Question
Hi.i am from india.i want to know the comparison between cow and sheep manure,their chemical copmosition.which one is good for my apple orchard.

Answer
Whether you're counting Cows (25-.15-.25) or Sheep (.7-.3-.9), it's always good to enrich your Soil with Organic Matter -- Compost, Humus, Aged Manure of any of the zoological vegetarians -- Rabbits, Horses, Cows, Chickens usually, Sheep, Goats, anything that does not eat meat.  Their dung is packed with Nitrogen and Potassium.

Ruminators -- Sheep and Cows -- grind up weed seeds as they chew their cud.  That's a side benefit.  Fearless weeder Marion Owen quotes Seattle gardener Ann Lovejoy to point out: "Washed dairy manure from healthy cows is just about perfect for garden use; it can be used as a topdressing and for soil improvement." On the other hand, notes Owens, "Sheep manure is another 'hot' manure. It is somewhat dry and very rich. Manure from sheep fed hay and grain will be more potent than manure from animals that live on pasture."  Here's her article:

http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm

Note that the amount of nutrients in a given manure sample is going to vary. Nitrogen levels are volatile.  Much depends on what those animals ate for breakfast.  Levels are constantly changing.  So you don't really know what you are getting, ever, without doing a lab analysis.  And if you're going to go that far, you may as well test your Soil, instead.  Which I heartily recommend after a year of amending Soil with these products.

Analysis of Manure often turns up trace nutrients: Calcium, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Magnesium.  This depends on what the farmer feeds them.  Pig Manure is really big in China.  Pig and Poultry Manure also contain the highest concentration of Potassium.  But you are not using those.

My old friend Vivek. Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER