The Sauk Centre herald., 1899-09-14
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THE MANURE QUESTION.

THE MANURE QUESTION.
A Simple, Lucid and Interesting Ex-
position of Its Chemistry.
In those portions of the manure
which are accessible to the air one
class Of bacteria 1--we and breed in
enormous numbers. They feed on the
oxygen of the air and the nitrogenous
norton of the manure and In their ex-
crements give off large quantities of
nitrates, the latter being the direct
products Of the oxidation OF nitroge-
nous organic matter anywhere. whether
In the bodies Of these bacteria or not.
These nitrates, being very soluble in
water, drain down into the interior Of
the manure heap, just as they drain
through the soil. But instead Of all
going off in the drainage water and be-
coming lost, as they often do in the
soil, they are chiefly lost by an entire
ly different process.
In the interior Of the heap, shut
away from the air, these nitrates fall
prey to another class OF bacteria
known as nitrate destroyers" They
completely undo the work Of the other
bacteria, or nitrate formers" The
nitrate destroyers" live on the nom
nttrogenous constituents Of the straw
and leaves and the oxygen Of the
nitrates. This iberates the nitrogen
in the form Of gas, which escapes into
tho air and is lost to the farmer. The
process also consumes the nttrog-
enous portion, which Is chiefly the
remainder of the litter. It is formed
into water and carbonic acid gas,
which escape into the air and thus
diminish the bulk Of the pile. While
the nitrate formers i've near the
surface Of the manure and require air
for their work, the nitrate destroy
ers" live from the air and do not need
It They are dependent, however, on
food Of q certain kind and must have
plenty Of II, otherwise they become IN
acttve and can do no damage, though
millions Of them may exist In the In
ter3or Of the manure pile One Of their
principal foods, the nonnitrogenous
rnaher4al OF the litter. they cannot use
- nod until Il has been made soluble
hy d thtrd ciass of bacteria which
causes tha rottfns o6 the litter. Nitrates
are also Indispensable for their nou,-
ashnnenk Il, therefore, they are DE-
pE4ved oe eithef one of these eonstitu-
snss a their .d3et, they either de q
ak jeast become harmless. ID I.- l.... (. I.
+ The work Of the nitrate foemer1
Is beneficial 3lt1couvests organic H.
hogen into nitrsta. = most avaalabis
form Of plant food.S Half rotted ma
nure contains nitrogen largely IN III
form The work OF nitrate. DESTROY
err" H2 destructive. 1t removes tie
soluble uitrstes from the manure. It
converts half rotted manure into wen
rotted manure. In this way the di1e.-
ent effects produced by manure, in Id
three different condttionsfa are sexplAir
ed The nitrogen in fresh manure BE-
largely organic and not immeditely
available. 1t therefore has q slower
and less effect than half rotted ma
nure. The nitrogen in half rotted ma
nure 10 largely In the form OF nitrates,
and this 10 available The nitrogen in
well rotted manure has all been con-
verted into nitrate also and was once
available, but has subsequently been
lost in the air. This is why the we'll
rotted condition IL the least valuable
Of the three. -.; vita
In handling manure the farmer
should strive to place It at the dispod-
ton Of the growing crop just at that
moment when the most nitrate has
been formed and before any has been
destroyed. The most favorable condi-
tions are obtained when fresh manure
is packed as tightly as possible away
from the air and kept in that condition
till half rotted and then pfowed under
just before planting or sowing. Under
these circumstances, although the
third class Of bacteria have in the rot
ting Of the litter made soluble food of
one kind for the nitrate destroyers,"
the latter have been deprived Of their
other necessary food, the nitrates, for
none could be/formed in the tightly
packed mass, and they have remained
harmless. But the heap has become
half rotted without them. After the
manure is plowed in, the nitrogen
formers" now having plenty of air,
rapidly produce nitrates, which are be-
yond the reach of the destroyers; for
by this time all their soluble nonnitrog-
enous food has been decomposed and
has gone into the air, leaving them to
die. The growing plants in the mean
time absorb the nitrates.
If fresh manure is plowed in d.
rectly before seeding, poor result Is
obtained, for the nitrates are not
formed until after the plants have
passed their growing period, and they
consequently starve. AS might be
supposed, winter crops fare better
than spring crops with this proceeding.
By plowtng in fresh manure several
months before seeding much better
result is obtained, because the nitrates
are on hand and are being formed at
the growing period Of the crops. Ex-
perience has abundantly proved that
1t is better to plow manure into the soil