Supplement to the u Tropical Agriculturist." [.Sept. I, 1894. 
"By this method of managing manure, about 5 
to 7 tons of good manure m iy be obtaine I yearly 
for each head of cattle kept, whereas if the dung 
be thrown oat in loose heaps in the open air, only 
about half a ton of very inferior manure will be 
obtained in the year." 
The author admits that there are two objections 
to this method of collecting the manure :— 
1. That it is supposed to cause unhealtluuess 
among the cattle housed. 
2. That it requires a large amount of litter 
to be supplied. 
The first objection is easily disposed of by 
Mr. Benson, who observes — " Experience has 
shown that it is groundless." Our experience, 
however, has been rather different, for in two 
instances have we traced outbreaks of foot-and- 
mouth disease to this method of accumulat- 
ing cattle manure. We shall probably be told, 
however, that the method was not properly 
carried out, either by the decomposing manure 
being allowed to remain too long in the shed or 
an insufficiency of litter having been strewn over 
the mass. We remember seeing this system of 
manure collection in working at the Saidipet Farm, 
Madras, where animals were standing on a large 
accumulation of manure, which, while it made 
the surroundings decidedly unwholesome-looking, 
tended to make the cattle to all appearances 
miserably uncomfortable; and chough it struck 
us that the conditions under which the animals 
were kept were far from healthy, we have Mr. 
Benson's word for it that experience has shown 
the objection to be groundless, so far as South 
India is concerned. Then, as regards litter, we 
are told that if straw is not available in easy 
terms, any vegetable refuse, such as leaves and 
grass would do. On upcountry estates we know 
that mana grass is used for this purpose, and in 
such situations and country places there would 
be no difficulty in obtaining some sort of vegetable 
refuse to serve as litter ; but in towns, there is no 
denying the fact that to obtain even such refuse 
in a clean condition, is a matter of the utmost 
difficulty. We have seen coir-dust used as con- 
venient and easily-obtained bedding, but though 
it served its purpose as an excellent absorber of 
liquid matter, it was found that the condition of 
the result and manure was not improved, for 
though it would have been suitable enough for 
application to perennial trees, the intractability 
of the coir-dust was a serious impediment to its 
use in garden or even grass cultivation ; and it 
was impossible to get coir-duso in a well-decom- 
posed mould-like form which would have materi- 
ally added to its usefulness in this connection. 
There is this much, however, that cannot be gain- 
said by any advocate of this system of manure 
preserving, that the method can never be c irried 
out in connection with dairies, however suit- 
able it may be where working bullocks are kept. 
The first law in connection with dairying enforces 
cleanliness and sweetness, and no one can say 
that the method is either clean or sweet, at least 
as these terins are understood in connection with 
dairy management. We doubt, even if the 
system is adopted in the case of cart or trotting 
bullocks kept within municipal limits, whether 
the Sanitary Inspectors would not consider they 
had a good case for prosecution. W e m ist admit 
that we are not enamoured of this system, though 
we have seen it practised in England and Scotland. 
In warm countries such as ours where decomposi- 
tion goes on so rapidly, we do not think it a 
desirable one ; while there is a dash of slovenli- 
ness, arising from what seems an attempt to 
shirk work, which does not commend itself to our 
minds. The same results can he attained without 
keeping the animals in contact with their own 
excrements, if a little more energy were expended. 
Mr. Benson is certain that the system does no 
harm to cattle. We will not C mtradict him, 
though we cau as surely affirm that it does them 
no good. At any rate, we should like to see our 
own animals living, when we daily visit them, 
under more congenial circumstances ; for we 
cannot agree to consider them a* purely animated 
manure-making machines. We have seen a 
slight modification of — which is a decided im- 
provement on — this system, whereby the cattle 
are housed in an elevated shed, the fiooriug of 
which admits of the liquid excrement dripping 
through and saturating vegetable refuse hi the 
coinp irtment underneath, By this means the 
floor of the lied is in a dry condition, and the 
comfort ot the animals not altogether neglected. 
The liquid manure plus the vegetable refuse is, 
at the sara.' time, preserved from waste or wash : 
while the solid manure is c dlected and thrown 
down below by a trap door. The only objection 
which may perhaps be brought against this 
method is the extra cost of the specially designed 
structure. 
Mr. Benson, however, gives the Indian ryot the 
option of a second metliod of collecting cattle 
manure, which is described as follows: — 
" The floor of the cattle-shed should be made 
smooth and compact with a gentle slope towards 
the back, where a small channel should be placed 
so that all the urine falling on the fljoriuiybe 
carried by the channel to a pot placed outside the 
shed at one end. The dung c m be removed every 
daj and thrown into a pit, the sides or bottom of 
which should be plastered with clay, and over 
which a low thatched roof his been erected. 
Whatever vegetable refuse is available on the 
farm may be thrown into the pit, aud the urine 
collected poured over the heap daily. The whole 
mass of dung urine and vegetable rubbish should 
be kept uniformly mixed and well trodden and 
pressed down so as to make the mass decay 
uniformly and slowly. 
" If the manure pit last described cannot be 
protected by a simple shed, the heap should be cov- 
ered with earth. It has in all cases been found very 
useful to cover manure heaps with earth, as this 
prevents the loss of valuable fertilising matters 
into the air. This practice is fully adopted in some 
places, e.g., in Tinnevelly with the best results. 
If the upper portions of a manure heap become 
dry, the heap should be turned over so as to mix 
the moister and the drier portions together, and 
if there be any tendency for the heap to dry 
up generally, it may be watered slightly with 
advantage. The covering of the heap with earth 
to a great extent prevent* undue drying. The 
great aim should be to maintain the heap in a 
moist state so that the whole mass may decay 
slowly and completely, and thus the fertilising 
matters of the manure may be preserved and 
rendered more immediately useful than as they 
are found naturally." 
