Farm Manure. 129 



horse or sheep. This explains the sound practice of mixing the 

 manure from the various classes of farm animals, when it is 

 necessary that it be stored. 



When the manure is in a compact mass and moist the fer- 

 mentations that take place are due to anaerobic bacteria. These 

 fermentations convert the insoluble plant food in the excrement 

 into soluble forms, with little loss of the fertilizing constituents. 

 Under the best conditions of care, it is impossible to entirely pre- 

 vent losses in stored manure, although if properly preserved it 

 may be reduced to about 10 per cent of the nitrogen and none 

 of the other two fertilizing constituents. 



Preservation of manure. Saving the urine. From all that 

 has been said it must appear perfectly plain that one of the 

 greatest losses suffered by the farm is through failure to save the 

 liquid excrement of the animal. To insure against such loss, that 

 part of the barn floor on which the excrement falls must be so 

 tight that none of the liquid can drain away. 



The trough behind the animals should be made absolutely tight 

 by the use of pitch, cement, or some other material that is imper- 

 vious to water. Besides this precaution, enough litter should be 

 used so that all urine is absorbed and none runs away by drip- 

 ping, when the manure is removed from the barn. It is often 

 of the greatest advantage to finely cut the bedding material. 

 This increases its absorbing capacity, and facilitates handling the 

 manure. Straw cut in one inch lengths, for example, will absorb 

 about three times as much urine as long straw. 



Stockmen who have practiced cutting the bedding assert that 

 the great ease with which the manure will be removed and spread 

 will repay the cost and trouble, to say nothing of the saving of 

 bedding materials. 



Use of preservatives. As has been previously explained, the 

 urine of all farm animals contains its nitrogen principally in the 

 compound known as urea. This body is rapidly and readily de- 

 composed by ferments and changes into ammonium carbonate. 

 This latter substance is volatile and passes off into the air, where 



