PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Agricultural Experiment Station
Circular No. 49
LaFayette, Ind., March, 1915
FARM MANURES
J. C. Beavers, Department of Soils and Crops
The keeping of live stock to consume farm products and convert them into manure, has long been recognized as an efficient way of maintaining the fertility of the farm. All farmers recognize the beneficial effect of farm manures, but comparatively few recognize the losses to which manures are subjected or realize that much care must be exercised in handling manures in order to secure the greatest returns from their use. At the present time, there is no agricultural subject in which there is more general interest than that of soil fertility, and the use of animal manures is one of the best and most economical ways of keeping up the productive power of the soil because the keeping of live stock provides a profitable way of returning to the soil a large portion of the fertilizing ingredients removed in crops. A clear understanding of the little appreciated and hidden losses to which manures are subjected should materially aid our present progress in soil improvement. This publication is prepared for the purpose of acquainting farmers with the value and the best methods of conserving and using farm manures.
THE COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF FARM MANURES
The composition of farm manures varies greatly. The principal factors governing composition are: the kind and quantity of feed consumed, the amount and nature of the bedding used, the kind and age of the animals fed, and the methods of conservation practiced.
The composition and value of the manure are influenced to no small degree by the kind of food consumed. The more abundant and nitrogenous the ration supplied, the richer the resultant manure. The manure from animals fed on corn and corn stover is less valuable than it would be if alfalfa hay or cottonseed meal formed a considerable part of the ration. The Cornell Station 1 found that the
t New York (Cornell) Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 27