DAIRY, SEED IMPROVEMENT, STOCK BREEDERS' MEETINGS. 297 



mal prices would cost a!bout $10,000,000 — sufficient to buy 

 300,000 tons of high grade commercial fertilizer at normal 

 prices. It is more than doubtful if by present methods of man- 

 agement one-half of this plant food is actually returned to the 

 soil. 



It seems to be difficult for the average farmer to really grasp 

 the idea that manure should be as carefully preserved from 

 unnecessary losses as any other product of the farm. The 

 large bulk of the material, the insi ious losses, the ease with 

 which commercial fertilizers have been obtained in the past, the 

 expense of properly providing for storage and the application 

 of manure to land, and the lack of proper understanding of the 

 value of manure and the large losses w'hich prevail under 

 ordinary farm management, are among the reasons which have 

 led to this neglect. 



While it is customary to compare farm manure with fertil- 

 izers on the basis of their content of nitrogen, phosphoric acid 

 and potash, this comparison-is not adequate for determining the 

 relative values, since manure serves certain purposes fertil- 

 izers cannot serve. Farm manures are of very complex com- 

 position. They contain more or less of all the elements con- 

 tained in the food given to the animals and in the litter. They 

 are rich in organic matters and are composed chiefly of vegeta- 

 ble substances. Organic matter is the source of humus in the 

 soil and is of high value. Soils need humus and this can only 

 be supplied by the addition of organic matter in farm manure 

 or by plowing under green crops. 



Urine is by far the most valuable part of the excreta of ani- 

 mals. It contains much of the nitrogen and practically all of 

 tlie potash excreted. It is not sufficient to save the solid drop- 

 pings, but the liquid should be collected as well. If the present 

 dearth of potash should lead Maine farmers to conserve Maine's 

 millions of dollars worth of plant food which are now being 

 neglected through lack of care in the collection and handling 

 of farm manures, it would largely help to offset the losses due 

 to a potash shortage. If the lessons of 19 15 have brought home 

 to the farmers the necessity of greater care in the handling of 

 these waste products of the farm, it has not specially come to the 

 speaker's attention ! 



