MANUAL FOR SUGAR GROWERS. 61 



to the land in preparation for planting ; and to thor- 

 oughly manure with green dressings all land not 

 manured with pen manure. 



The value of pen manure depends very largely on 

 the manner in which it has been kept. Fresh ma- 

 nure has the highest manurial value, as, in rotting, a 

 certain amount of nitrogen is lost, even under the 

 most favourable conditions. If, in addition to rot- 

 ting, the fluids from the manure-heap are allowed to 

 drain away, then the loss becomes very great, as the 

 nitrogen and potash are found largely in the fluid 

 portion. If the heap be exposed to rain, so that 

 every shower washes out the soluble portion, the 

 loss may become so great as to render the remain- 

 der of little value as a fertilizer. Where possible, it 

 is desirable to use pen manure as quickly as it is 

 produced, and it has been shown that this can be 

 done more readily in the tropics than in temperate 

 climates. However, it frequently happens that the 

 manure cannot be applied to the land directly, but 

 must be kept for some time ; and the value of the 

 resulting manure largely depends on the way in 

 which it is kept. In the West Indies it is the prac- 

 tice to herd the cattle at night in uncovered pens, 

 into which large quantities of vegetable matter in 

 the form of cane-tops for food, and trash for litter 

 are thrown, so that a layer of manure of consider- 

 able thickness is soon formed. In many instances 

 the drainage and with the heavy rainfall of the 

 tropics this is usually abundant runs away with- 

 out any attempt being made to preserve it ; hence a 

 large proportion of the nitrogen and potash is lost, 



