon it. We can readily understand its importance 

 when we remember that in this manure heap are going on, in a 

 condensed space, exactly the transformations of food material 

 which we have been considering. 



The manure heap is always an extremely complex mixture 

 of organic substances, of nearly every conceivable kind. It contains 

 great quantities of partly broken-down vegetable tissues, which have 

 passed through the alimentary canal of the cattle, partly digested. 

 It will contain large or small amounts of hay or straw derived from 

 bedding and from the incompletely digested food, especially if 

 horses contribute to its formation. It may contain sawdust or 

 some other form of woody tissue. It will be likely to contain more 

 or less flesh and bone from dead animals, and will be sure to contain 

 proteids, albuminoids, gelatins, fats, sugars, starches, and, indeed, 

 nearly all types of organic matter produced by animals or plants, 

 all of which will be in various stages of digestion and decomposition. 

 Lastly, and perhaps most important, it will contain much nitrogen 

 in the form of urea, in the liquid manure, which represents the 

 result of the nitrogenous metabolism of animal life. This liquid 

 manure is by far the most valuable part of the manure, since it 



