182 



meets will lose nearly one half of its valuable fertilising constituents in 

 the course of six months ; and that mixed horse and cow manure in 3 

 compact mass and so placed that all water falling upon it quickly rune 

 through and off is subjected to a considerable, though not so great, a 

 loss." 



The Kansas Station concludes from similar observations " that farm- 

 yard manure must be hauled to the field in spring, otherwise the loss 

 of manure is 6ure to be very great, the waste in six months amounting 

 to fully one half of the gross manure and nearly 40 per cent of tbe 

 nitrogen that it contained." 



The following experiments made by Dr. Voelcker in England show 

 very strikingly the loss in weight and of nitrogen in manure stored 

 under different conditions. Mixed manure containing 66.2 per cent of 

 moisture was divided into three 1,C00 pound lots. Lot 1 was placed 

 in a heap in the open air, lot 2 in a heap under a shed, and lot 3 was 

 exposed in ihe open air in a thin layer. Tbe weights of the manure ard 

 the amounts of nitrogen it contained at tbe end of different periods 

 were as follows : 



Losses of Manure under dijfetent methods of Storing. 





In heaps under a 

 shed. 



Exposed to air in 

 heaps. 



Exposed to the air 

 in thin layers. 



Weight. 



Nitro- 

 gen. 



Weight. 



Nitro- 

 gen. 



Weight. 



Nitro- 

 gen. 



Manure at ihe beginning 



of experiment 

 Manure after 6 months 

 Manure after 9 months 

 Manure after 12 months . 



Moisture at end of 12 

 months (per cent.) 



Pounds. 

 1,000 



49.S 

 398 

 S79 



Pounds. 

 6.43 



5.9] 

 5.02 

 5.77 



Pounds. 

 1,000 



714 

 703 

 700 



Pounds. 

 6.43 



6.39 

 4.19 



4.55 



Pounds. 

 1,000 



865 

 612 

 575 



Pounds. 

 6.43 



4.66 

 2.47 

 2.27 



41.6 



74.3 



65.6 



r lhe manure 6tored in a heap under cover lost 14 per cent of its ni- 

 trogen in twelve months ; exposed in a heap, 30 per cent ; and exposed 

 in thin layers, 64 per cent. 



Field experiments by Kinnaird with manure kept in an open court 

 and under cover resulted in an increase of about 4 tons of potatoes and 

 10 bushels of •wheat per acre in favour of the covered manure. The 

 comparative value of leached and unleached manure has been carefully 

 tested at the Ohio Station on corn and wheat and mixtures of clover 

 and timothy. The experiments show a wide difference in value between, 

 the leached and unleached manure and indicate that the margin of 

 profit from open-yard manure is extremely small. 



Preservation of Manure. 



Having now briefly discussed the nature and extent of the changes 

 which manure is likely to undergo when stcred in heaps, let us enquire 

 into the best means of preventing loss of fertilising value during these 

 changes. It is a well-known fact that certain of the organisms which 

 cause decomposition of manure are voided with the dung and commence 



