406 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



A ton of butter worth about $600 contains practically no 

 plant food. A ton of milk worth about $50 contains plant food 

 that will cost $2.50 to buy, and a ton of cheese worth $300 will 

 carry $9 worth of plant food. 



A ton of clover hay carries approximately 45 pounds of nitro- 

 gen, 12 pounds of phosphoric acid and 32 pounds of potash, 

 worth at prices current in 1914 in mixed fertilizers about $10.75, 

 and sells on the farm for about $10 to $12. Part of the nitro- 

 gen, which is the expensive part of the plant food in clover, is 

 derived from the air, however, so that the cost to replace the 

 plant food of clover, as is the case with other legumes, is less 

 than from ordinary grasses. 



A ton of oat straw carries about 12 pounds of nitrogen, 4 

 pounds of phosphoric acid and 25 pounds of potash, worth about 

 $3.50, and sells for $3 to $5 at the barn. 



A ton of timothy hay carries about 25 pounds of nitrogen, 

 nine pounds of phosphoric acid and 30 pounds of potash, worth 

 about $6.50. Timothy hay when well grown commands the 

 highest market price and on a Maine farm is worth from $11 to 

 $15 per ton. 



A ton of hay from mixed grasses carries about 28 pounds of 

 nitrogen, seven pounds of phosphoric acid and 21 pounds of 

 potash, worth about $7, and sells for $10 to $14 at the bam. 



When butter is sold from the farm there is no loss in the 

 fertility of the farm. For each dollar received for cheese sold 

 it will cost only three cents to replace the plant food it carries 

 with it. For each dollar received for milk sold it will cost about 

 five cents to replace the plant food that goes with it. With 

 potatoes at fifty cents a bushel, for each dollar received for 

 potatoes sold it will cost eight cents to replace the plant food 

 sold with them. The above can all be grown and usually mar- 

 keted without difficulty and with a low percentage of plant food 

 cost as compared with the price obtained. 



SELLING HAY EXPENSIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE. 



For each dollar received for clover or for straw it will cost 

 approximately another dollar to replace the plant food sold 

 with them. With mixed hay the case is not quite so bad but 

 it will cost from fifty to seventy-five cents to replace the plant 

 food that goes with a dollar's worth of hay. 



