The Composition and Use of Fertilizers. 



241 



TABLE Showing Approximate Fertilizing Value of Some Com- 

 mon Foods. 



s 



Kind of Food. 



Meat scrap $32 00 



Cotton seed meal 18 60 



Linseed meal 16 10 



Gluten meal 14 00 



Wheat bran 7 40 



Clover hay ( red ) 5 90 



Alfalfa hay 6 15 



Wheat 6 60 



Oats 6 60 



Corn meal 4 90 



Timothy hay 3 00 



Wheat straw 1 45 



Skim milk 1 60 



Corn ensilage 65 



Turnips 50 



00 

 15 

 50 

 25 

 35 

 40 

 45 

 65 

 65 

 55 

 35 

 10 

 30 

 10 

 10 



$1 45 



1 15 



5 



30 

 60 

 35 

 45 

 50 

 35 

 25 

 40 

 20 

 30 

 30 



$34 00 

 22 20 

 18 75 

 14 30 

 11 05 



7 



7 



7 



6 



5 



4 



1 



2 



1 



90 

 95 



;o 



75 

 80 

 60 

 95 

 10 

 05 

 90 



It will be readily seen that of two foods costing the same price 

 and having equal feeding value, it is economy for the farmer to 

 use that one which contains the largest amount of fertilizing 

 materials. 



Amount of Fertilizing Materials of Food Recovered in Manure. 

 — Generally speaking, manure produced from working or fatten- 

 ing animals contains from 90 to 95 per cent, of the fertilizing con- 

 stituents contained in the food. Manure made from cows in milk 

 and young, growing animals contains from 50 to 75 per cent, of 

 the fertilizing constituents contained in the food. In the case of 

 animals which are neither increasing in weight nor giving milk, 

 the amount of fertilizing materials in the manure will be exactly 

 equal to that contained in the food eaten. The foregoing state- 

 ments presuppose that all the dung and urine are saved, a supposi- 

 tion which is not often true, considering the manner in which 

 stable manure is commonly treated. 



The Digestibility of Food and Its Manurial Value. — The solid 

 excrements of animals consist largely of the undigested portions 

 of food; these undigested portions are mostly insoluble and, there- 

 fore, not immediately available as plant food. The urine contains 

 those portions of food which have been digested; its constituents 

 are all in a soluble form and readily available as plant food, and A 

 16 



