FARMYARD MANURE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 44, 16 November 1918, Page 10

FARMYARD MANURE

I AGREAT'RESTORER' 1 . .

INTERESTING CONSIDERATION

|'An exchange deals interestingly with pe subject of farmyard manure:—

!It is. not:.,too much] to say, perhaps, hat of all manures the manure, made on he .furm is/the -niost : important of nil naniires. ,Its fertilising effects are gener-illy-recognised, : and* ard all the more ionspicuous because it. is the one ninnur/v. i-e fall back upon-when land has become pore or less exhausted by continual cropling or continuous delivery of meat and fairy products. No doubt the chief ftincion" of farmyard manuro is restoration, ind previous to the introduction of artiicial fertilisers (so called) it could ntt bo Employed to increifso'tho fertility of one rieco of land'to any great extent with-rat-reducing that of nnrtther in a corres. ionding degree. When manufactured fertilisers are used we have mi• opportunity of using farmyard manure over a jvider scope of usefulness. We must reipgnise that there is a great fundamental, or essential differenco between pur-', )hased fertilisers on the ono hand, and farmyard manure on the other. In the, iormer something is added to the land, ivhile, the latter is merely a means of •estoring to (lie land something that had previously been' taken out of it. Of course, our reference is to farm lands ind the use of manure saved on the ■arm. In regard to the fertilising values respectively of farmyard and artificial manures, no fair comparison can well be made. In the former ense the manui'ial value depunds greatly on its mechanical effects, as well as its amount of fertilising ingredients and their state, of bombiriation. 'Its effects on the texture jf the soil are very noticeable. It, helps to floculate clay soils, and reduce •hem to a state of tilth which cannot in some cases be produced by any other means. On a sandy soil it has ]ust the ippo3ite effect—it binds them together and greatly increases their power of retaining moisture. If this manure is not jbtainnble in sufficient quantity to mainrain the necessary supply of humus in the soil recourse must be had to green: manures. The fertilising effects of farmyard manuro are particularly striking ivhen regarded from the point of view of its chemical composition. It is a general manure, containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, but the proportion of £hese ingredients are small—generally less than 1 per cent.' of each. _If tho manure was used in hnndfuls, in hundredweights, the quantities of these ccnjtituents would indeed b? insignificant, but with the quantity usually nppU»il yier acre the matter assumes a different aspect. A dressing of, say, 10 'tons per acre of good manuro would supply about 1501b. of nitrogen, IOOIb. of potash, and SOlb. of phosphoric acid. To cbtii'la _thi;se quantities in the form of artificial manure it would be. necessary to use in round numbers 9cwt. of nitrate of soda, Scwt. of kainit, and scwt. of superphosphate. Apart from the prohibitive cost such quantities would seriously affect both soil and crop. Farmyard manuro is rapid in its nction and lasting in character. Part of the nitrogenous matter is soluble in water. It readily undergoes nitrification, and is immediately available for tho plant. The fertilising ingredients of the nnfermented portions of-the dung and litter are more slowly available, and it is to these that, the manure owes its lasting character. As the-organic matter" is slowly oxidised ih the soil there is a constant but diminishing supply of ■plant food- available, sometimes for years. Tie length of time that the manure.- will last depends to some extent on the character of tho soil. On open, sandy soil the organic matter is more rapidly oxidised, and a greater proportion of the fertilising ingredients are available each year. There is a great differenco in quality of farmyard manures, this depending upon a number of Variable 'factqrs. No ono with any knowledge of the subject would place 'the.same value on horse and cow manure, fresh and rotten 'manure,; and manures resulting from feeding animals on, say, 'oilcake and similar rich foods. Very good manure is frequently allowed to tipoil in the initial making and storing jof same. Free nitrogen gas is allowed to 'pass off; there is volatilisation of am-, monia, and waste through water being [allowed to percolate the heap, and drain away the fertilising ingredients. What 'CTo we so frequently witness? Fresh manure is removed from stables, etc., nearly saturated, and fermentation proceeds, and .possibly there is undue exposure to the .weather, with consequent loss of valuable, fertilising elements carried away in solution. Some catchment area should be provided, a. receptacle in which the liquid : may collect and be distributed over the ;heap from timo to time. If the manure is to be kept some time before using it jis as well to build the heap in the form' of a mound with/sloping sides,-with 'some covering to keep it from rain. If the. manure is ..loosely, put together iu 'small heaps, fermentation is rapid, and 'becomes dry and'mouldy and of little lvalue. ' If the heap, 'however, is large and compact, the fermentation is slow, (and more or less ceases,' owing to the exclusion of the air, and loss is minimised. [The most practical, and where, perhaps, 'least loss occurs, is when the manure is .made in tho yard, tramped by stock, the 'fresh litter being spread on occasion on jthe top and left.niidjsturbed till carted iout to the land. One should never lose isight of the fact that urine or liquid lexcrement, is much more valuable for ipurely mamrrial purposes than the dung ! or solid excrement. In the forms' we ■ have the constituents-of value in a sol- | üble state immediately available to jplants; whereas those of the dung are i-present in. an insoluble condition, and ; only become available as the organic I matter decays.