Live Stock Breeder's* Association. 255 



showing that the physical effect of the farm manure was by no 

 means so important. Nevertheless, the physical effect should not 

 be overlooked. Under certain seasonal conditions this physical 

 value may be very important. Thus, in the very dry season of 

 1893, the land fertilized with commercial plant food produced only 

 21.7 bushels of wheat per acre, while the farm manure plot pro- 

 duced 34.2 bushels the same year. 



In semi-arid regions the physical condition of the soil and ii-S 

 power to absorb and retain moisture may be the controlling factor 

 in crop yields, but where the average annual rainfall is 28.21 inches 

 (as at Rothamsted), or 37.39 inches (as in Illinois), with a fairly 

 uniform distribution during the growing season, the physical con- 

 ditions of the soil in relation to crop yields may be compared to 

 the shelter and other physical surroundings provided for live stock. 

 In other words, under normal conditions the controlling factor is 

 food for crops as well as for live stock. 



While manure has some value for physical improvement and 

 a larger value for its power to liberate plant food from the soil, it 

 should be clearly understood and always borne in mind that the 

 great value of farm manure, especially in profitable systems of per- 

 manent agriculture, is due to the plant food it contains, and that 

 the greatest problem in the handling of farm manure is to prevent 

 the loss of plant food. 



The value of average fresh farm manure is about $2.25 a ton, 

 either when determined by chemical analj^sis on the basis of market 

 values for the plant food contained in the manure, or when de- 

 termined by the value of the increased crop yields produced when 

 the manure is applied to the fields in ordinary crop rotations. 



This means that a pile of average fresh farm manure, con- 

 taining 100 tons, is worth about $225. If exposed to leaching 

 from heavy rains during only two or three months in the spring, 

 the value will be reduced, as a rule, from $225 to about $150 by the 

 loss of plant food, without much reduction in total weight. Indeed, 

 the total weight is frequently increased under such conditions be- 

 cause the rain water that remains in the manure may be in greater 

 amount than the urine that has been washed out. Fermentation 

 and additional leaching during the summer may easily reduce the 

 value to $100 or less. 



There are two satisfactory methods for handling manure: 

 One of these is to haul and spread the fresh manure daily, or at 

 least two or three times a week. For this purpose a manure 



