MANURE 



211 



results that manure produced from alfalfa hay, grain, and corn 

 are more valuable than similar manure produced from straw and 

 timothy hay. For ordinary purposes it is sufficiently accurate to 

 use the figures given by Hopkins as lO, 2, 8 as representing ap- 

 proximately the average pounds of the three elements — nitrogen, 

 phosphorus, and potassium — in a ton of average fresh manure. 



2. The value of manure varies greatly with the water con- 

 tent. Sheep and horse manure contain about half as much water 

 as do hog and cow manure, and fresh manure more than old 

 manure. 



Authority 



Kind of 

 Manure 



Pounds per Ton 



Dry Matter 



Nitrogen 



Phosphorus 



Potassium 



Wolf 



Cornell Exp. Sta. 



Cow 



Horse 



Sheep 



Average Yard 

 Manure 



450 

 659 



720 



50a 



6.8 

 11.5 

 16.3 



10.4 



1.4 

 2.4 

 2.1 



2.9 



6.6 

 9.6 



II. I 



8.3 



Work in Colorado has shown that farmyard manure in a semi- 

 arid district contains as an average 13 per cent less moisture than 

 similar manure in humid districts. A ton of manure containing 

 80 per cent of water contains only one-half as much plant-food 

 as does a similar manure containing 60 per cent of water. 



3. The composition of manure varies with the kind of animal 

 producing it. Sheep and horse manure contains more plant-food 

 than does cow and hog manure. Moreover, cow and hog ma- 

 nure is a cold manure and slowly decomposes either in the soil 

 or in the pit. Manure from young-growing animals is less val- 

 uable than manure from mature animals. 



4. The composition of manure varies with age and the losses 

 which it has sustained during decomposition. Manure exposed 

 to the weather will lose considerable of its potassium as well as 

 its nitrogen. Hopkins gives the results of seventy-nine analyses 

 of various farm manures made from different kinds of feed and 



