FAR3I MANURES 



583 



Effect of Ration on Manxjrial Composition 



T? ATtrj'Nr 



Percentage op 





N 



P 



K 



Corn and mixed hay . . . 

 Corn, oil meal, and hay . . 

 Corn, oil meal, and clover 



1.49 

 1.55 

 1.68 



0.23 

 0.24 

 0.26 



1.11 



1.02 

 1.04 



487. Handling manure. — In dealing with a product 

 of which almost one-half is liquid, there is great danger 

 that a considerable amount of valuable plant-food will be 

 lost by leaching. The modification and consequent 

 lowering of the plant-food value of farm manure is a 

 vital question in the economic handling of this product. 

 Next to the litter, lack of care is perhaps the most im- 

 portant single factor concerned in altering the chemical 

 composition of manures in general. The influence of 

 handling is so clearly brought out by the following figures 

 from Schutt,^ on mixed horse and cow manure, that further 

 discussion seems unnecessary. The protected manure in 

 this case was in a bin under a shed. The exposed sample 

 was in a similar bin but unprotected from the weather : — 





Loss AT End op 

 Six Months 

 (Percentage) 



Loss at End of 



Twelve Months 



(Percentage) 





Protected 



Exposed 



Protected 



Exposed 



Loss of organic matter 

 Loss of nitrogen . . . 

 Loss of phosphoric acid 

 Loss of potash . . . 



58 



19 







3 



30 

 12 

 29 



60 



23 



4 



3 



69 

 40 

 16 

 36 



1 Schntt, M. A. Barnyard Manure. Canadian Dept. Agr., 

 Centr. Exp. Farm, Bui. 31. 1898. 



