| | |
Total amt. of mineral | 5.59 | 7.87 | 10.55 | 9.36 | 12.08
substances | | | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------

It will be seen that two-thirds of the fresh manure is water. After
fermenting in an exposed heap for six months, it still contains about
the same _percentage_ of water. When kept in the heap until August, the
percentage of water is much greater. Of four tons of such manure, three
tons are water.

Of _Nitrogen_, the most valuable ingredient of the manure, the fresh
dung, contained 0.64 per cent; after fermenting six months, it contained
0.89 per cent. Six months later, it contained 0.65 per cent, or about
the same amount as the fresh manure.

Of mineral matter, or ash, this fresh farm-yard manure contained 5.59
per cent; of which 1.54 was soluble in water, and 4.05 insoluble. After
fermenting in the heap for six months, the manure contained 10.55 per
cent of ash, of which 2.86 was soluble, and 7.69 insoluble. Six months
later, the soluble ash had decreased to 1.97 per cent.

The following table shows the composition of the manure, at different
periods, in the _dry state_. In other words, supposing all the water to
be removed from the manure, its composition would be as follows:

Composition of Fresh Farm-Yard Manure (No. I.) Exposed.
Calculated Dry.

-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
-------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Soluble organic matter | 7.33 | 12.79 | 12.54 | 12.04 | 10.65
Soluble inorganic matter | 4.55 | 9.84 | 8.39 | 8.03 | 7.27
Insoluble organic matter | 76.15 | 61.12 | 56.49 | 49.77 | 42.35
Insoluble mineral matter | 11.97 | 16.25 | 22.58 | 30.16 | 39.73
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00
| | | | |
Containing nitrogen | .44 | .91 | .88 | .77 | .72
Equal to ammonia | .53 | 1.10 | 1.06 | .93 | .88
Containing nitrogen | 1.46 | 1.55 | 1.75 |