Extent of Loss in Manure 315 



loosely stored manure had lost 53 per cent of its' organic 

 matter and 34 per cent of its nitrogen; whereas, the 

 compacted manure had lost only 28 per cent of its or- 

 ganic matter and 15 per cent of its nitrogen. The anaero- 

 bic processes in the compacted manure were, therefore, 

 less wasteful of the nitrogen and of the organic matter 

 than were the predominatingly aerobic processes in 

 the loosely stored manure. 



Bacterial activities and money losses. — The extent of 

 the monetary losses involved in the improper control 

 of the bacterial activities in manure may be appreciated 

 from the following considerations. Taking the amount 

 of manure and litter for each cow at 15 tons annually 

 and for each horse and mule at 5 tons annually, we find, 

 in round numbers, 130 pounds and 50 pounds of nitrogen 

 respectively to be credited to each animal. With a value 

 of only 8 cents per pound, this nitrogen would be worth 

 $10.40 and $4 respectively. With, say, 60,000,000 of 

 cattle and 20,000,000 horses and mules in the United 

 States, the value of the manurial nitrogen would be 

 greater than $700,000,000. Assuming that the difference 

 between economical and wasteful transformation of 

 this nitrogen in the manure pile by bacteria would 

 represent 20 per cent, the monetary loss would amount 

 to $140,000,000. 



Similar losses would also occur in the storing of 

 manure from sheep, swine, and domestic fowls. Of 

 course, these figures should be taken only as an illus- 

 tration of the possible or probable magnitude of the 

 interests involved. They will serve very well, however, 

 to demonstrate that, entirely apart from the vast losses 



