It has been calculated that a farmer by wise management of his animal manures can return to the soil 70% of the nitrogen, 75% of the phosphorus, and 80% of the potash which was taken out by the home-grown plants his animals eat. This is a considerable saving when it is realized that a dairy cow gives 27,000 pounds of manure annually and a horse, 18,000.
VALUED BY GREEKS AND ROMANS: Tradition has it that King Augeas was the first in Greece to make use of manure, and that Hercules introduced the practice in Italy.
The average composition of farmyard manure, based on many analyses, was found to be water, 67.7%; nitrogen, 0.465%; phosphoric acid, 0.326%; and potash, 0.485%.
As a rule, horse manure is more valuable than the manure of other farm animals. Horse manure is richer in nitrogen than either cow or hog manure and is much more liable to fermentation. For this reason it is frequently referred to as a hot manure. Another hot manure is that of sheep which is generally quite dry and quite rich. Cow and Hog manure are relatively wet and correspondingly low in nitrogen. Because of their high water and low nitrogen content, these manures ferment slowly and are commonly regarded as cold manures.
It is worth noting that the urine of most animals contains more nitrogen and more potash than the solid excreta.
The amount of manure that can be produced by various animals can be determined by multiplying the dry matter consumed in the foods by an appropriate factor. For the horse, multiply the weight of the dry matter consumed by 2.1; for the cow, the factor is 3.8; for the sheep the factor is 1.8; and for poultry, the factor is 1.6. To the product of each of these weights, add the weight of the bedding or litter to determine the total amount of manure that will be made.
ANNUAL EXCREMENT PER 1,000 POUNDS LIVE WEIGHT
|
Kind of Animal |
Total Excrements |
Solid |
Liquid |
|
|
Pounds |
Pounds |
Pounds |
|
Horse |
18,000 |
14,400 |
3,300 |
|
Cow |
27,000 |
19,000 |
8,000 |
|
Pig |
30,500 |
18,300 |
12,200 |
|
Sheep |
12,000 |
8,300 |
4,200 |
|
Hen |
8,500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PERCENTAGES OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHATE AND POTASH IN DIFFERENT MANURES
|
Kind of Animal Manure |
% NITROGEN |
% PHOSPHATE |
% POTASH |
|
Rabbit |
2.4 |
1.4 |
0.6 |
|
Hen |
1.1 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
|
Sheep |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.9 |
|
Steer |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
|
Horse |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.6 |
|
Duck |
0.6 |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
Cow |
0.6 |
0.2 |
0.5 |
|
Pig |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
Some crops are benefited by the application of barnyard manure, while others are damaged or produce crops of poor quality. A good practice is to add manure to the soil for the growing of crops which are benefited by manure, while the unused residue is left for manure-sensitive crops the following year.
o Grass-lands are generally much benefited by top-dressing with farm manure, either fresh or fermented.
o Root crops usually respond most satisfactorily to generous applications of stable manure. Some precautions, however, must be taken in the case of potatoes and sugar beets. Excessive amounts of fresh manure on light soils and loams cause the beets to become very large but with a low sugar content. Fresh manure can result in leggy plants.
o Corn, millet, and leafy crops in general respond favourably to manure, fresh or decomposed.
o Garden crops in general respond quite favourably to generous applications of manure. Approximately 25 pounds of manure, to which has been added ten pounds of rock phosphate, per 100 square feet of garden will enrich and condition soils. If it is not well-rotted and larger quantities are used, apply it three or more weeks before planting and incorporate the manure into the soil.
o Young deciduous trees and shrubs respond favourably to manure, but prefer the decomposed manure.
o Cereals are injured by large applications of manure. The straw of wheat and barley in particular grows very large at the expense of the grain. This condition favors lodging.
o Tobacco develops large leavrs of coarse texture and poor quality when treated directly with large amounts of stable manure.
o Because of its high nitrogen and low potash contents, poultry manure is not recommended for legumes such as alfalfa and clover.
It has been shown that two tons of poultry manure were as effective as ten tons of cow manure on corn fields.
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