n] THE LOSSES INVOLVED 13 



2. It must be made as compact as it will go. 



Fig. 5 shows the losses that may arise by neglecting these two 

 rules. When the heap was thoroughly compacted and well 

 sheltered there was no loss of nitrogen over a period of three 

 months; when it was left exposed and not compacted the loss 

 over the same period was 33 per cent, of the nitrogen, most of 

 which was the best part, i.e. the most easily available for the 

 crop. 



It is a bad sign when the black liquid drains away from the 

 heap, and a sure indication of bad making and bad placing. But 

 the absence of the black liquid is no proof that all is well ; there 

 may still be serious losses unless adequate shelter is provided 

 against the weather. 



The worst way of dealing with manure is to throw it out daily 

 from the byres into the open as is done in the dales in the North 

 of England : the best way is to make a good solid clamp as firm 

 as can be by drawing the cart over it, to make it as speedily as 

 possible, and then to leave it undisturbed till it is wanted. The 

 compact heap undergoes some change although it is not losing 

 much nitrogen, in consequence of which it becomes more and more 

 liable to lose nitrogen once air is admitted. Directly the heap 

 is broken the manure should be got on to the land and worked 

 in at once. 



Fig. 6 shows how seriously the yield may be affected. 



In horticultural practice it is not unusual to turn the heap so 

 as to get well-rotted manure for top dressings. The process is 

 very wasteful, and its only justification is that the ammonia 

 which might scorch the foliage becomes lost. Spent manure from 

 a hot bed would be far more economical. At the best storage is 

 a necessary evil, justifiable only as a matter of convenience and 

 to kill seeds. There seems little doubt that "long manure" is 

 considerably more economical than "short manure" for the farmer. 

 In the Yorkshire experiments 1 10 tons per acre of fresh manure 

 were applied to hay land in January, 1900, while an equal amount 

 was clamped and left to rot till the following March, when it was 

 applied. It then weighed 8 tons 1J cwts. 



1 Leeds Farm Guide for 1906, p: 7 and for 1912, p. 10. In the springs of 1901, 

 2, 3, and 4 all the plots had received 1 cwts per acre of nitrate of soda. 



