Covered Barnyards Save Manure.-Roberts and other writers recommend the use of covered barnyards for the preservation of manure. These are simply sheds with good roofs with or without sides and large enough to allow the cattle some room in which to move about. The bottom is excavated a few inches, and made tight by puddling and pounding the clay, or by the use of cement. As the manure is removed from the barn it should be spread evenly on the floor of the covered yard. It will then be tramped into a compact mass by the moving about of the cattle and kept moist by the liquid excrement. The manure produced in this way is of excellent quality, can be easily handled when its removal is necessary and experiments indicate that the losses are reduced to a minimum. The advantages of such a covered yard as a place in which the animals will take mild exercise in severe weather will be apparent to most farmers.

A recent circular from the Illinois station presents the views of a number of practical dairymen who have been in the habit of allowing their cows the freedom of a covered barnyard, and using the stable only at milking time. The data collected seemed so favorable that the plan was put into operation at the station farm. Twenty-two cows were cared for in this way in a shed 30 by 68 feet, having mangers on each side and bull pens in two corners, and the results of this trial were considered most satisfactory. It is said that the cows keep cleaner than when stabled and that the milking barn is in a more sanitary condition, consequently, it is easier to produce clean milk. Labor is saved, as the shed can be bedded more easily and quickly than the

stalls; there is little stable cleaning to be done and the manure is hauled directly from the shed to the field when most convenient, and when there is least likelihood of damage to the ground by tramping. All the liquid excrement is absorbed, and if only sufficient bedding is used to keep the cows clean they tramp the

manure so thoroughly that it does not heat enough to make the air impure.

The plan followed by many farmers of throwing horse and cattle manure into a basement room, and allowing it to be worked over by the hogs is perhaps as good a method as could be devised when considered from the standpoint of the preservation of manure. The working over and tramping of the manure by the swine, accompanied by the addition of their own moist

The covered barnyard, as found on an Ohio dairy farm. When the new dairy barn (a section of which is shown in the lower part of the drawing) was built, the old barn was retained for use as a covered barnyard.

excrement controls the fermentation so as to prevent undue heating, and very little fertilizing value is lost from manure produced in this way if the number of pigs is sufficient to work it over thoroughly.

Deep Stall Manure.-A method of preserving manure that is in use in some parts of Europe is what is known as the "deep stall method." The stalls in which

A little expenditure of time and money would convert this into a covered feeding place where the manure would be fully protected

the cattle stand are excavated for some depth below the general level of the barn floor, and every day the manure is spread evenly over the stall, and a liberal amount of bedding added. The mixture of excrement and bedding is firmly packed by the feet of the cattle and is not removed until the end of the winter, the surface of the manure by this time being above the level of the floor. The manure produced in this way is of

excellent quality and suffers very little loss in fertilizing value. This method will hardly commend itself to the farmers of this country for sanitary reasons, especially if they are engaged in dairy husbandry.

How to Care for Exposed Manure.-Occasionally it becomes absolutely necessary to store the manure when no cover of any kind is at hand. In case it must be left in the open, the heap should be made so high that even the hardest rains will not soak entirely through it. The sides of the pile should be kept as nearly perpendicular as possible, and the top should dip slightly toward the center and great care be exercised to make the heap compact. Complete saturation of the manure does no harm, but any water draining away from the heap is certain to carry with it large quantities of plant food.

Composting Manures.-Any method of storing manure requires considerable labor, and for that reason is to be avoided in general farming whenever it is possible to use it in the fresh condition. In market gardening, on the other hand, such quantities of manure are used that it is necessary to have it thoroughly rotted before applying, as otherwise the crop would suffer from the heating effect that the large amount of raw manure would have on the soil. While the manure may be rotted by keeping it in a moist, compact heap as described in the previous section, it must be remembered that the manure commonly used by market gardeners is the horse manure from the city stables. This heats so rapidly that special care is necessary to prevent hot fermentation, and the pile must be frequently moistened. Many market gardeners prefer to compost the