504 NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF SOILS 



&■ 



to the excrement of the larger animals. Its general composi- 

 tion is as below, the data being averages from Thorne. 1 



Table CVI 



COMPOSITION OF POULTRY MANURE. 



It is to be seen that poultry manure in the air-dry state, 

 the condition in which it is applied, has over twice the 

 amounts of nutrients carried by the other classes. It should 

 be applied to the soil at at least one-half the rate commonly 

 recommended for ordinary farm manure. Notwithstanding 

 its ease in handling and its great value, poultry manure re- 

 ceives less care and attention than any other produced on the 

 farm. 



285. Farm manure — a direct and indirect fertilizer. — 

 Farm manure, when applied to the land, ordinarily fulfills 

 two functions which are usually not so distinctly developed in 

 one material — that of a direct and indirect fertilizer. Mixed 

 farm manure ready to apply to the land contains on the aver- 

 age .6 per cent, of ammonia, .25 per cent, of phosphoric acid 

 and .5 per cent, potash. 2 It is obviously a low-grade fertilizer 



thorne, C. E., Farm Manures, p. 90; New York, 1914. Also, 



Storer, F. H., Agriculture, Vol. I, p. 613; New York, 1910. 



Vorhees, E. B., Ground Bone and Miscellaneous Samples; N. J. Agr. 

 Exp. Sta., Bui. 84, 1891. 



Goessman, C. A., Mass. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 37, 1890, and Bui. 63, 

 1896. 



2 See Analyses, Storer, F. H., Agriculture, pp. 237-248; New York, 

 -iy J.U. 



Thorne, C. E., Farm Manures, pp. 89-93; New York, 1914. 



Aikman, C. M., Manure and Manuring, pp. 279-292; Edinburgh and 

 London, 1910. *^ 6 



J* ob€ rts, I. P., The Fertility of the Land, pp. 159-182; New York, 



