192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and that the higher the proportion of nitrogen in food, the richer 

 will be the excrements in that important constituent of manures 



Some years ago I published a Table, showing the eptimatea 

 value of the manure obtained from the consumption of one ton of 

 different articles of food used in ordinary farm practice. The 

 valuation was founded upon a knowledge of the average composi- 

 tion of the difl^orent descriptions of food, and upon information, 

 arrived at in the course of the experiments just referred to, as to 

 the probable average amount of the constituents of food valuable 

 for manure which will be obtained in the solid and liquid excre- 

 ments of the animals. 



Stating the results of these valuations in very general terms, it 

 may be said that the estimated value of the manure from one ton 

 of oil-cake was considerably more than that from the same quanti- 

 ty of linseed, lentils, tares, beans, or peas; from two to three 

 times as much as that from one ton of oats, wheat, Indian corn, 

 barley, or hay ; from seven to ten times as much as from the same 

 weight of oat, wheat, or bai'ley straw ; and about twenty times as 

 much as from one ton of roots. 



It is obvious, therefore, that in the selection of purchased foods 

 for stock, it is very important to consider their manuring as well 

 asHheir feeding value. One illustration on this point will suffice. 

 A ton of locust beans will certainly not yield nitrogen in the 

 manure of the animals consuming it equal to more than, if to as 

 much as, | cwt., or 28 lbs. of ammonia; but a ton of rape-cake 

 will yield 1 cwt., or four times as much. If, therefore, we take 

 the ammonia in the manure at *ld. per lb., the amount of it obtained 

 from the consumption of a ton of locust beans will be worth only 

 16s. 4c?.; whilst that from the ton of rape-cake will be £3 5s. 4d. 



There is, in fact far greater difference in the manuring than in 

 the feeding value of most of the ordinary stock foods in the 

 market. 



In illustrating the comparative value of the manure obtained 

 from^jdifferent foods, by reference merely to the amounts of nitro- 

 gen or_.animonia-yielding matter which they suppl}^ it will not be 

 understood that I in any way ignore or underrate the value of the 

 mineral constituents associated with the nitrogenous matter in the 

 excrements. But, inasmuch as the amount of mineral constitu- 

 ents voided is generally in excess of that I'equired for the due 

 effect as manure of the nitrogen with which they are accomi^anied, 



