EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



223 



nutritive ratio. Thus it will be seen that materials rich in nitrogen will show in the 

 ratio a smaller number as a second term, while those very rich in carbohydrates and 

 fat and low in nitrogen will show a very large figure as the second term of the ratio. 

 Where the ratio is 1 to 3, like that of alfalfa hay, it is termed narrow, and 1 to 20, as 

 in corn-stalks, is termed a wide ratio. In compounding rations for the various feed- 

 ing purposes upon the farm, it is usually more difficult to procure the necessary amount 

 of nitrogen cr protein than to procure the carbohydrates and fat. This latter fact 

 brings into prominence leguminous plants, for they are all naturally richer in protein 

 than cereal grains and hay from grasses; besides, the legumes get their nitrogen largely 

 from the air, while all other plants draw their nitrogen from the soil. 



Table of analyses of farm products. 



Feeding materials. 



Com, all analyses 



Corn and cob meal 



Gluten meal 



Wheat 



Wheat bran 



Wheat middlings 



Barley 



Oats 



Buckwheat 



Buckwheat bran 



Buckwheat middlings. 



Millet 



Linseed meal, old prooess 



Cottonsed meal 



Peas 



Soy beans 



Cow peas 



Corn stover 



Timothy hay 



Hungarian grass hay... 



Soy bean hay 



Wheat straw 



Oat straw 



Red clover hay 



Alsike clover hay ... 



Cow pea hay 



Alfalfa hay 



Soy bean straw 



Dry 



matter. 



Per cent. 



89.1 

 84.9 



91.8 

 89.5 

 88.1 



87.9 



89.1 

 89.0 



87.4 

 89.5 



87.3 

 86.0 

 90.8 

 91.8 

 89.5 



89.2 

 85.2 

 59.5 

 86.8 

 92.3 



83.7 

 90.4 

 90.8 

 84.7 



90.3 

 83.9 

 91.6 

 89.9 



Nutri- 

 tive 

 ratio. 



1: 9.8 

 1:15.2 



1: 2.7 



1: 7.2 



1: 3.7 



1: 4.8 



1: :.-.» 



1: 6.2 



1: 6.9 



1: 4.7 



2.1 

 5.9 

 1.1 

 12 

 3.2 



1: 1.9 

 1: 3.1 



1:20.0 

 1:16.7 

 1:12.2 



): 3 

 1:93, 

 1:33. 

 1: 5 



1: 5.5 

 1: 3.8 

 1: 3.9 

 1:18.4 



In determining the value of a crop for green manuring, we look to its bulk of vegetable 

 matter, the quantity of mineral matter it will dissolve from the coarser particles of 

 soil, and the amount of organic nitrogen it will assimilate from the soil and atmos- 

 phere. Here the legumes display their prominence, largely through their drought 

 resisting qualities due to an enormous root system and their root tubercles, which con- 

 vert the free nitrogen of the air into forms assimilated by living plants. 



Prominent among the legumes of recent introduction are the cow pea, soy beans and 

 winter vetch, although their special characteristics are found in a general way, though 

 not so marked, among the clovers, lucernes, peas, beans, etc. 



Interesting results showing comparative yields of these crops are found in Nebraska 

 Experiment Bulletin No. 93. 



In growing legumes, numerous experiments have been tried to show the value of 

 inoculating the soil with germs from a field where the special crop has been previously 

 grown. These trials have met with indifferent success, though generally on new 

 ground the introduction of a special bacteria has been followed with marked increased 

 yield. Dugger, Alabama Experiment Station Bulletin 87, found soil inoculation to 



