THE SCIENCE OF FEEDING ANIMALS. 29 



waste results. If we feed too much starch there is a depressed 

 digestibihty entailed that may render a part of the starch worse 

 than useless. To apply this lesson in practices, we should 

 properly combine our fodders so as to give a balance to the 

 nutrients. A large disproportion of starchy feeds like potatoes 

 and roots should be avoided, and when these are fed they should 

 be used in conjunction with protein feeds. 



MANURIAL VALUE OF EXCRETA. 



It should be borne in mind that the excreta of animals vary 

 in manurial constituents with the fodders consumed. If these 

 are rich in protein, the manure contains a higher percentage of 

 nitrogen than where more starchy feeds predominate. It has 

 been the custom of feeding experts to reckon 80 per cent of the 

 fertilizing ingredients in feeds as recovered in the excreta of 

 the animals. The character of live stock affects this, for grow- 

 ing and milking animals take out more than store or fattening 

 stock. The proportion of fertilizing matter recovered in the 

 manure, when this is well managed, will rarely fall below 80 

 per cent. When such concentrates as cottonseed meal are fed 

 the manure has a value equal to half or two-thirds the cost of 

 the feed, and in some localities cottonseed meal is applied directly 

 to the land as a fertilizer. Clovers, also, enrich the manure. 

 The wise feeder will seek to improve the farm by producing 

 roughage and purchasing concentrates with an eye to the 

 improvement of his land as well as the products of his flocks and 

 herds. 



Another observation here may be of benefit to us in teaching 

 the requirements of our soils from the history of their previous 

 treatment. The dung contains the insoluble portion of the 

 fertilizer elements, including nearly all the phosphoric acid and 

 half the nitrogen. The urine contains all the potash and the 

 more soluble portion of the nitrogen. If now the liquid part of 

 the manure filters through poor stable floors mto the ground 

 beneath the stable, or if, thrown out under the eaves, it is allowed 

 to wash away with rains, it becomes impoverished by the loss 

 of its potash and its soluble nitrogen, and our soils gradually 

 become deficient in these substances when dependent upon such 

 manure for renovation. 



