458 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



iu Ibe combined solid and liquid, ranging from 22 to 39 per cent, 

 thus causing a very large increase in the yield of crop. 



In the case of the wheat and timothy, these large applications 

 caused a very rapid growth and large development of the plants in 

 the fall on those plots which received the solid and liquid, combined, 

 much larger than in the case of those which received the solid 

 only. At harvest time, however, the yields from these plots were, in 

 the case of the wheat, smaller from the use of the more available 

 nitrogen in the solid and liquid, than from the use of the less availa- 

 ble nitrogen in the solid, alone, showing that the larger utilization 

 of the nitrogen in the fall did not result in a larger crop or a larger 

 total increase. This is explained by the fact, that the larger crop, 

 due to the greater availability of the nitrogen, did not contribute 

 directly to the increase of crop, because it was lost through the dry- 

 ing up and blowing away of the organic matter thus formed. The 

 same was true, though not in so marked a degree, as in the case of 

 the timothy, particularly in the use of the leached portions. These 

 results have their practical bearing in the use of manures on these 

 crops. In many localities, the manure made upon the farm is re- 

 tained for use upon the wheat. These experiments show that a 

 much better practice would be to use the manure upon the spring 

 crops, rather than to hold it over, take chances upon leaching, and 

 to apply an excuse upon fall crops; or, instead of using large applica- 

 tion upon the fall crops, reduce the amounts to 8 or 10 tons per acre. 



It is obvious, therefore, as pointed out in the beginning, that the 

 question of manures is one of the most important that the farmer 

 has to consider. Manure contains not only the constituent elements 

 that are removed in the sale of our crops, but they possess large 

 quantities of organic matter, which have an immediate bearing upon 

 the maintenance of physical condition upon the effectiveness of the 

 other constitutents in the soil upon the absorptive character of 

 soils, thus making them better mediums for the circulation of water 

 and plant-food, and for the development of useful bacteria, and 

 that as sources of plant-food, particularly nitrogen, they be, when 

 carefully preserved, quite as useful as many forms of the same 

 constituents in commercial fertilizers; that because of their physical 

 and chemical character, there is very great danger that a large loss 

 may occur in all of the constituents unless great care is used, reach- 

 ing as high as 50 per cent, of the total amounts contained; and fur- 

 thermore, that the constituents that are liable to be lost are those 

 which are the most available, and that in the case of the nitrogen, 

 the availability of the combined liquid and solid may be three times 

 as great as the availability of the solid, alone. There is no more im- 

 portant or valuable asset to the farmer, than that which is contained 

 in his manure pile, and while all farmers realize the importance of 

 manures, and regard them as useful, but few have so complete an un- 

 derstanding of their importance as to adopt a practice which will 

 result in the minimum loss. Many farmers are engaged in the pro- 

 duction of milk. They realize that if they are to succeed in their 

 business, they must make very great efforts in the selection of ani- 

 mals, the preparation of rations, and in the handling of their pro- 

 duct, to reduce the cost of a quart of milk. Calculations based upon 

 the losses of constituents liable to occur in manures and the further 



