DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 395 



be self-supporting and self-sustaining, and there would be no 

 need of looking outside of the borders of the farm for added 

 plant food. As no farm is self-sustained and self-supporting, 

 nor is it desirable that it should be, the farmer must purchase 

 from the outside for his own need beyond what he can grow. 

 In order to do this it is necessary for him to sell certain products 

 from his land. Obviously, wherever market conditions will 

 warrant he should sell those materials which are produced at 

 the least cost of the resources of the farm and of labor. Fortu- 

 nately the prices in the world's market are controlled quite 

 largely by the labor cost. Hence it is usual that a man is 

 rewarded by the returns from his produce for any added cost of 

 labor. Unfortunately, however, market conditions do not seem 

 to take into any account the cost of production dependent upon 

 the constituents removed from the farmer's soil. For instance, 

 compare the price of a crop of tomatoes, weighing perhaps ten 

 tons and carrying nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash worth 

 not more than $7 for the crop, with the money value of a 

 crop of cabbage removing $45 worth of nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash. 



FARM MANURE AS AN AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE. 



With the introduction of commercial fertilizers there has been 

 an increasing apparent indifference to farm manure as an agri- 

 cultural resource. And yet, in mixed farming where animal 

 husbandry enters in as it should, the difference between success 

 and failure may not infrequently be directly traced to the neglect 

 of this farrh resource. Too many of our farmers lose sight of 

 the fact that commercial fertilizers should supplement rather 

 than replace the manurial supply of the farm. It is the purpose 

 here to briefly call attention to the value of farm manures in 

 Maine, and particularly to Farmers' Bulletin 192 on Barnyard 

 Manure which is published by the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, a copy of which may be obtained by anyone, by 

 writing to his Congressman. 



According to the State Assessor's report for 191 3 there were 

 in the State of Maine, in round numbers, 130,000 horses ; 250,000 

 head of neat stock; 40,000 swine; 120,000 sheep and 2,000,000 

 hens, ducks and geese. If all of the manure was saved from 



