The: Deterioration of Manures. 
by means of a bed of sand the stall can be kept reasonably dry, the 
barn is that much better in the estimation of the average Colorado 
farmer. Even though the cultivation of the sugar beet has caused 
some improvement in our practice, still too little regard is paid to the 
saving of the urine, a very valuable, perhaps the most valuable por¬ 
tion of the manure. In the feeding corrals, this is not quite true for 
much of the urine is absorbed by the solid portion of the manure. 
The Older Samples of Sheep Manures. 
Some of the older samples came from corrals where sheep or cat¬ 
tle had been fed some previous year but the present owner had follow¬ 
ed other pursuits, leaving the corral with its bed of manure untouched. 
Many of the samples were from piles from four to sixteen feet in 
height made by scraping out the corrals preparatory to another year’s 
feeding. All the sheep manures, with four exceptions, were from 
sheep which had been fattened for market and had therefore been 
fed as much alfalfa as they would eat and a very heavy ration or 
corn. 
Importance in Amount and Value. 
The corrals are, in most cases, open pens without shelter except 
occasionally a board fence to keep off the cold winds. Since the 
average farmer who fattens lambs, feeds between one and two 
thousand head for a period of about ioo days, the amount of manure 
is considerable. In addition, the manure must be more than ordi¬ 
narily rich in plant food since as much as 95 percent of the potash, 
phosphoric acid and nitrogen are voided in the dung and urine from 
sheep on full feed. From the foregoing brief facts it will be seen 
that we are here dealing with a very rich manure and one which under 
ordinary conditions would be subject to rapid deterioration. 
The Cattle Manure Not so Easy to Obtain. 
The cattle manure samples were more difficult to obtain as the 
industry of fattening cattle had not been so generally practiced. There 
are, therefore, few samples of manure from corrals where cattle had 
been fattened, but as this is a growing industry, more and more of it 
will be produced and its preservation will become correspondingly 
important. 
Sampling. 
In case the manure was in the corral, the loose material was 
scraped off the surface and at least three sections, each about eight 
inches square, were taken at different places. A portion of the sam¬ 
ple was put into a glass vessel and sealed to prevent drying out; the 
rest was preserved with ordinary precautions. 
