The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-05-11
MANAGEMENT oE MANURE.

MANAGEMENT OF MANURE
From the Philadelphia Record.
The loss OF valuable plant food in ma
nure heaps Is greater during the very
warm days of summer than at any other
time, and to prevent such loss Is one OF
the difficulties in the way of the farmer.
If the manure could be hauled TO the
fields, spread on the land and plowed un-
der with one-horse pillow as fast as II
accumu1ates there would q saving, out
as the farmer can not neglect his regular
work every day to so manage his manure
the practice will not become general 10
keep manure with the least loss 1t should
be in the finest condition and heaVlly
weighted down to prevent the ingress OF
air. Experiments have shown that when
dry manure and absorbent materials
were excluded from the air the loss OF
ammonia was but slight, but when air
was admitted the loss was from to II
per cent of nitrogen. When urine and
absorbent materials were not excluded
from the air the nitrogen of the urine
was almost entirely converted into am
monia, and 1t Immediately escaped into
the atmosphere, the loss being about is
per cent, but the use of gypsum assisted
in arresting the loss. Kaintit Is excellent
as a substance for preventing escape of
ammonia, as it Is crude sulphate Of pot
ash and contains a large proportion or
common salt. Gypsum and kainit may
be used together, sprinkling 1t freely
over the manure daily, as the materials
of the heap accumulate. Cold water will
serve well in reducing the heat In the
heap, but less heat will occur IL air Is
excluded.
| The coarse materials OF the manure
| heap, such as straw, etc, differ greatly
| from the fresh, solid manure and urine
| in the heap, as the animal refuse begins
to decompose Immediately. When the
manure and straw are mixed the nitro
| gen is slowly converted into ammonia.
nitric acid being also formed, but when
no straw or other materials are used
with the manure the ammonia may be
formed within forty-eight hours. The
straw absorbs the liquid manure and the
| liquids hasten the decomposition of the
straw The real substance of value In
ammonia is the nitrogen, and the same
is true of nitrate of soda or sulphate of
ammonia 1t is the nitrogen that the
| farmer seeks, whether he buys nitrate
| of soda, dried blood. sulphate of ammonia
or ground fish. and 1t is the same sub
! stance in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
gives its highest value. While the ferti-
! lizers containing nitrogen may also con-
tain other fertiizing elements, yet the
high price of nitrogen induces the farmer
| to endeavor to save all materials on the
| farm which may assist him in securing
1t. The mistake made by many farmers
| is that they succeed admirably in saving
the potash and phosphoric acid, but per-
NIT loss of the valuable nitrogen because
| they fail to realize how rapidly the nitro
| ger In the form of ammonia) escapes
! fum the heap, and frequently when the
farmer opens his heap ne finds the ma
nure has become "hre-fanged," or over
heated, to such an extent as to render
the manure almost worthless, so far as
the nitrogen 1t contained is concerned.
When the open barnyard is also the
manure heap there Is a large surface OF
the manure exposed to the air 1t is true
that many farmers use good judgment
in keeping the barnyard well supplied
with straw and cornstalks. but each
should have a separate receptacle for the
fresh manure from the stalls. 1t is
claimed that If the manure is thrown
out upon the. litter of the barnyard the
whole becomes trampled and mixed by
the feet of the cattle, thus making more
manure by adding the absorbent mate
rails known as litter. Such is not the
case, however, as the mixture of the two
materials-litter and manure-cannot
possibly add anything additional to the
whole. The proper plan Is not to wait
for the cattle to trample the stalks and
straw, but the shred the stalks and cut
the straw, using the clean materials as
bedding, and then add such litter and
manure to the heap collecting all man.
ure that falls in the barnyard. IL possible
daily. thus throwing everything on the
heap. If the barnyard must be Uttered
It must be done In manner to allow OF
raking up the litter at any time and using
1t on the heap. The liquid manure should
never flow into the barnyard, as the first
rain that comes will carry 1t away, or
the heat of the sun will decompose 1t,
but as fast as 1t can be done all materials
should go on the heap and the heap
trampled and compacted into as solid q
mass as possible, the manure kept under
cover and every precaution taken to have
the litter fine, using also dry earth, II
necessary.