HANDLING MANURE ;. MATERIAL FOR BEDDING 321 



scattered. One objection to this plan is that in freezing 

 weather the manure must be unloaded daily to prevent 

 freezing. At times the ground is soft, so it is not desirable 

 to drive over it with a load. It often happens that the 

 ground where it is intended to apply the manure is not 

 ready for the application. There is also some difference of 

 opinion regarding the extent to which losses occur from the 

 washing of recently spread manure when snow melts or 

 rain falls on frozen ground. Analyses made by the Ohio 

 Experiment Station 1 show that manure handled in the usual 

 manner by piling in the barnyard lost over one third of its 

 value by exposure to three months of winter and spring 

 weather. Manure applied directly to a field from the stall 

 showed a value of $2.96 per ton measured increase in crops 

 grown, while manure taken from the yard after three months' 

 exposure showed a value of $2.15, a loss in value of 27 per 

 cent. 



Taking everything into account, the plan of spreading the 

 manure directly from the stable is to be recommended, but 

 it may be impossible or impractical to do this at all times. 

 The overhead track carrier is one of the conveniences of the 

 modern barn. The advantages are that the carrier is easily 

 loaded and moved, and it is possible to haul the manure as 

 far from the barn as it is wished or to place the spreader on 

 a lower level and dump into it directly. 



Material for Bedding. It is often a serious problem to 

 supply the dairy farm with sufficient bedding. So far no 

 satisfactory arrangement has been provided to do away with 

 bedding of some kind. 



Bedding is used primarily to keep animals clean, and the 



1 Bulletin No. 183, Ohio Experiment Station. 



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