------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+-------- |When |Apr. 30.|Aug. 23. |Nov. 15. |spread out,| | | |Nov. 3. | | | ------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+-------- | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. Total weight of manure | 10,000 | 8,350 | 6,130 | 5,750 Water in the manure | 6,617 | 6,922 | 4,297 | 3,771 Total organic matter | 2,824 | 1,092 | 677 | 595 Total inorganic matter | 559 | 636 | 1,155 | 1,384 Total nitrogen in manure | 64.3 | 45.9 | 25 | 22.4 Total soluble organic matter | 248 | 100 | 30 | 24 Insoluble organic matter | 2,576 | 992 | 647 | 571 Soluble mineral matter | 154 | 87 | 39 | 33 Insoluble mineral matter | 405 | 549 | 1,116 | 1,351 Nitrogen in soluble matter | 14.9 | 6.9 | 3.6 | 1.7 Nitrogen in insoluble matter | 49.4 | 39 | 21.4 | 20.7 ------------------------------+-----------+--------+---------+-------- It is not necessary to make many remarks on this table. The facts speak for themselves. It will be seen that there is considerable loss even by letting the manure lie spread out until spring; but, serious as this loss is, it is small compared to the loss sustained by allowing the manure to lie exposed in the yard during the summer. In the five tons of fresh manure, we have, November 3, 64.3 lbs. of nitrogen; April 30, we have 46 lbs.; August 23, only 25 lbs. This is a great loss of the most valuable constituent of the manure. Of soluble mineral matter, the next most valuable ingredient, we have in the five tons of fresh manure, November 3, 154 lbs.; April 30, 87 lbs.; and August 23, only 39 lbs. Of soluble nitrogen, the most active and valuable part of the manure, we have, November 3, nearly 15 lbs.; April 30, not quite 7 lbs.; August 23, 3½ lbs.; and November 15, not quite 1¾ lbs. Dr. Vœlcker made still another experiment. He took 1,613 lbs. of _well-rotted_ dung (mixed manure from horses, cows, and pigs,) and kept it in a heap, exposed to the weather, from December 5 to April 30, August 23, and November 15, weighing it and analyzing it at these different dates. I think it is not necessary to give the results in detail. From the 5th of December to the 30th of April, there was _no loss_ of nitrogen in the heap, and comparatively little loss of soluble mineral matters; but from April 30 to August 23, there was considerable loss in both these valuable ingredients, which were washed out of the heap by rain. Dr. Vœlcker draws the following conclusions from his experiments: