448 



Farmyard Manure: Its Making and Use. [Aug., 



(lung; they would, therefore, be able to work more vigorously 

 in cake-fed dung than in ordinary dung, and hence would tend to 

 produce better soil conditions. 



The evidence indicates that cake feeding produces less benefit 

 than might be expected on soils where plant food only is needed, 

 but more benefit on soils where additional humus is necessary. 



Cow Manure. — The question of cow manure is complicated by 

 the necessity for satisfying sanitary inspectors, and by the fact 

 that it is of poorer quality than bullock manure. 



The poverty of cow manure arises from the fact that a cow 

 secretes a considerable proportion of the nitrogen of the digested 

 food in the milk instead of passing all of it into the urine like 

 a bullock. The urine is, therefore, weaker than in the case- of 

 bullocks, and there is a corresponding reduction in the value of 

 the manure. 



On some of the Oxfordshire farms a big covered shed is built 

 next the cattle-shed for the storage of manure. The principle is 

 sound, but the plan is sometimes inconvenient in execution. In 

 Cheshire one sees good dungsteads — roofs of corrugated iron 

 carried on stout posts, and so placed that the dung can easily be 

 tipped underneath and then compacted. These ore of great 

 value, but care must be taken that the manure is sufficiently 

 well compacted to prevent it becoming too dry. 



Cow manure, however, presents an interesting possibihtv, 

 because so much of the liquid is or can be collected separately, 

 and this should certainly be done wherever practicable. The 

 liquid is very valuable, containing as a rule about 18 lb. to 

 '23 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 gallons, besides possessing a high 

 potash value. 



A suitable dressing is 1,500 gallons per acre, and it serves 

 excellently for seeds and as a spring application for winter oats 

 or winter wheat. On an average each cow contributes about 

 11 gallons of urine per day,* which is worth about 2s. 6d. per 

 month. The difficulty at present is to apply this m.aterial. 



Artificial Farmyard Manure— As the bulk of farmyard 

 manure is htter, and the valuable part of the residue is largely 

 made up of hquid excretions, it is not difficult for the scientific 

 investigator to make an artificial farmyard manure from straw 

 and artificial fertihsers. This has been done at Rothamsted, 

 and one or two tons of the product were tried on the field. It is 



* Both at Woking and atGarforth, however, Collins gives 5 gallons containing 

 ^ lb. of dry matter as the figure for the north. 



