COVERED AND UNCOVERED MANURE. 39 



j^ 



loss of the valuable constituents the nitrogen and ash 

 constituents of farmyard manure may take place 

 through volatilisation and drainage, by taking requisite 

 precautions this loss may be very much minimised. 

 As regards the total loss, this, in two or three 

 months' time, should only amount to 16 to 20 per 

 cent or one-sixth to one-fifth of the weight. 1 The 

 use of fixers, to which reference has already been 

 made, will greatly minimise this loss. The application 

 of fixers is best made to the manure when still in the 

 stall or byre. The health of the animal benefits by so 

 doing, while the manure is at once guarded against 

 loss from this source. 



As to the relative merits of covered and uncovered 

 manure-heaps, much difference of opinion exists. It 

 is one of these questions which does not admit of final 

 decision one way or another, as it depends so largely 

 on the individual circumstances of each case. That 

 manure produced under cover is more valuable than 

 manure made in the open is readily granted. The 

 question, however, is as to whether the increase in 

 its value is sufficiently great to warrant the extra 

 expense involved in building covered courts. This 

 depends on the individual circumstances of each case, 

 and cannot be decided in a general way. For experi- 

 ments on the relative value of manure made under 

 cover and in the open, see Appendix. 2 



The method of applying farmyard manure to the 



1 See Appendix, Note XIII., p. 62. 2 Note XIV., p. 63. 



