306 



TALKS ON MANURES. 



"A ton of fresh horse-manure," saiel the Doctor, "contains 

 about 9 lbs. of nitrogen ; a ton of fresh cow-dung about 6 lbs.; a 

 ton of fresh sheep-dung, 11 lbs., and a ton of fresh pig-manure, 13 

 lbs. But if the Deacon and you weighed correctl}-, a ' load ' or 

 cord of cow-manure would coutiiu more nitrogen than a load of 

 pressed horse-manure. The figures arc as follows : 



A load of 50 bushels of fresh horse-dung, pressed 



and free from straw contains 12.37 lbs. nitrogen. 



A load of fresh cow-dung 13.05 " " 



" " sheep" 10.45 " " 



" " pig " 22.50 " 



"These figures," said I, "show how necessary it is to look at 

 this subject in all its aspects. If I was buying manures by weight, 

 I would much prefer a ton of sheep-manure, if it had been made 

 under cover, to any other manure except hen-dung^ especially 

 if it contained all tlie urine from the sheep. But if buying manure 

 by the load or cord, that from a covered pig-pen would be prefer- 

 able to any other." 



LIQUID MANURE ON THE FARM. 



I have never had any personal experience in the use of liquid 

 manure to any crop except grass. At Rothamsted, Mr. Lawcs used 

 to draw out the liquid manure in a water-cart, and distribute it 

 on grass land. 



" What we want to know," said the Deacon, " is whether the 

 liquid from our barn-yards will pay to draw out. If it will, the 

 proper method of using it can be left to our ingenuity." 



According to Prof. Wolff, a ton of urine from horses, cows, 

 sheep, and swine, contains the following amounts of nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash, and, for the sake of comparison, I 

 give the composition of drainage from the barn-yard, and also of 

 fresh dung of the different animals : 



TABLE SHO-WISO TUB AMOUNT OP KITROOEK, PnOSiPHOniC ACID, AND TOTASH, 



IN ONE TON op THE FKESH DUNG AND PUESII URINE OF DIFFERENT 



ANIMALS, AND ALSO OP THE DRAINAGE OP THE BARN-TARD. 



Horse 



Cow 



Sheep 



Swine 



Mean 



Drainage of barn-yard. 



1 TON PKESII URINE. 



Nitro- 

 gen. 



Phos- I 



phoric \ Potash, 

 acid. 



11)9. 



31.0 

 11.6 

 39.0 



8.6 

 22.5 



3 



lbs. 



0.2 



1.4 

 0.4 

 0.2 



lb?. 

 30.0 



9.8 

 45.3 

 16.6 

 25.4 



9.8 



I 



