THE POTATO 309 



form of manure those necessary elements of plant 

 food which were abstracted during the production 

 of the potatoes or other raw materials. 



"The large proportion of water contained in all 

 slop has an important bearing in determining the 

 amount of slop solids which can be fed to any- 

 animal in one day. It has been customary in this 

 country, where cattle have been fed with slop in 

 sheds on the grounds of large whiskey and alcohol 

 distilleries and not on the farm, to allow each bul- 

 lock daily the volume of slop corresponding to a 

 bushel of the grain mashed. In other words, a 

 distillery mashing 1,000 bushels daily will distrib- 

 ute its slop among 1,000 head of cattle. Reduced 

 to volume, this would be equivalent to about 

 thirty gallons per head per day. This amount is 

 excessive, even when fed with considerable quan- 

 tities of hay and other roughage, as is shown by 

 the flabbiness of the stock and the liquid character 

 of their manure. The injurious effect of the slop 

 when fed excessively, as heretofore in this country, 

 is liable in the case of milch cows to result in 

 dangerous contamination of their milk through 

 the great difficulty of keeping their hindquarters 

 clean. 



"In Germany, where slop feeding has been 

 practised very successfully on the basis of care- 

 ful investigations at the agricultural experiment 

 stations, it is customary to feed much smaller 

 volumes. According to Maercker, it is allowable 

 to give from eighteen to twenty gallons per head 

 per day in fattening oxen weighing from 1,300 to 

 1,400 pounds. More than this amount has been 

 found injurious. Milch cows should not receive 

 more than sixteen gallons daily. It is necessary 

 to feed the slop as hot as possible, and since it is 



