DAIRY MEETING. 175 



to the feeding of our domestic animals. The first two of these 

 are not to be discussed in this paper, but the latter — the part 

 nitrogen plays in the activities of the dairy farmer — is the sub- 

 ject to which I especially desire to call your attention at this 

 time. 



The hold that the consideration of the nitrogen problem has 

 taken on the world at large caused a prominent writer to say, 

 a short time ago, that we are "Nitrogen mad." Whether this 

 statement be true is perhaps an open question, but nevertheless 

 it is of paramount importance at the present time. I have 

 heard it said within a few weeks that dairy farming was "getting 

 a black eye" in Maine. I do not believe this statement for I 

 am sure statistics show that while the number of cows have 

 decreased during the last few years, yet the annual production 

 of a lesser number is greater than it was before. This is a 

 hopeful sign. It shows that men are putting thought and busi- 

 ness judgment into their work — are discriminating between the 

 cows that do not "pay their board" and others that are profit- 

 able. If the dairy business in this state is not yielding the 

 returns it should today, I am ready to say that one at least of 

 the principal causes, is the fact that farmers are attempting to 

 run their dairies by purchasing feed in large quantities, instead 

 of tilling the land and making use of the plant food nature 

 has placed at their disposal. I have made this contention 

 before this Association in years past, and further years of 

 associating with you, and studying the conditions more care- 

 fully, only serves to make this belief stronger. 



You are buying hundreds of pounds of feeds rich in protein, — 

 a term used by chemists to cover all albuminous materials, 

 nitrogen included (6^ parts of the protein is nitrogen) — and 

 large amounts of nitrogen in commercial fertilizers and at the 

 same time you are allowing hundreds of pounds of the material 

 to be lost each year and are not taking advantage of the inex- 

 haustible supply of this most costly element, nitrogen, which 

 comprises about 75% of the atmosphere. Nitrogen is costing, 

 when bought in the market, i8c. per pound, phosphoric acid 

 only about 5c, potash about 4|c, and lime about 4-10 of a cent 

 per pound. Nitrogen is the most easily lost of these elements 

 and should receive most careful consideration. 



Dairy farming comes nearest being the safest kind of hus- 

 bandry, because in live stock production, we should aim to raise 



