504 NATURE AND PROPERTIES OP SOILS 



to the excrement of the larger animals. Its general composi- 

 tion is as below, the data being averages from Thome/ 



Table CVI 

 compositiolsr op poultry manure. 



Condition 





Percentage op 





H2O 



NH, 



PA 



KjO 



Whole manure, fresh 



Whole manure, air dry 



57 



7 



1.31 



2 84 



.40 

 .86 



.50 

 1.08 



It is to be seen that poultry manure m the air-dry state, 

 the condition in which it is applied, has over twice the 

 amounts of nutrients carried by the other classes. It should 

 be applied to the soil at at least one-half the rate commonly 

 recommended for ordinary farm manure. Notwithstanding 

 its ease in handling and its great value, poultry manure re- 

 ceives less care and attention than any other produced on the 

 farm. 



285. Farm manure — a direct and indirect fertilizer. — 

 Farm manure, when applied to the land, ordinarily fulfills 

 two functions which are usually not so distinctly developed in 

 one material — that of a direct and indirect fertilizer. Mixed 

 farm manure ready to apply to the land contains on the aver- 

 age .6 per cent, of ammonia, ,25 per cent, of phosphoric acid 

 and .5 per cent, potash.^ It is obviously a low-grade fertilizer 



^Thorne, C. E., Farm Manures, p. 90; New York, 1914. Also, 



Storer, F. H., Agnculture, Vol. I, p. 613; New York, 1910. 



Vorhees, E. B., Ground Bone and Misoellaneous Samples: N. J. Affr. 

 Exp. Sta., Bui. 84, 1891. 



Groessman, C. A., Mass. Agr. Exp, Sta., Bui. 37, 1890, and Bui. 63, 

 1896. 



*See Analyses, Storer, E. H., Agriculture, pp. 237-248: New York, 

 1910. 



Thorne, C. E., Farm Manures, pp. 89-93; New York, 1914. 



Aikman, C. M., Manure and Manuring , pp. 279-292; Edinburgh and 

 London, 1910. 



Boberts, I. P., The FertMy of the Land, pp. 159-182; New York, 

 1904. ' 



