New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Ni both nitrogenous matter and fat, although containing a little more 
sugar than either of the others. It is also noteworthy that the 
fertilizing value of both skim and buttermilk is fully two dollars 
per ton, an amount rendering them valuablefor this purpose alone. 
“Many a little makes a mickle,” and the farmer should remem- 
ber that as food and fertilizing material every pound of coarse 
straw is worth to him over a cent, every pound of hay is worth 
over a cent and a quarter, if only these products are properly 
utilized, and that it is mainly through the production and con- 
sumption of these upon the farm, in the production of other 
agricultural commodities, as milk, butter, cheese, eggs, poultry, 
pork, mutton, beef, horses and those vegetable products, the 
ageresate weight of which is small as compared with the price 
which they bring in the market, upon which he should depend 
for his profit, since to no one are these coarser foods, the raw 
materials of the farm products, so valuable as to the farmer him- 
self who knows how best to utilize them. 
After an experience of half a century among the most intelligent, 
economical and successful farmers of the world, it is useless to 
_inveigh against the great value of the so-called commercial fertil- 
izers, but it was pithily and truly said at one of our recent 
farmers’ institutes, that ‘‘those farmers were the most successful 
in the use of commercial fertilizers who were most successful 
without using them;” and from the point of an economical conduct 
_of his business, what shall be said of the farmer who will consent 
to sell good hay from his farm even at ten dollars a ton, which 
contains an average amount of fertilizing material worth six dol- 
lars and one-half, besides an average amount of food constituents 
worth fifteen dollars, both fertilizer and food being estimated at 
the same prices which that farmer is compelled to pay when he 
buys commercial fertilizers or mill feed ? 
During the past twenty-five years the average amount of hay 
which could be bought for ten dollars in this State has contained 
an amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, which was 
worth six dollars and thirty-seven cents, so that the farmer has 
_ sold an average of fifteen dollars worth of food for three dollars. 
and sixty-three cents, and while this has been going on many 
million dollars worth of commercial fertilizers have been bought 
in this State alone. 
61 
