3IO FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



It has been observed that milk cows retain 24.5 

 per cent of the nitrogen of the food. Deducting, 

 therefore, one-fourth of this to meet the cost of the 

 fertilizing materials extracted, there is left $20.87. 

 In other words, as a feed the cost was only $6.95 

 a ton. When so used a double profit is secured as 

 follows : 



Value as a fertilizer $27.82 



Value after being fed 20.87 



Total $48.69 



Selling Fertility. The man who buys cottonseed 

 meal and other similar feeding stuffs as feed gains 

 by the enterprise, but the men who produce and sell 

 them, lose. By disposing of these valuable food 

 products farmers sell the plant food of their lands. 

 When sent to Europe or to other sections there is 

 transferred fertility from the lands producing these 

 crops to the dairy and beef farms where they are 

 consumed. When animal products are sold the 

 drain on the land is not large, but if grain crops are 

 sold much plant food is withdrawn from the soil. 

 This will be seen in the table on the next page. 



This table shows that grain products make con- 

 siderable demands on the plant food supply of the 

 soil, 'and that when such are sold much more fer- 

 tility is disposed of than when animal products are 

 sold. 



The farmer who sells a ton of clover hay with- 

 draws from his soil $8.72 worth of fertility. This 

 is half as much as he receives. If, on the other hand, 

 he sells a ton of pork, he sends from his farm but 

 $6.35 worth of fertility, but receives 20 times as 



