Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/34

HANUBES AND MANURING. 2J HANTJSES AND MANURING. Aiioc^iT A.10 Vali'c* or MurKC Pkodfcco bt F^uu Lite Stock [New York CornvU Eiiwrliaeot Statloa] Ariioutit CUIUIK 'itioti tkuil TalDv of niauurv ryot and Utter) t Ki.'iD or i.'niiAL Sta«ep... CalTM... Pttt- Co« - t«.f J.*, wriiTdl Oitlly KItiogen aJlJ "^ Potash Taloe per loo f—in-li I PfrcfDt. /»>r CMt. Prr »o». i : w.ura 0.768 U.3»l U.S»l «S.30 .US7 .197 .irj .932 ■J. 18 -. . '.. .1«7 .!«0 .380 .330 S.39 "1 1 .IW^ .*X .aso .MU a. 09 4' s .i/;>» .430 .JliO .«U S.21 • v.. the ffftilizins value of e<|tial weijihts of manure in itA unriiial c-oii<litiun. f:'r ■■ •' ■ ■ ' ' '•. ~tanJ in tli<- ti)|kivins; onler: rs*-*, i-ows. IVultry iiianur- . .■,• ani- mal manures. Uvause it eonsi3t:« ot a mixture, in Rumewliat concentrated form, of both the solid I intestinal) and liquid I urinary) excreta. The lii|uid excretum of farm animals is the must valu- able [>art of the manure. iK-inj; esin-eially rich in nitr<>t;en and potash, but {KH>r in phosphoric acid. Slie«'p manure is drier and hence richer in fer- tilizing constituents than pig. horse, or cow manure. 1*1^ manure i-ontains as much water as cow manure and more than horse manure, but is richer in nitroijen. Horse manure is a com|i<ira- tively dry manure, which ferments rapidly. For this reason it is called a "hot" manure and is especially valuable for use in hotbeds and for forcinj; early crops. Cow manure is a wet "cold' manure, which fcnnents slowly. Its low per- centaj:e of fertilizing constituents is due to its high pcrtviitaye of water. The amounts of fer- tilizing «Mi~tituents in animal manure stand in direct relatit>n to those in the food. As regards the value of the manure produce*! the concen- trated feeding stuffs, such as meat scrap or meal, cottonseed meal, linstvd meal, gluten meal, and wheat bran, stand Krst ; the leguminous plants (clover, p(>as. beans, etc.) second; the jfrjsses thiril: cereals (oats, com. etc.) fourth; and root crops, such as turnips, beets, and man- gelwurzels, last. High salting and succulent foods as a rule give watery and p^Kir manure. With liii;h f>«'liri'_' there is less coiiiplcte digestion and hence richtr manure. Hi;;hly nitrogenous fiKKls five richer manures, although at the same time they incr»"aso the excretion of urine, thus retjuiring more lie<i<ling and reducing the value of the manure. U.au-e as a rule the materials commonly u-ie.1 as litter are poorer in fer- tilizing constituents than the animal excreta. Animals kept in cold (|Uitrters probably di(j;est their food more closely, and hence make ptxirer manure. Barnyard manure rapiilly deteriorates from two chief causes: Ml f.riiientation. which Jie- gins as snon a< ■ r.. is ilroppcd; (2) weatherinir and I- iii<-h rapidly reduce the value of unprvt.^!..! manure. Roberts re- ports experiments at Ithaca. X. Y.. in which mn- ' • • f fr„^ o to 10 t'" -T cent, of its Va! ;.,...: ,. ■ -'.0 p«.r cent. : while mixe<l an Inst only 9 per cent. The ' :.,.,■ fer- mentation may be largely prevented by the use of projier absorbents (Utter) and preservatives, such as superphosphate, kainit. etc.; but the must perfect preservation is secured by storing the mixed manure of different animals under cover or in pits, keeping it moist and compact to e.xclude air. Extremes of temperature and moisture should be avoided to prevent "fire- fanging' and to secure a uniform, moderate, and harmless fermentation. Such fermentation, in fact, improves the quality of poor, coarse manure, by rendering its constituents more available as plant food. When practicable, it is best to avoid storage by hauling the manure directly to the fields and spreading it upon land occupied by plants. From 10 to 40 tons yvr acre is usually applied. Moderate applit-ations at fre«]uent intervals are preferable to large but infre<|uent applications, except when the purpose is to warm the soil to force early crops. The forcing effect of fresh ma- nure renders it U'tter suite«l to early garden truck, grasses, and forage plants than to plants grown for seed, such as cereals. Direct applica- tions to root crops, such as sugar lieets. [Kitatoes, or tobacco, often prove injurious. This result can, as a rule, be avoided by applying the manure some months before the planting of the crop or by using only well-rotted manure. Barnyard manure is not applied to fruit trees with the same goo-*t results are likely to he obtained by using barnyard manure in con- nection with commen-ial fertilizing materials, lime, gypsum, etc.. either in compost (q.v.) or separately. Other natural manures of secondary impor- tance are peat, ashes (qq.v. ). wool waste, which contains on an average .t..t per c«'nt. of nitroijen. I per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 2 p«'r cent, of potash : hair waste, containing 7 per cent, of nitrogt'n and less than 1 per cent, of phosphnrii" acid; felt waste with about 8 per cent, of sren : leathiT with ah<iut 7 per cent, of niti . These - ' are prire-ipally valuable !■ r the nitr ontain. but this is very slowly avnihil'M' ■' r m'. and hence not of great '•• There is a cla*s of stiVist.-inffs us*vl for r ■ iring purposes which is interme<liate in char.i :. r between the natural manures proper and arti-