843- Buck-wheat straw used as litter adds to the value of 

 the manure, and so does the straw of leguminous crops. The 

 manurial value of cereal straws used as litter mainly depends 

 on the proportion of N they contain. Dried ferns, rushes, 

 and young leaves of all kinds used as litter have a special 

 value as litter, as they contain a very high proportion of KgO. 

 The return of the straw in some form or other to the land is 

 very essential, as straw contains -5% of N, i% of K 2 O and 

 3% of PsOg, and as an acre of land yields about 2,000 Ibs. 

 of rice straw per annum, the restoration, of the straw is a 

 great matter considering that the total quantity of N, PsOs 

 and KoO taken out by a crop of rice (grain and straw) is 

 about 10 Ibs., 5 Ibs. and 5 Ibs. respectively* Practically no 

 bedding material or litter is used in India for the comfort of 

 cattle. In the Cawnpore Experimental Farm, a system of 

 scattering dry earth on the floor of the cattle-stall, of remo- 

 ving it daily and drying it in the sun and using it again for 

 scattering in the floor, has been introduced. This, no doubt, 

 makes the urine-earth get gradually more and more concen- 

 trated in N, until as much as i% of N accumulates when the 

 earth is used as a nitrogenous manure. But the extreme 

 alkalinty of the earth and the exposure to sun-light both go 

 against nitrification. Nitrification, however, proceeds after this 

 urine-earth has been used as manure. The use of dried leaves, 

 or straw, or megass (t. e. crushed sugar-cane), for litter is ad- 

 visable, also the feeding of cattle in covered stalls the floor of 

 which should be about 18" below the level of the surrounding 

 ground. The accumulation of dung and urine and litter may 

 go on until the manure reaches the level of the ground, when 

 it can be removed to the pit or applied to fields. Gypsum should 

 be scattered on the manure every now and again, if this system 

 is adopted, to prevent formation of (NH 4 )2 COs. Gypsum 

 is also a mild antiseptic. The system of converting urine 

 into urine-earth by drying it in the sun may be also adopted. 

 The stall-fed manure which gives such good result in England 



