FARMYARD MANURE.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXIX, Issue 3999, 27 November 1918, Page 1

FARMYARD MANURE.

An exchange deals intrestingly with the subject of farmyard manure " — It is not too much to say, perhaps, that of all manures the manure, made on the farm is,the most important of all manures. Its fertilising oftVib are generally recognised, and are all the more conspicuous becuwsf 1 it is the (no manure we fall back upon when land has become more or less exhausted by continual cropping or c ntinunus delivery of meat and dairj products Ho doubt the chief function jf faimyard manure is restoration, and.previous to the introduction of farmyard fertilisers (so called) .t c uld not be employed to increase the fertility of one piece uf land to any great, extent without reducing tha: of another in a corresponding d greo. When manufactured fertiYscrs arcused we have an opportunity of usi g farmyard manure over a wider secpe of usefulness. We must recognise that there is a great fundamental or essential difference between purchased fertilisers on the one hand and farmyard manure on the other. In the former something is added to the land, while the latter is merely a means of restoring to the land something that had previously been taken out of it. Of course our reference is to farm lands and the use of manure saved on the farm. In regard to the fertilising values respectively of farmyard and artificial manures, no fair comparison can well be made. In the former case the manurial value depends greatly on its mechanical effects, as well as its amount of fertilising ingredients and. their state of combination. Its effects on the texture of the soil are very noticeable. It helps to floculate clay soils, and reduce them to a state of tilth whichcannot in some be produced by any other means. .On a sandy-soil it has just the opposite effect—it binds them together and greatly increases their power of retaining moisture. If this manure is not obtainable in sufficient quantity to maintain the necessary supply of humus in the soil recourse must be had to green'manures. The fertilising effects of farmyard manure as particularly striking when regarded from the point of view b+> its chemical composition. It is a general manure, coniia^ning ni^rog n phosphoric acid, and potash, but th^ proportion of these ingredients are small—generally less than 1 per cent of each. If the manure was used in handfuls, in hundredweights, th 1. quantities of these crn ctituents would indeed be insignificant, but with the quantity usually applied per acre th<i matter assumes a d rff -rent aspect. A j dressing of, say, 10 tons per acre of good manure w»ould supply pbout 1501b of nitrogen, 1001b of potash, and 601b of phosphoric acid. To obtain these quantities in the form of artificial manure it would be necossary to use in r^und numbers 9cwt of nitrate of soda, Bcwt of kamit, and scwt of nitrate of supe-sosphate Apart f?'om the prohibitive coft su';n quantities would seriously affect both soil and c*op. Farmyard manure is rapid in its action and lasting in character. Part of the nitrogenous matter is soluble in water. It readily, undergoes nitrification, and is immediately available f or v the plant. The fertilising ingredients of the unfrmented 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 in the soil there is a constant bu.t diminishing supply of plant, food available, sometimes for years,. The length of tima that the manure-will last depends to some extent on the character of the soil. On open, sandy soil the organic matter is more rapidly oxidised, arid a greater proportion of the fertilis-r ing ingredients are available each year. There is a great difference in quality of farmyard manures, this depending upon a number of variable factors. No one w»ith any knowledge of the subject would place the same value on horse and ccw 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 spoil in the initial making and storing of same. Free nitrogen gas is allow•ed to pass off; there is volotilisation of ammonia, and waste through water being allowed to percolate the heap, and drain away the fertilising ingredients. What do 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 less of valuable fertilising elements carried away ia solution. Some catchment area should be provided, a receptacle in which the liquid may collect and be distributed over the heap from time to time. If the manure is to be kept some time before using it is 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 in \ small heaps, fermentation is rapid, and becomes dry and mouldy and of j little value. If the heap, however, !s i large and compact, the fermentation is slow, and more or less ceases, owing to the exclusion of the- air, and i loss is minimised. The most practical and where, perhaps, least loss occurs, is when , ; the manure is made I in t^e I yard, tramped by stock, the fr sh j litter being spread on occasion on t^e j top and left undisturbed tH cart«d out to the land. One should" nevelose sierht of the fact that un'ne or liouid excrement is ronA mo™ 0 valuable for purely ir>anurial rrtirp^s^s than the dung or solid excrement. In

the former we have the constituents of value in a soluble state immediately available to plants; whereas- those of the dung are present in an insoluble condition, and only become available as the organic matter decays.