Farmyard Manure. 



which has caused hundreds of little fruit holdings to spring into 

 existence. 



All the cases mentioned above lead us to conjecture possibili- 

 ties of the same kind in places yet unknown to the small holder. 

 I do not propose to go into this as the paper is limited strictly 

 to the consideration of known facts in England. I would 

 merely at this point remind my readers that the foreigner has 

 eliminated his dependence on natural conditions. The Dane 

 has eliminated the factor of proximity to markets by his methods 

 of co-operation ; the Frenchman has eliminated the factor of 

 good land by making his soil artificially, and the factor of 

 climate by hot water pipes under the ground. These under- 

 takings still border for us on the nature of experiments ; and 

 those responsible for the working of the Small Holdings Act 

 in the rural districts may not feel justified in undertaking 

 experiments. While, therefore, I do not wish to belittle in 

 any way such experimental methods, I would urge that the 

 basis of any new undertaking should be a systematic considera- 

 tion of the surrounding conditions in connection with a study of 

 the lessons of other places. 



FARMYARD MANURE. 

 A. D. Hall, M.A. 



Director of the Rothamsted Experimental Station. 



i. Losses during Making and Storage. 

 Farmyard manure, foldyard manure, yard manure, and dung 

 are all terms employed in various parts of the country for the 

 same more or less decomposed mixture of the excreta of 

 domestic animals with the straw or other litter that is used 

 in the yards or stalls to absorb the liquid portions and keep 

 the animal clean. Probably it would be more correct to retain 

 dung as a name for the excreta alone, and farmyard manure 

 for the product that leaves the yards, but it is impossible in 

 practice to observe any such distinction. It follows from 

 its origin that the composition of farmyard manure must be 

 far from constant, varying with the nature of the animal 

 making the dung, the kind and amount of food it receives, 

 the proportion between excreta and litter, the nature of the 

 litter, and the extent and character of the decomposition that 



