PREFACE. THIS little work on 'Farmyard Manure' is in substance a chapter from a larger work on 'Soils and Manures' on which the author is at present engaged, and which he trusts to have ready for publication ere long. The subject is one of universal interest to the farmer, and no excuse is needed for offering to the agricultural public the following short treatise on the nature and composition of what is still the most important of all manures. In order to render the treatment of the subject as simple as possible, technical statements and tables embodying the results of experiments have been relegated to the Appendix. While the sources of much of the information contained in the following 6 pages are of too varied a nature to admit of acknowledgment, special reference may be made to Dr Heiden's 'Düngerlehre,' Dr Emil von Wolff's excellent little book, 'Die praktische Düngerlehre,' Storer's Agricultural Chemistry,' Stephens' Book of the Farm,' the Rothamsted Experiments, and lastly, to Mr Warington's excellent little handbook on 'The Chemistry of the Farm,' to the publishers of which-Messrs Vinton & Co., Limited-the author is indebted for permission to reprint in the Appendix several of its valuable tables. Comparison of manurial value of total excrements of the different farm animals Nature of changes undergone by food in process of Amount of straw used for litter Sources of loss on keeping Advantages of short dung |