The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1908-01-02
QUALITY OF MANURE.
II 10 Greatly Affected by the Manner In
Which Il 10 Handled.

One important factor 10 the care
given the manure before It Ia applied
to the land. The common way OF
throwing the manure out In pile TO
be tramped in the mud by the stock
and leached away by the rains 10 pro
ductive Of great loss OF plant food
Besides. the fermentation in such a
pile is destructive of nitrogen and hui
mus. The Cornell station showed that
horse manure thrown in an unshel
tered pile lost In six summer months
~ per cent. OF its fertilizing elements
The New Jersey station showed that
solid and liquid manure mixed loss by
exposure in 100 days 81 per cent OF
It's nitrogen and phosphoric acid each
and Gl per cent. OF its potash. Such
care is certainly wasteful and manure
kept under such conditions connot
give very large Increased yields. At
the same time as the above expert.
ment the Cornell station piled some
mixed manure so that fermentation
sheltered from rain. Under such con.
dition the loss Of constituents was 9.2
per cent. Another pile handled so
that 1t dried without fermentation lost
practically nothing. Prof. Frear OF the
Pennsylvania station showed that II
was more economical by $3.50 per
head In a period Of six months to al
low the manure from fattening steers
to accumulate under them for two
months at time than il was to clean
the stables daily and deposit In the
ordinary way. This saving does not
consider the labor involved in haul.
ing the manure. The practice OF al.
loving the manure to accumulate for
time is practicable one for loose
stock IL there be plenty Of bedding to
keep them clean and absorb the
liquids. The constant tramping keeps
The manure solid and fermentation
goes on slowly. However. when the
stock is taken or. the stable should
be cleaned at once and the manure
scattered, for there is soon big loss
Il nitrogen in the form OF ammonia.
The ideal way OF handling manure
is to remove 1t to the field every day
and spread on the land, says the Farm.
ers' Review. In this way there is
little loss by fermentation and what
substance is leached out by rain is
washed into the soil where 1t is taken
up by the roots, or Is chemically
combined with other minerals in, the
soil. For this purpose there is no
better way than the using OF manure
spreader. 1t will hold usually all the
cleanings for day and in some cases
the cleanings of two or three days
then hauled out. Formers everywhere
have found the spreader an almost in
dispensable tool.
However. it is not always conven.
ient to haul out and spread every day.
The ground Is frequently too soft to go
On with team and wagon, and often
he field on which II is wished to apply
he manure Is occupied by crop.
Under such conditions It becomes nee.
assary to store the manure for some
line. Few farmers will go TO the
expense OF building a covered manure
lit with cement sides and bottom into
which the liquid and solid manure may
be kept solid and damp. but every one
could have a concaye area with ce.
ment, or stiff clay, bottom, from which
Irainage would not take place Into
his the manure could be thrown in a
ather deep pile, kept evenly spread,
md packed down by the tramping of
loose animals or otherwise. The
tramping would prevent rapid fermen.
alton aad the rains would keep the
pile sufficiently moist. 1t should be
said in this connection that an effort
should be made to save all the liquids
by a liberal use Of bedding. The
liquids, weight for weight, are twice
as valuable as the solids. Whatever
method is resorted to for storing. the
manure should be kept solid and damp
md should be hauled to the field and
scattered as soon as possible. 1t should
| be scattered at once and not he al.
| lowed to lie in piles for week or
even months. 1t should be spread
evenly over the ground and here again
| t,ftlI ipt