Composition of Manure.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1887, 9 August 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

Composition of Manure.

The valne of manure depends not only upon , the character of the feed' allowed, bat also upon the condition of the animal, the breed and the age. The principal substanoes of value in manure are nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, the former substance being the most costly. In the artificial fertilisers, j nitrogen exists in the shape of sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, or as Peruvian guano, while ground dried blood, leatherand other substances containing it are sometimes used. Potash is usually supplied in the form of the sulphate (kainit) or muriate, its quality depending upon the grade of the salt used for the purpose, while the phosphoric acid (usually ■ combined with lime) is derived from bones and sometimes from guano deposits and marine formations. The Carolina phosphate beds have been largely instrumental in cheapening this article, while that from bones is usually associated with proportions of nitrogen. Barnyard manures and artificial fertilisers differ only in form. The active ingredients of barnyard manure are the same as those in fertilisers, excepting that the manure contains small proportions of magnesia, soda, and a few other substances not always present in fertilisers, though easily added to them if necessary. Manure contains, however, a large quantity of carbon, -which is considered by some a valuable fertiliser, but others contend that as plants appropriate carbon from the atmosphere through the agency of the leaves, such matter only adds to the bulk of the manure without improving the quality. When food is fed to animals it undergoes a chemical process in the body, whioh extracts the nutritive portions for sustenance, according to the digestive capacity of the animal, the residuum being voided as being no longer useful in that respect. The amount of available fertilising material in the manure thus voided, depends upon the character of the food, and its relative proportions of nitrogen, whioh is always costly. As growing animals require not only food for warmth, but for growth also, the manure from such ia less in value than from animals that are matured. And as more food is required to assist the bsdy against cold rrinter than for any other purpose, the warmth of the quarters is a factor in the matter also, especially if it be correct that carbon is benefioial as a manure to the roots of plants. Assuming that animals are well fed, an average quality of food, then, for every 1000 lbs. of manure from horses, more than 700 lbs. consists of water, while the remainder is estimated at about 12 lbs. of phosphorio acid, 28 lbs. of potash, and 5 lba. of ammonia. The manure from the cow contains nearly 860 lbs. of water in every 1000, the amount of phosphoric acid in the remainder being about 5 1b3., potash 10 lba. and nitrogen 3 lbs., the manure from the horse being double the value of that from the cow in all the substances except nitrogen, and even in nitrogen the horse manure is nearly twice as rich. Of the different kinds of manure, that from fowls and the human species h the richest in nitrogen, but this includes the urine, the solid portions being very deficient in that respect. Manure fiom the sheep is the richest in phosphoric acid. Urine is always rich in ammonia (nitrogen), with proportions of potash and small quantities of phosphoric acid. Considering this fact, too much importance cannot be given the saving of liquids, that from the human specie 3 being valued at half a cent per pound. The valne of the solid portions of manure from a horse for one year is said to bo about 10 dols., while the value of of the liquids from the same source for the same period is nearly the same. Considering the high value of the liquids which are always immediately available as plant food when applied to the soil, the manure must be protected from drenching rains and melting snows, for as part of the inert matter of the manure is changed by chemical action in the heap during the process of decomposition into soluble matter, it is always lost unless protected. — Philadelphia Record.