# Effect of Poultry and Goat Manures on the Nutrient Content of _Sesammum altatum_ Leaf Vegetables
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Experimental Design  
River sand and loam soils collected at 30-60 cm soil depth were mixed at a ratio of 7:3 to make a sandy-loam mixture and used as a growth medium. Pots (20 L) were filled with 60 kg of growth medium, and manures were each applied at 0; 1; 2; and 3 t ha\({}^{-1}\)  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Month**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Temperature (\({}^{\circ}\)C)**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Rainfall (mm)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**RH (\%)**} \\ \cline{2-9}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2018**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2019**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2018**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2019**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2018**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2019**} \\ \cline{2-9}  & **Max.** & **Min.** & **Max.** & **Min.** & & & & \\ \hline January & 31.9 & 19.9 & 29.5 & 19.2 & 59.0 & 73.6 & 73 & 80 \\ February & 30.1 & 20.5 & 30.2 & 20.4 & 145.2 & 144.2 & 79 & 81 \\ March & 30.2 & 19.7 & 30.5 & 20.7 & 94.2 & 58.0 & 79 & 80 \\ April & 28.6 & 18.4 & 27.5 & 17.9 & 153.4 & 146.6 & 80 & 82 \\ May & 25.7 & 15.2 & 27.2 & 15.5 & 334.0 & 7.6 & 80 & 78 \\ June & 24.6 & 12.4 & 26.1 & 12.1 & 64.4 & 47.2 & 78 & 74 \\ July & 24.3 & 12.0 & 27.0 & 11.1 & 15.0 & 21.6 & 75 & 66 \\ August & 24.1 & 13.8 & 26.3 & 15.3 & 89.2 & 56.0 & 75 & 76 \\ September & 26.7 & 15.4 & 26.7 & 14.9 & 59.0 & 95.2 & 76 & 74 \\ October & 26.2 & 15.3 & 28.7 & 17.1 & 200.2 & 138.2 & 76 & 76 \\ November & 27.1 & 17.1 & 29.0 & 18.9 & 86.6 & 128.4 & 75 & 80 \\ December & 30.2 & 20.6 & 28.7 & 18.9 & 12.8 & 317.8 & 77 & 80 \\ \hline Mean & 27.48 & 16.69 & 28.12 & 16.83 & 109.41 & 102.87 & 76.92 & 77.25 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* RH, relative humidity; max., maximum; min., minimum.  
\end{table}
Table 1: Meteorological data of the University of Zuland in 2018 and 2019 (South African Weather Services, Durban, 2020).  
mixed with the soil, irrigated to pot capacity, and left to incubate for 10 days under the shade cloth. Manure in tons per hectare of application rates was converted from grams per 20 kg of soil, which was equivalent to 2,000,000 kg of soil per hectare for a furrow slice. Pots were arranged in a completely randomized design of 2 \(\times\) 4 factorial combinations. Sowing was carried out immediately after the 10-day soil-manure incubation period. Seeds were broadcasted in each pot and covered with a layer (1-2 mm) of sprinkled sand. At 60 days after planting, soft shoot tips (4-8 cm long) were harvested from five plants of each treatment for nutrient analyses. Shoots were thoroughly washed with distilled water, cut into small pieces and then dried in an oven at 60 \({}^{\circ}\)C until a constant dry weight was reached. Dried shoots were ground into powder, packaged in airtight plastic containers and stored in a fridge (\(-4\)\({}^{\circ}\)C) for further analysis.  
Five replications of each of the samples were analysed for their nutritive value in human food. Proximate and mineral analyses were conducted according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) [23] and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) methods [24]. Fertility analysis of soil and manure physicochemical properties (Table 2) and nutrient concentration in shoots was conducted at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Soil Fertility and Analytical Services section in KwaZulu-Natal.