198 



FARMYARD MANURE 



[chap. 



! 



The animals were fed in deep boxes with cemented 

 bottoms and sides, and the dung was not removed 

 until the feeding experiment had concluded ; it was then 

 weighed and samples taken for analysis. The manure 

 was then, in the early winter, made up in a heap in the 

 open on ground beaten down hard and covered 

 thoroughly with earth. No liquid appeared to drain 

 away, and in the spring the heap was again weighed 

 and sampled before application to the land for the root 

 crop. Here, again, the loss of nitrogen in making the 

 dung under the best conditions varied from 13 to 18 

 p:;r cent., while the making into a heap and storage 

 brought up the loss to 33-37 per cent. 



Wood, at Cambridge, has also estimated the losses 

 involved during the making and storage of farmyard 



manure. In his experiments four heifers were tied up 

 and fed, one pair on mangolds, hay, and straw alone, 

 the other pair on the same foods with the addition of 

 decorticated cotton cake. The feeding went on for 



