ON FARM GARDENING. II 
In many American barnyards much of the manure is lost, 
partly by leaching and partly by escape of ammonia. It is 
estimated that as much as a third of the natural manure pro- 
duced in this country is practically thrown away. 
The Cornell Station has announced that a pile of horse 
manure exposed to the weather will lose half of its value in 
six months. The Kansas Station reaches nearly the same 
conclusion about farmyard manure. 
Manure stored under cover may lose from 14 to 30 per 
cent, of its nitrogen (ammonia) ; and as this element is the 
most expensive of all to buy, it is evident that the loss is a 
very serious one. and one that should be avoided if possible. 
General Principles of Storage Having pointed out 
the fact that on many farms there is a loss of a large amount 
of excellent manure, it is now in order to name a remedy. 
The compass of this book is so limited that it is necessary to 
go straight to the point, omitting a detailed acount of the 
chemical processes involved. 
The best-known method of keeping all the manure pro- 
duced by farm animals is storage under a closed shed, sup- 
plemented with chemical preservatives. The shed need not 
cover the barnyard, but merely the manure pile. The pre- 
servatives cost little money, and eventually go to the soil in 
the form of excellent fertilizers. Not a cent paid for them 
need be lost. 
The manure shed should be large enough to work in with 
comfort; large enough to permit the heap or heaps of manure 
to be turned, worked over and shifted from place to place. 
A clay or earth floor will answer every purpose, and the shed 
may be of the cheapest character, provided it will turn the 
rain. The floor of the manure shed should slope inward 
from all directions, and the drainage around the shed should 
be outward, so that no rain-water or snow-water can enter. 
In theory, it may be best to put fresh manure on the 
