Principles and Practice of Stock Feeding 31 



itself, the plant food content of cattle feed becomes a thing of great im- 

 portance. This fact, still unrecognized by the generality of western farmers, 

 is thoroughly appreciated in the east and needs no advocacy here. While 

 the general proposition is agreed to, the relationship of the sundry fodders 

 and feeds to the quality of the manure is not so clear to many farmers. An 

 animal voids nothing that it does not eat or drink, and its voidings are of 

 a different quality, so far as plant food is concerned, in proportion to the 

 variations in the food eaten. Rich food makes rich manure and poor food, 

 poor manure. Clover hay, cottonseeds, linseeds, glutens, brans, distillery 

 byproducts, etc., are of distinct value in this respect, while corn meal and 

 the like rank relatively low. Table II in the appendix shows something of 

 the manurial values of various fodders and feeds. It should not be supposed 

 that every particle of the plant food present will of necessity reach the soil. 

 More or less will be of use according to the care or lack of care with which 

 the manure is handled. It is fair to assume, however, that the losses will be 

 proportional regardless of the quality of the manure. 



To the farmer who carefully observes the well known methods of pre- 

 serving manure from fermentation and leaching, this table is of importance. 

 To him who does not try to follow modern methods in this respect it has 

 much less value. 



4. SALES AND PURCHASES 



What shall the feeder grow, what shall he sell, what shall he buy? To 

 answer this question in all its details would require the writing of a book. 

 A few general rules may be cited, however, leaving their application to the 

 individual feeder. 



Sales. — Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are the very essence of 

 real estate. They come from the soil, and their sale in hay, grain, milk, 

 live stock, etc., makes drafts upon the stock of plant food of the farm. If 

 these are not made good by supplies from without, obtained by growing 

 legumes (clover, peas, beans, etc.,) thus fixing in the soil nitrogen from the 

 air, or by judicious choice of food purchased, soil exhaustion will ultimately 

 ensue. Thorough tillage and cultivation will postpone but cannot prevent 

 this ultimate result. 



Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen come from the air. No outlay is need- 

 ed to obtain them, and their sale does not in the least lessen the opportu- 

 nity to get more. The supply is inexhaustible and free to all. Hence the 

 sale of farm products containing relatively little nitrogen, phosphoric acid 

 and potash and consisting entirely, or nearly so, of carbon, hydrogen and 

 oxygen is advisable. Fat and water are made up entirely of these latter 

 elements. Hence the more fat and water the farmer can sell at a profit the 

 better, as he does not lessen his farm manurial supplies. 



It often happens that sales of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, as 

 hay, grain, milk and live stock are desirable and profitable. The effect upon 



