202 MAIXK AGKICUr.TURAr. KX PKUI M ICNT STATION. I903. 



TIIK WKICMTS AM) COM l'( »S1 TIoN OF TIIK TIIUKK NKillTS DllOl'PING 

 OK ONK IirNDHKI) KIGHTY IIKN.S TKKATKI) WITH DIKKKKKNT MATK- 

 RIALS AND STOHKI) KOR SIX MONTHS FROM MAY TO NOVKMBEU. 



OS 



iJ c 



The throe nifiht's (luiifj of 

 180 hens inixcil with 

 chomiciils as below. 



Percentage 

 Composition. 



Weight of Dung Mixture 

 AND Constituents. 



C3 jf 



22 



335!1 

 335G 

 3355 



3354 



335' 



3350 



3361 



3360 



By itself 



15 pounds sawdust , 

 27 p()unils kainit .. 



16 pounds sawdust 

 54 pounds kainit 



40 pounds plaster 



15 pounds sawdust . . . 

 82 pounds plaster 



24 pounds acid phosphate 



15 pounds sawdust ...I 

 47 pounds acid phos.. i 



Per 



cent. 



Per 



cent. 



Per 

 cent. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



1.30 



1.83 



.84 



44.5 



..58 



.81 



.97 



1.28 



.65 



63.5 



.62 



.81 



1.27 



.97 



3.97 



93.0 



1.18 



.90 



1.06 



.82 



5.89 



116.5 



1.24 



.98 



1.07 



.97 



.41 



91.0 



.97 



.88 



1.03 



•84 



.37 



1-24.5 



1.28 



1.04 



1.62 



6.41 



.41 



78.0 



1.19 



5.00 



1.21 



8.22 



.32 



107.0 



1.30 



8.80 



Lbs. 

 .38 

 .41 

 3.69 



6.86 



.37 



.45 



.34 



The three nights' droppings carried about 1.25 pounds of 

 nitrogen. From the dung stored by itself or with sawdust 

 more than half of this had escaped during the summer. The 

 lot stored with 40 pounds of plaster lost about one-third while the 

 lot stored with 82 pounds of plaster and 15 pounds of saw- 

 dust suffered no loss. The lots with kainit and acid phosphate 

 both with and without saw^dust retained practically all of the nit- 

 rogen. Both because of the danger of loss and its tendency to 

 form into hard lumps, the plaster is less desirable than either of 

 the chemicals tried. The addition of the sawdust materially im- 

 proved the mechanical condition of the lots so treated. 



The night droppings of the 180 hens (equivalent to 540 hens 

 for I night) v/eighed about 45 pounds and carried about 1.25 

 pounds of nitrogen, .8 pound of phosphoric acid and .4 pound 

 of potash, or expressed in percentages, it carried 2.8 per cent 

 nitrogen, 1.8 per cent phosphoric acid and .9 per cent potash. 



According to Storer's estimate the fertilizing constituents of 

 100 pounds of hen manure would be worth about 30 cents. 



