Caring For Liquid Manure

Categories: CARE OF STABLE MANURE

If all manure were in solids, one great

difficulty in caring for it would not exist. The nitrogen is the most

valuable element in manure, and two fifths of all of it in horse manure

is found in the liquid. In the case of cow manure, over one half of the

nitrogen is found in the liquid. More than this, a pound of nitrogen in

the liquid has greater value than a pound in the solid because of its

nearly immediate availabil ty. There is only one good way of caring for

the liquids, and that is by use of absorbents on tight floors or in

tight gutters. American farmers find cisterns and similar devices

nuisances. The first consideration is to make the floor water-tight,

and clay will not do this. The virtues of puddled clay have had many

advocates, but examination of clay floors after use will show that

valuable constituents of the manure have been escaping. The soils of

the country cannot afford the loss, and careful farm management

requires acceptance of the truth that a tight floor is as necessary to

the stable as to the granary. The difficulty in supplying a sufficient

amount of absorbents on tight floors only emphasizes the loss where

floors are not water-tight.