202 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



" THE VALUE OF MANURE DEPENDS ON THE FOOD 

 -NOT ON THE ANIMAL." 



Under the above title, the Connecticut Home- 

 stead copies an article on the " Value of Manure 

 from different kinds of Food," which appeared in 

 the Genesee Farmer for May, page 143, and re- 

 marks as follows : 



" We find a most instructive and suijgestive arti- 

 cle on food and manure by the Editor of the Gene- 

 see Farmer^ himself a pupil and friend of Mr. Lawes 

 of Rothamsted. Before giving Mr. Lawes results, 

 he makes some statements which we quote and ad- 

 mit as in general true ; still must take excei)tion to 

 their universal application." 



Here follows our article, the following extracts 

 from which, the editor, himself a chemist by pro- 

 fession and a pupil of Liebig, takes exception to: 



" Peoi)le talk of horse, or cow, or sheep, or hog, 

 or hen, manure, as if tiiese manures had a fixed 

 value, irrespective of the food consumed by these 

 ditlerent animals. 



" The animal exercises very little influence on the 

 manure. 



"If the liquid and solid excrements were all 

 saved, they would be just as valuable when obtained 

 from a horse as from a hen, if the food oonsumed 

 teas the same,'''' 



This is not exactly as we wrote it — some slightly 

 qualifying sentences being omitted ; still, we admit 

 the general fairness of the quotation. 



The Homestead says : 



"In the first few sentences quoted we tliink the 

 editor takes a little too strong ground. Think — 

 the value of manure depends not alone on the 

 amount of phosphoric acid and nitrogen contained 

 in it, without reference to its bulk. Cow manure 

 is bulky, wet, and needs care in compostfng to 

 preserve its value, which makes it still more bulky; 

 besides, it contains weed seeds often, which pass 

 with the food tlirough the animal. So does horse 

 manure ; but sheep and hen manure do not — tlie 

 digestion of these animals is more perfect. In the 

 c:^e of hens, their respiration is so very quick, and 

 the digtistion so perfect, that the manure mi^^t, we 

 tliink, be considered of a higher value than other 

 kinds. Neither is the bulk and perfection of di- 

 gestion of food the only things not taken into the 

 account. It is well known that the manure from 

 growing animals, or those that are producing labor, 

 milk, wool, or a fat, varies accordingly. This is a 

 most important thing to be had in view. Milch 

 cows yield a very poor manure, so do young ani- 

 mals", oxen at hard labor little better, but full grown 

 animals not at hard labor, though fed on precisely 

 the same food, yield a much richer manure. If 

 rich food like oil-cake is fed, little besides the fatty 

 matter in the food is retained in the system. Tlie 

 waste of muscle is little, and all the nitrogen ap[)ro- 

 priated but counterbalances this waste, whicli is 

 chiefly found in the manure, and the bony frame 

 of the animal being perfect, the phosphates, etc., 

 are not withdrawn from the food on its passage 

 through the animal, so tiiat the manure contains 

 almost ,all the substances of value originally in the 

 food." 



We admit that the hulh of the manure, its hu- 

 midity, etc., ought to be taken into consideration 

 in determining its value. But, "i/" the food con- 

 sumed was the same,'''' there would be little differ- 

 ence in the bulk of the manure from a horse, a 

 cow, or a sheep, except so far as it was caused by 

 more or less water. Cow manure contains more 

 water than horse nianure; but this, so far from 

 being an objection, is considered an advantage in a 

 well-managed barn-yard, where the manures from 

 the different animals are mixed together. The cold 

 and sluggish hog and cow manure check the too 

 rapid fermentation of the horse and sheep dung. 

 BoussixoAULT, who has given much attention to 

 this subject, and who will be regarded as good au- 

 tliority, says : 



"The composition of horse-dung would lead us 

 to infer that its action must be more energetic than 

 that of cow-dung. Nevertheless, agriculturisti> 

 frequently consider it as of inferior quality. This 

 0|)inion is, even to a certain extent, well founded. 

 Thus although it be acknowledged that horse-dung 

 covered in before it has fermented, yields a very 

 powerful ni'Hnure, it is well known that in general 

 the same substance, after its decomposition, attords 

 a manure that is really less useful than that of the 

 cow-house. This comes entirely from the fact that 

 the droppings of the stable, by reason of the small 

 quantity of moisture they contain, present greater 

 difficulties in the way of proper treatment than 

 tliose from the cow-house. Mixed with litter and 

 thrown loosely upon the dung-hill, horse-dung 

 heats rapidly, dries, and perishes : unless the mass 

 be supplied with a sufficient quantity of water to 

 keep down the.fermentation, and the access of air 

 be prevented by proper treading, there is always, 

 without the least doubt, a considerable loss of prin- 

 ciples, which it is of the highest importance to pre- 

 serve. I can give a striking instance of this fact 

 in the changes that happen in the conversion of 

 horse-dung into manure in the last stage of decom- 

 position : fresh horse-dung in the dry state contains 

 2.7 per cent, of azote. Tlie same dung laid in a 

 thick stratum and left to undergo entire decompos- 

 ition, gave a humus or mould, from which, reduced 

 to dryness, no more than one per cent, of azote 

 was obtained. I add, that by this fermentation or 

 decomposition, the dung had k)st nine-tenths of 

 its weight. From these numbers every one may 

 judge how great had been the loss of azotized 

 principles. In practice, however, little care is be- 

 stowed on the preparation of horse-dung; thel 

 fermentation is rarely, if ever, pushed to this I 

 extreme point indeed, but it is not the less trueJ 

 that it is constantly approached in a greater onf 

 les^ degree; and that the consequences, althoughll 

 not altogether so unfavorable as those which IT 

 have particularly signalized, are nevertheless es-| 

 tremely destructive. All enlightened agricultu- 

 rists have, therefore, long been aware of the 

 attention necessary to the management of horse- 

 dung, which requires a degree of care., that may be 

 perfectly well dispensed with when the l>y.<ti7}ess is i 

 convert the dejections of horned cattle into vianureA 

 To obtain th.e best results iu the management ofl 



