130 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF 



all forms of manure produced under cover 

 and kept from the rain are of greater value 

 than manure which is exposed, and to which 

 rain-water is easily added. For this reason 

 covered stock-yards are of greater utility 

 than open yards to which rain has access 

 and into which hundreds of tons may be 

 poured in a short season, thus reducing the 

 value of the dung so considerably that it may 

 be scarcely worth carting away. It has been 

 shown that a herd of cows varying in weight 

 from 850 lb. to 1500 lb., and averaging 

 1000 lb., produced an average quantity of 

 dung — liquid and solid, without litter — 

 v/eighing 70 lb. per day, or 12| tons in the 

 year. These figures, however, are subject 

 to considerable variation. Thus cattle kept 

 in open yards produced a much greater weight 

 of dung during a given period than cattle 

 kept in covered yards; the excrement varied 

 but little, but the weight of the litter supplied 

 in the open yards was twice as great as that 

 in the covered yards, for obvious reasons, 

 while, in addition, the rain-water added largely 

 to the bulk. It has been estimated that a ton 

 of dung produced in an open yard consists 

 of only 10 cwt. of excrement and litter, the 

 balance being rain-water. 



