Use Of Preservatives

Categories: CARE OF STABLE MANURE

The use of land-plaster in stables helps to

prevent loss of the nitrogen-content through fermentation. Its value

does not lie chiefly in physical action as an absorbent, but the

beneficial results come through chemical action. The volatile part of

the manure is changed into a more stable form. In recent years this

preservative has fallen somewhat into disuse, as acid phosphate

contains like material and also supplies p osphoric acid to the manure.

The phosphoric acid content of stable manure is too low for all soils,

and the reenforcement by means of acid phosphate would be good practice

even if there were no preservative effect. The use of fifty pounds of

acid phosphate to each ton of manure will assist materially in

preserving the nitrogen, and the gain in phosphoric acid will repay all

the cost. It should be used daily on the moist manure, as made in the

stable, and preferably just before bedding is added, so that the

phosphate will not come into direct contact with the feet of the

animals. Some stockmen prefer the use of acid phosphate and kainit

mixed half-and-half. The latter is a carrier of potash, and is a

preservative of nitrogen.



The use of ground rock-phosphate in stables is coming into use in some

localities, chiefly through the recommendation that it be mixed with

manure to secure availability of its own plant-food. It is not a

preservative except in so far as it acts physically as an absorbent. It

should not displace acid phosphate in stables, the preservation of

nitrogen in the manure being the vital matter.