FARM MANURE 515 



Average manure (bedding plus excrement) is about 75 per 

 cent, water. This means that from 100 pounds of mixed food 

 there results 50 pounds of manurial dry matter, 25 pounds 

 of litter, and 225 pounds of water or 300 pounds in all. The 

 weight of the food consumed multiplied by three should give 

 in a rough way the weight of the fresh excrement plus its 

 litter. 



292. Loss of crop constituents in the production and 

 handling of manure. — Any system of agriculture, whether it 

 be grain farming, animal husbandry, or some specialized type 

 such, as trucking, must ultimately arrange for the addition 

 of certain nutrients to replace those lost in the crop, in drain- 

 age and through biological activity. It is evident, however, 

 that even if all of the crop constituents were returned to the 

 soil, a constant degree of fertility would not be maintained, 

 although the organic matter and possibly the nitrogen, if 

 legumes were included in the rotation, might not greatly de- 

 crease. The large loss of certain nutrients in the drainage 

 water must always be considered in any rational system of 

 soil fertility. 



Since farm manure lessens or even eliminates the need of a 

 green-manure and at the same time offers a means of lower- 

 ing the fertilizer bill, it is worth while to inquire what pro- 

 portion of the nutrients contained in the crop may be re- 

 turned to the soil in the resulting manure. The losses en- 

 tailed are three: (1) those that occur in the handling and 

 feeding of the crop, (2) those incurred as the food passes 

 through the animal, and (3) those due to the handling and 

 storage of the manure produced. 



293. Losses during manurial production. — A certain 

 amount of every crop is lost before it is finally consumed by 

 the animal. Such loss, while important, is usually small on 

 every farm, especially when compared to the nutrients re- 

 tained by the animal. Attention is, therefore, particularly 

 directed towards those losses sustained by the food as it un- 



