i6 



Farmyard Manure. 



[APRIL, 



loss increases with great rapidity if the conditions be less 

 favourable ; the minimum is only attained if the dung be 

 kept trampled beneath the animals in a deep box, for if it be 

 left to itself for a time, or if it be made in a shallow stall and 

 thrown out daily into a heap, as is sometimes the practice, 

 the loss rises to between 30 and 40 per cent. 



In connection with the first-mentioned experiment, Maercker 

 and Schneidewind made determinations of the state in which 

 the nitrogen exists in the dung, whether it was soluble and 

 therefore active, or insoluble and comparatively inactive. 

 From the known digestibility of the foods consumed it was 

 possible to calculate what proportion of the nitrogen in each 

 food left the body in a digested condition as urea and kindred 

 bodies dissolved in the urine, and what proportion consisted of 

 undigested and insoluble compounds in the faeces. Maercker 

 and Schneidewind found not only that the loss had fallen upon 



Table III. — Loss of Nitrogen in Making and Storing Dung 

 (Muntz and Girard). 





Nitrogen. 



For 100N. in Food. 



In 



Food 

 and 

 Litter. 



In 



Meat 



or 

 Milk. 



In 



Dung. 



Lost. 



Recovered — 



Lost. 



In 



Meat 



or 

 Milk. 



In 



Dung. 



1. — Horses in stalls . 



2. — 2 cows in boxes 



3—8 „ „ 



4. -8 „ „ 



5. — 8 and 2 beasts in boxes 



6. — 25 fattening sheep under cover 



7- 25 



8- — 20 



9- — 20 



10. — 20 



11. — Fattening lambs 



Kilos. 



52-4 

 14-1 



79'5 

 9 6'6 

 98-8 

 14-7 



23-1 

 14-4 

 14-6 

 io-s 

 98-0 



Kilos. 



2-8 

 10*7 

 17-7 

 15-8 



0- 9 

 i'4 



1- 4 



0*2 



o-6 



IO'O 



Kilos. 



39'9 

 7'5 

 4i'7 

 50-1 



49'4 

 6'5 

 9-0 

 6-4 

 8-.o 

 5-3 



35*4 



Kilos. 



I2'6 



3'9 

 27*0 

 28-8 

 33'5 



7*3 

 12-7 



6-6 



6-3 

 4-6 



52'5 



Per 

 cent. 



20 'O 

 14-4 

 19-7 

 16-6 

 6-2 

 6-o 



9'9 

 1-7 



5*5 

 io-6 



Per 

 cent. 

 7i-3 

 52-7 

 49'3 

 48-3 

 48-2 



43*6 

 38-7 

 44'2 

 54'5 



50 '2 



34'i 



Per 

 cent. 

 28-7 



27 "2 

 36-3 



35'2 

 50-2 



55'3 

 45"9 

 43'8 

 44'3 

 55-3 



No. 1. — Littered on straw, dung removed every day. 

 No. 2. — No litter, urine drained off, dung removed several times a day. 

 Nos. 3. 4 and 5. — On litter, dung removed once or twice a week. 

 Nos. 6 to 11, — On litter, dung only removed at end of experiment. 



