|Weight |Loss in |Percentage
| of |original| of Loss.
|Manure |weight |
|in Lbs. |in Lbs. |
------------------------------------+--------+--------+----------
Put up on the 3d of November, 1854 | 3,258 | |
Weighed on the 30th of April, 1855, | | |
or after a lapse of 6 months | 1,613 | 1,645 | 50.4
Weighed on the 23d of August, | | |
1855, or after a lapse of | | |
9 months and 20 days | 1,297 | 1,961 | 60.0
Weighed on the 15th of November, | | |
1855, or after a lapse of | | |
12 months and 12 days | 1,235 | 2,023 | 62.1
------------------------------------+--------+--------+----------

It will be seen that 100 tons of manure, kept in a heap under cover for
six months, would be reduced to 49.6-10 tons. Whereas, when the same
manure was fermented for the same length of time in the open air, the
100 tons was reduced to only 71.4-10 tons. The difference is due
principally to the fact that the heap exposed contained more water,
derived from rain and snow, than the heap kept under cover. This, of
course, is what we should expect. Let us look at the results of Dr.
Voelcker's analyses:

Table Showing the Composition of Experimental Heap (No. II.) Fresh
Farmyard Manure Under Shed, in Natural State at Different Periods
of the Year.

--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|When put|Feb. 14,|Apr. 30,|Aug. 23,|Nov. 15,
|up, Nov.|1855. |1855. |1855. |1855.
|3, 1854.| | | |
--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
Water | 66.17 | 67.32 | 56.89 | 43.43 | 41.66
[A] Soluble organic matter| 2.48 | 2.63 | 4.63 | 4.13 | 5.37
Soluble inorganic matter | 1.54 | 2.12 | 3.38 | 3.05 | 4.43
[B] Insoluble organic | | | | |
matter | 25.76 | 20.46 | 25.43 | 26.01 | 27.69
Insoluble mineral matter | 4.05 | 7.47 | 9.67 | 23.38 | 20.85
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|100.00 |100.00