Maintain the heat in hotbeds and pits by means of fresh dung linings.
It has long been known that when organic materials such as the dung and urine of animals, or even the bodies of animals and plants, are applied to the soil, the nitrogen within them becomes oxidized, and ultimately appears in the form of nitrate of lime, potash or some other base.
Myxococcus digelatus,bright red fructification occurring on dung (X 120).
Many bacteria are known which are capable of denitrification, some of them being abundant in fresh dung and upon old straw.
Sometimes various lichens occur abnormally in such unexpected habitats as dried dung of sheep, bleached bones of reindeer and whales, old leather, iron and glass, in districts where the species are abundant.