30 
Colorado Experiment Station. 
Notes on Table VI. 
No. 37. Sheep and cattle. Pile 8 feet high. Very moist. 
No. 38. Sheep and cattle. Pile 8 feet high. 
No. 39. Sheep and cattle. In open corral undisturbed. 
No. 40. Sheep and cattle. In open corral undisturbed. 
No. 41. Horse, hog and cattle. In pile at least 15 years. 
No. 42. Cattle and horse. 
No. 43. Mixed stable manure. Considerable hay and dirt in the 
manure. 
No. 44. Horse manure, made by work horses. Fed heavily on 
barley, bran, corn and alfalfa. 
No. 45. Horse manure. Pile 6 feet high. Not much bedding 
used. Interior badly fire-fanged. 
It will be noticed that the potash is high, and that the phosphor¬ 
ic acid runs about 1 percent. The moistures in the two horse manures 
are interesting in showing how this kind of manure practically burns 
up. At the end of 1 1-4 years there was only 35 percent moisture, 
and the whole interior of the pile was a mass of dry stems, so badly 
was it fire-fanged. It is rather surprising, however, to see how much 
nitrogen remained in the burned manure, although by far the great¬ 
er portion of it had been lost. 
Preservation of Manure. 
Knowing at about what rate the manure deteriorates, and what 
elements of plant food are most easily lost, a few hints might not 
be out of place as to some waste which can be stopped by good man¬ 
agement. Since the nitrogen, particularly as free ammonia, is the 
most easily lost in a dry climate, that is the substance we must pre¬ 
serve. 
We have seen that piling up manure loosely causes intense bac¬ 
terial action, and consequently loss of free ammonia. It will be best, 
therefore, to leave the manure in the corral until it can be hauled 
out and spread on the ground. If the corral must be cleaned, pile the 
manure in a shady place where its moisture will be retained. If at 
all possible and the weather is dry, moisten the manure with the hose 
after it has been placed in the pile; or, lacking any way of moistening 
the manure, try to clean the corral during wet weather. 
Any method of compacting the manure pile to keep out the air 
will be found to help largely in conserving the nitrogen. 
If both cattle and horse manure are produced on the farm,' 
probably much of the horse manure could be rotted and yet not badly 
fire-fanged by mixing the two manures. Here, too, an occasional wet¬ 
ting would save much fertility. 
