COW-MANUEE. 25 



manure. An average statement of that composition is 

 therefore very much more difficult to obtain. The 

 number of analyses available for the purpose of form- 

 ing this average is, however, very large. The manure 

 produced by cows contains a large percentage of water. 

 This is due to the large quantity of water they drink. 

 It has been estimated that milk-cows drink along 

 with their winter food, for every pound of dry sub- 

 stance, 4 Ib. of water, and in summer about 6 Ib. 



According to some experiments by Boussingault, 

 the excrements of a cow in a day amounted to 73.23 

 Ib., of which only 9.92 Ib. were dry matter. 1 These 

 excrements contained .256 Ib. of nitrogen, and 1.725 

 Ib. of mineral matter. The amount of straw neces- 

 sary to use as litter for this amount of excrements 

 may be taken at G to 10 Ib. The manure, there- 

 fore, formed by a cow per day would contain from 

 .274 to .286 Ib. of nitrogen, and from 2.046 to 2.278 

 Ib. of mineral matter. 



In a year this would amount to from 100 to 104.4 Ib. 

 of nitrogen, and from 746.8 Ib. to 831.5 Ib. of mineral 

 matter ; or from 6 cwt. 75 Ib. to 7 cwt. 47 Ib. Cow- 

 dung is, owing to its much more watery nature and 

 poorer quality, very much slower in its fermentation 

 than horse-dung. When applied alone cow-manure is 

 very slow in its action, and makes its influence felt 

 for at least three or four years. It is difficult to 

 spread it evenly over the soil, owing to the fact that, 



1 The food consisted of 30 Ib. potatoes, 15 Ib. hay, and 120 Ib. water. 



