Horse-Dung
The special use of Horse-dung by itself is for Mushroom culture. For this purpose, it is best suited if collected from stables where the horses have been fed chiefly on corn, hay, and other dry food. Horse-dung is of little use when medicine has lately been given to the horses, or when green grass has formed a large portion of their food. Stable litter is much to be preferred for hotbeds, when the whole of the droppings are left in it, as heat is thereby engendered, and the fermenting material much improved. Horse-dung is not so much used for making manure water as sheep, deer, or cowdung; but that obtained from a large manure heap in wet weather is usually of good quality, and not very liable to burn or otherwise cause injury to plants. Horse-dung may be beneficially applied to cold, heavy soils. It may be used nearly fresh, and dug in with a portion of the litter as well. When not specially applied for rendering heavy soil lighter, but as a manure, it should be previously well turned, and moistened if any part is dry. When a heap is allowed to become very hot, it gets quite dry and white in the middle, the ammonia escapes, and the manure is comparatively worthless. Horse-dung may be used with good results as a top-dressing for producing an immediate action on growing crops.