> THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. IX. No. 3. DECEMBER, 1902. 



FARMYARD MANURE. 



The substance that goes by the name of farmyard manure, 

 fold manure, dung, or muck, chiefly consists of (a) the material 

 that was used as litter, usually straw, sometimes peat, fern, saw- 

 dust, &c. ; (J?) the food that passed through the animals in an 

 undigested condition and has been voided in the solid form ; and 

 (c) the urine, which contains that part of the food which the 

 animals digested but did not retain in their system. The urine 

 also contains the waste of the tissues of the animal's body. 

 The proportions of these parts will vary with circumstances. 

 For instance, when it is the object of the farmer to break down 

 as much straw as possible, a relatively large amount of the 

 farmyard manure will consist of litter, but where litter is used 

 very sparingly — as in upland dairies — the manure will consist 

 very largely of the solid and liquid excreta. 



All food contains more or less water ; even in such substances 

 as grain or cake one-seventh or one-eighth, while in others, 

 like turnips, nine-tenths is pure water. Neglecting this water, it 

 may be said that, for every 100 lb. of food that an animal con- 

 sumes, about 50 lb. reappear in the dung or urine ; the other 50 lb. 

 being burned up in its system, becoming gas or water, or being 

 stored up in its body as bone, flesh, fat, hair, &c. , A well- 

 grown bullock or cow — weighing, say, 9 cwt. — will consume daily, 

 if on full ration, about 24 lb. of absolutely dry food, as, for 

 example : — 



56 lb. Roots (90 per cent, water) ... =: 5*6 Id. viry. 

 6 ,, Cake or Meal (12 per cent, water) = 5-3 ,, 

 16 Hay or Straw (16 per cent, water) = 13-4 



Total 



24 - 3 lb. of dry matter. 



