THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. IV. No. 2. SEPTEMBER, 1897. 



THE STORAGE OF FARMYARD MANURE. 



Although this substance has been used from time imme- 

 morial, and is still to a greater or less extent employed on 

 nearly every farm, it is surprising how little is accurately 

 known regarding the chemical and biological changes that 

 occur in a mass during storage, or even after it has been 

 applied to the land. The views of farmers vary greatly as 

 to the manner in which this form of manure should be treated 

 or handled so as to turn out a fertilising substance that will 

 produce the maximum effect on the crops to which it may be 

 applied. Some farmers endeavour to consolidate their manure 

 heaps by carting over them or by applying other forms of 

 pressure, while others, by frequent turning of the mass, try 

 to keep the substance as loose as possible, so as to facilitate 

 the entrance of air. Water is supplied by some and excluded 

 by others, and conservation agents are variously regarded as 

 a necessity or a superfluity. While one farmer believes in 

 " fresh " manure, another prefers it rotten ; and the same 

 divergence of view is met with in the matter of autumn and 

 spring application. In many other respects, too, one fails 

 to find uniformity of practice, for whereas it may be the 

 prevailing local custom in one district to give all the fold 

 manure to the roots, along with a liberal allowance of 

 artificials, it may be the general practice in another county 

 to reserve the whole of the dung for the wheat crop, and to 

 supplement it with no artificials whatever. No doubt varia- 

 tions in soil, climate, rotations, tillages, and character of the 

 manure are sufficient, in some cases, to account for differences 

 in practice, though it must be admitted that broad general 



K 



