54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



his metliod of managing and tending his stock of neat cattle, 

 (twenty-nine head), and by bedding them with damaged salt hay 

 and other waste forage, he is able to save a great amount of 

 manure. He strongly recommended the bedding of neat stock to 

 every farmer. 



In reply to an inquiry as to the comparative value of the liquid 

 and the solid excreta of animals, 



Mr. Goodale said their comparative value varied according to 

 food supplied. 



If cattle were fed upon clover hay or upon cotton seed meal, the 

 liquids voided were worth more than the solid portions ; in fact 

 with these two articles of food, a good deal more. When herds- 

 grass is fed, the reverse is true, the solid being the more valuable 

 portion. The too common waste of cattle urine is one great 

 reason why clover is not properly valued. Used to advantage, 

 both as food for animals and food for plants, clover might be made 

 one of the most eflectual agencies for enriching the soils of Maine. 



Neither should the liquid manures be allowed to run to waste, 

 nor the solid suffer loss by washing rains, nor wasteful treatment 

 in any respect. To save their whole value he believed that for 

 many farmers the free use of muck was the cheapest and best 

 resource. The value of what passes under this name is extremely 

 variable. Some, which has its origin in decomposed mosses and 

 other low grades of vegetation, and from the leaves of evergreen 

 trees, possesses little value except as an absorbent. But there 

 is some of what goes under the same name of muck, which are 

 chiefly decomposed vegetable matter from decayed leaves of 

 deciduous trees. This is not of uniform quality, but it is uniformly 

 of much more worth than the others. In some cases he had seen 

 it produce results almost equal to farm-yard manure, even without 

 any previous treatment. 



Sawdust has been mentioned here and various opinions ex- 

 pressed as to its worth or its worthlessness ; one member relating 

 decidedly injurious effects from its free use. He supposed the 

 fact to be, that the resinous constituent of fresh pine, spruce and 

 hemlock sawdust, as usually obtained at the mills, was injurious 

 rather than beneficial, and unless this was more than counter- 

 balanced by absorption of liquid manures, little good came of its 

 use. Hardwood sawdust is not liable to this drawback, and 

 whichever is used as an absorbent, it should be as dry as possible, 

 wet sawdust being almost useless for this purpose. There is much 



