294 



Farmyard Manure. 



the stable, cow byre, feeding byre, store byre, and piggeries has, 

 in each case, its own characteristics, and the mingling of all will 

 produce, on the whole, better material than having the horse 

 dung in one part, the cattle dung in another, and the pig dung 

 in a third. The wet, inert, cold character of byre dung will add 

 moisture to the stable dung and prevent its being over-heated 

 (" fire-fanged " it is sometimes called), while the rich manure 

 from the feeding boxes will improve the quality of the dung of 

 the store cattle. 



Conservation Agents. 



From time to time attention has been directed to the pre- 

 vention of loss in manure heaps through adding gypsum, super- 

 phosphate of lime, kainit, or sulphuric acid. On the whole, 

 it cannot be said that any of these has much effect. The ad- 

 mixture of soil with dung, however, is always to be recommended, 

 provided such material can be obtained at little expense for 

 labour. To give the best results, the soil so employed must 

 be of a loamy character, and, if possible, rich in organic matter. 

 Its effects are to fix ammonia, to encourage the formation of 

 nitrates, to assist in consolidating the mass, and to suck up and 

 retain liquids. Needless to say, soil so employed must not 

 contain the seeds of troublesome weeds or the germs of plant- 

 diseases, such as finger-and-toe. Moss litter or peat is also an 

 excellent fixer of ammonia and absorbent of liquids, and, if for 

 nothing else than to improve the manure heap, it is a good plan 

 to have a little in use for some of the live-stock. Such peaty 

 manure, unless it is being used in a yard, should daily be spread 

 in the dungstead, and the quality of the resulting mass will be 

 thereby appreciably improved. 



Treatment of Dung in the Field. 



To save carting in spring, or to empty the dungstead or the 

 yards, it is a usual practice, in the course of the winter, to form 

 large field storage heaps. Doubtless, in most cases, this practice 

 is thoroughly justifiable, though the fact cannot be overlooked 

 that the opportunities for loss in such heaps are much greater 

 than in a proper dungstead, so that field heaps should only be 

 formed if they are the means of gaining an important end. 



