The Agriculture of Pembrokeshire, 
99 
4f gallons of water, 1 inch of rainfall on this manure-heap 
would mean over 450 gallons. Supposing again that this 
heap is only exposed to 20 inches of rain, the total quantity 
falling on it would be over 9000 gallons. 
It is well known that the most valuable constituents of 
farmyard-manure are washed out by rain, therefore there can 
be no wonder if the farmyard-manure so made is of little value. 
Then again, the urea, hippuric acid, Sec, contained in the 
urine of animals are the sources from which is mainly derived 
the necessary nitrogen ; and this is usually allowed to run 
wherever gravitation will take it. With the aid sometimes of 
a furrow ploughed across the adjoining meadow, this liquid 
portion and the rain from the sheds and yard irrigate a small 
portion of land. Apart from this, it is entirely neglected by 
the majority of farmers. There are probably very few farmers 
but at sometime or other have noticed that the last few loads 
of manure which — in consequence of the heap being used up — 
had to be fetched in a raw wet state from the sheds to fill the 
last turnip drills, produced more effect on the crop than the 
rest. This result would probably arise, partly from the more 
beneficial effect of manure which decays in the soil, but also 
from the quantity of nitrogenous matter in this raw manure 
wet with urine. 
It is not always possible for the farmer to put the manure in 
the soil to decay, otherwise no better plan could be adopted. 
My endeavour will be now to show how easily the landlords 
of this county can enable their tenants to store the whole of 
the farmyard-manure protected from rain, with the result that 
what they then carted out would be very much more valuable 
than what they now use as manure. Nearly all farm-buildings 
in this county are built, more or less rectangularly ; that is to 
say, the buildings enclose a yard which is more or less square 
or oblong. 
This yard is usually now the storage place for the manure, and 
under my suggestion will remain so, with the slight difference 
that a pit is made in the centre of it — of a size suitable to the 
requirements of the farm — and covered with a roof. When it 
is known how many hundred loads the farmer will want to store, 
a space will be measured off, of an oblong shape and suitable 
size in the centre of this yard ; next, the middle part of this 
space will be excavated to a depth of something over 3 feet ; 
and the ends, over a sufficient distance, will be formed on an 
incline to this middle part. Side walls will be built about 
6 feet high, which would bring them some 3 feet above the level 
of the yard. The floor of this pit must be covered with concrete 
to prevent any percolation of the contents ; there should be a 
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