KEEPING MANURE UNDER COVER. 



65 



management as compared with the other two methods of keeping 

 tlie manure, in compact heaps, one exposed, the other under cover. 

 The following is the table : 



lONTKNTS OP TKB MASS OP MANURE, SPKEAD OUT IN FAJiMYARD, AVD EXPOSED 

 TO BAJM, ETC. 



Total weiglii of manure 



Waier in the manure 



Total orfranic matter 



Total inorganic matter 



Totil nitro<j;en in manure 



Total soluble orfjranic matter. 



Insoluble orirunic matter 



Soluble mineral matter 



Insoluble mineral matter 



Nitrofren in ^iolubl-J matter, .. 

 Nitroirea in insoluble matter. 



tVhen spread 

 out, 3w. 3 



.000 

 ,til7 

 Mi 

 559 

 &1.3 

 248 

 ,576 

 154 

 405 

 14.9 

 4!».4 



iVop. 15. 



lbs. 

 5.750 



3,';7i 



595 

 1,384 

 22.4 

 24 

 571 

 .38 

 1,.351 

 1.7 

 20.7 



It is not necessary to make many remarks on this table. The 

 facts speak for themselves. It will be seen that there is consid- 

 erable loss even by letting the manure lie spread out until spring; 

 but, serious as this loss is, it is small compared to the loss sus- 

 tained by allowing the manure to lie exposed in the yard during 

 the summer. 



In the five tons of fresh manure, we have, November 3, 64.3 

 lbs. of nitrogen ; April 30, we have 46 lbs. ; August 23, only 25 

 lbs. This is a great loss of the most valuable constituent of the 

 manure. Of soluble mineral matter, the next most valuable ingre- 

 dient, we have in the five tons of fresh manure, November 3, 154 

 lbs. ; April 30, 87 lbs. ; and August 23, only 39 lbs. Of soluble 

 nitrogen, the most active and valuable part of the manure, we 

 have, November 3, nearly 15 lbs. ; April 30, not quite 7 lbs. ; 

 August 23, 3i lbs. ; and November 15, not quite If lbs. 



Dr. Voelcker made still another experiment. He took 1,613 

 lbs. of veil-rotted dung (mixed manure from horses, cows, and 

 pigs,) and kept it in a heap, exposed to the weather, from Decem- 

 ber 5 to April 30, August 23, and November 15, weighing it and 

 analyzing it at these different dates. I think it is not necessarj' to 

 give the results in detail. From the 5th of December to the 30th 

 of April, there was »o loss of nitrogen in the heap, and compar- 

 atively little loss of soluble mineral matters ; but from April 30 to 

 August 23, there was considerable loss in both these valuable in 

 gredients, which were washed out of the heap by rain. 



