14 USES OF LITTER. 



3. Litter. We have now to consider the third 

 constituent of farmyard manure viz., the litter 

 winch generally consists of straw. 



The uses of the litter, in addition to providing a 

 dry and comfortable bed for the animal, may be 

 briefly summed up as follows : 



1. To absorb and retain the liquid portion of the 

 excreta. 



2. To increase the quantity of the manure, and thus 

 secure its more equal distribution, when applied to the 

 field, than could otherwise be done. 



3. To add to its value as a manure, both physically 

 and chemically. 



4. To retard and regulate the decomposition of the 

 excreta. 



Of course litter also performs a very useful function 

 sanitarily, inasmuch as it serves to keep the stall or 

 byre fresher and cleaner and more free from noxious 

 gases, which it absorbs, than would otherwise be 

 the case. 



Straw is almost universally used for this purpose. 

 Besides being one of the bye-products of the farm, it is 

 admirably suited in many ways, both owing to its 

 peculiar shape its tubular structure being admirably 

 adapted for this purpose as well as on account of its 

 composition, being largely composed of cellulose, a very 

 absorptive substance. Straw thus possesses consider- 

 able absorptive power. In manurial ingredients it is 

 not very rich ; for, of the various parts of the ripened 



