DAIRY MEETING. 



177 



great losses from the manure heap occurring on every farm. It 

 is of course impossible to prevent all loss from this source but 

 either farmers do not realize or else they are careless in this 

 direction. I know of men in this state who allow the drainage 

 from stable manure to run down the barnyard, across the road, 

 and I have even seen the rich dark colored liquid finding its 

 way into the waters of the Penobscot, the Kennebec and the 

 Androscoggin rivers. Inquiry on my part has brought out the 

 fact that these same people were attempting to replace this 

 nitrogen costing i8c. per pound, potash costing 4|c. and phos- 

 phoric acid costing 5c. the following spring, by purchasing 

 commercial fertilizer. It is needless to comment further on 

 this point as a business proposition. 



Losses from stable manure occur chiefly in three ways : 



1. Loss of the liquid portions through the stable floors. 



2. By heating or fermentation. 



3. By allowing rains or melting snows to leach and carry 

 the fertilizing elements away after the manure has been removed 

 from the stable. It will be apparent that anything done to 

 lessen loss in either of these directions, is so much saved in dol- 

 lars and cents. 



ESTIMATE OE THE VALUE OF THE MANURE PRODUCED BY 

 TWENTY COWS, FED ON THE RATION GIVEN BELOW FOR 6 



MONTHS. 



1584 lbs. Nitrogen at 18c. per lb $285 . 12 



1317.6 lbs. Potash at 4ic. per lb 59.29 



622.8 lbs. Phosphoric acid at 5c. per lb 31 .14 



Value of manure of above 20 cows for 6 mos . 

 12 



$375.55 



