146 



AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



prices of grain without higher prices for the product has caused 

 a reahzation that a ration composed largely of roughage is now 

 most economical. 



An American grain farmer has been continually increasing his 

 production at an increase in price but when that grain leaves the 

 farm much fertility goes with it. Some of this fertility must be 

 put back to insure continuous production. If we are to main- 

 tain the highest type of permanent agriculture for Maine, dairy- 

 ing should be a prominent economic feature. As a proof let us 

 look to Denmark and Holland where dairying is the specialty 

 of prosperous farmers. 



The Danish farmers are feeding products of our soil to their 

 dairy cows and selling their butter on the British market in 

 competition with ours. 



The American grain farmer growing corn, oats, wheat and 

 clover and plowing under the clover for nitrogen, then selling 

 the grain from the soil, loses the following amount of fertilizer 

 in four years. 



A dairy farmer selling whole milk will reduce his fertility 

 only one-fourth as fast as the grain farmer provided he takes 

 proper care of his manure, for nearly 75 per cent of fertilizer 

 value of feed consumed comes back. When butter fat is sold 

 from the farm and all the skim-milk retained, more fertility 

 is kept. 



"On a well conducted dairy farm, 70 pounds of butter may 

 be produced per acre which would contain 42-100 of a cent's 

 worth of phosphorus and potassium. In other words, it would 

 take the dairy farmer, selling nothing but butter. 238 years to 

 remove as much value in fertility as the grain farmer would 

 remove in one year, selling an average grain crop." 



