FARM MANURES 355 



to prevent leaching; a single, heavy, summer 

 shower may leach away enough plant food from 

 an exposed pile to pay a large part of the slight 

 expense of covering the pile. 



Covered barnyards are sometimes practicable. 

 The animals tramp the manure and so keep it 

 from fermenting. The cattle are exercised and 

 watered there, in winter especially. It is neces- 

 sary, however, to use a considerable quantity of 

 beading and to keep the yard dry. A yard 30 x 50 

 feet is large enough for fifteen to twenty cows, but 

 they should be dehorned. 



Manure Pits. Another method, preferred by 

 many, is to build shallow, covered cement pits, 

 adjacent to the stable. Into these the manure is 

 dumped ; the liquid manure from the gutters in the 

 stable may drain into them. In large dairy stables 

 manure is collected on trucks or cars which are 

 run on tracks to these pits. The pits should be 

 large enough to hold the manure made in several 

 weeks,, or as long as it is convenient to wait before 

 hauling it to the field. This is one of the most 

 practicable ways of storing manure. 



If a cement pit cannot be had, and the manure 

 must be stored outside the barn, it is a simple 

 matter to build a shed over it. But part of the 

 liquid in the manure will drain off, and the farmer 

 can ill afford to lose it. Therein is the great ad- 

 vantage of covered cement pits. 



Many barns are built so that the manure can be 

 shoved down a scuttle into a cellar. In some 

 cases the cellar is cement-lined and excellent con- 

 ditions for storing manure are thus secured. Often 

 the cellar bottom is not cemented allowing the loss 

 of part of the liquid manure. Cellars beneath the 

 stable do very well, so far as the saving of manure 



