Rotted Manure.--Mixed stable manure contains in a ton as many pounds of potash as it does of nitrogen, and yet we speak of it as a highly nitrogenous fertilizer. When fresh manure has suffered no loss of the liquid part, much of its nitrogen is almost immediately available. The nitrogen in the urine is in soluble forms, and fermentation quickly occurs. When manure is used on grass, it cannot be too fresh, as the immediate action of the nitrogen is desirable. Vegetable growers often prefer a slower and more continuous action, and the rotting of manure under right conditions changes the liquid nitrogen into compounds that act more slowly. The solid material in horse manure contains less water than that of the cow, and this absence of water permits quick fermentation when air is present. The use of large quantities of such manure per acre is not liked by vegetable-growers. Rotting under control in a covered barnyard has a beneficial effect for this reason when a hot manure is not wanted. The covered shed costs some money, and there is a loss estimated at 10 per cent under the best conditions, but when manure cannot be drawn fast as made, there is compensation in improved condition for certain soils and crops. Composts.--The compost, involving the handling of manure and soil, has no rightful place on the average farm. The gardener or trucker using great quantities of manure per acre must let some of the fermentation occur before he incorporates it with the soil, or harm will result. He wants reduction in volume, and such change in character that it will add to the retentive character of the soil respecting moisture instead of drying the soil out. He can afford all the labor of piling the manure with layers of sods or other material, and the turning to secure mixing. It is his business to watch it so that loss will not occur. The farmer uses manure in smaller quantities per acre. Probably all his fields need the full action of the organic matter in its rotting. The percentage of humus-making material is low. The place for fresh manure is on the land, when this is feasible. The covered shed is a device for holding manure with least possible loss when spreading cannot be done, or a supply must be carried over for land in the summer. The gain in condition is only incidental, and an advantage chiefly to vegetables. The composting of manure by gardeners is not a practice to be copied on most farms.