66 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



as liquid manure, into a hole large enough to admit 

 of the use of a bucket in drawing out the liquid. 



"Liquid manure is composed of the fluid matter 

 with which the bedding is steeped, and it holds in 

 solution a great part of the nutritive constituents 

 of the manure. Agriculture knows no richer fer- 

 tilizer. Hence care should be taken not to let it 

 go to waste in neighboring ditches or soak into the 

 ground. That is why the pile is placed on a layer 

 of clay, which keeps the liquid manure from soaking 

 into the ground where it would be wasted ; and it is 

 also the reason for digging a trench to receive this 

 fluid matter and conduct it to the hole. When this 

 hole is full the liquid manure is drawn out with a 

 bucket and thrown back on to the dung-hill. 



"Nor is that the whole of the story. A slow com- 

 bustion will soon begin throughout the pile of ma- 

 nure ; its mass will ferment and become heated, and 

 as a consequence the nitrogenous constituents will 

 decompose and will liberate ammonia, which will 

 escape into the air and be lost if the fermentation is 

 excessive. It is to avoid too rapid a heating that 

 the manure-pile is placed in the shade and not under 

 the direct rays of the sun. Moreover, the liquid 

 manure thrown on to the heap from time to time also 

 moderates the fermenting process. 



"Compare this careful method with the practice 

 on most farms, where the manure is heaped up with- 

 out any precaution, without shelter from the sun, 

 unprotected from the drenching rains, which wash 

 away the soluble constituents. Think of those rivu- 



