LOAM AND PEAT LITTER. 17 



But while straw is well adapted for the pur- 

 poses that litter is used for, it is not the only sub- 

 stance. Its almost exclusive use as litter is largely 

 owing to the fact that it is a bye-product of the 

 farm. 



Loam as litter. Generally speaking, any substance 

 which has great absorptive as well as retentive powers 

 for nitrogen and the soluble fertilising matters present 

 in farmyard manure, and whose price is nominal, is 

 well suited for acting as litter. Ordinary loamy soil 

 possesses the above qualifications, and is, moreover, a 

 substance to be had for nothing, and, under certain 

 circumstances and in certain countries, is actually used 

 for this purpose, often along with straw. A great 

 objection against loam, however, is that it forms a 

 dirty litter ; it, moreover, possesses a very small per- 

 centage of fertilising matter. The tendency, therefore, 

 in using ordinary loam would be to dilute the manure 

 too much, besides retarding fermentation to an unde- 

 sirable extent. Except, therefore, under very excep- 

 tional circumstances, loam is not to be regarded as a 

 good litter. 



Peat as litter. Some kinds of soil, however, are 

 well suited for this purpose. Of these, the best are 

 those rich in organic matter, the so-called peaty soils. 

 Peat, when dried and freed from any earthy matter, 

 forms an excellent absorbent of the liquid portion of the 

 manure, surpassing, in this respect, straw itself. It is, 

 further, generally very much richer in nitrogen some 



B 



