SOILS. 9 



10. What is the difference in the fertilizer value of 100 pounds of 

 corn stover and 100 pounds of oats straw? 



11. Estimating the value of fertilizer constituents removed by 

 each crop ; which would yield the greater profit per acre at current 

 prices, 30 bushels of wheat, 60 bushels of corn, or 8,000 pounds of 

 alfalfa? 



12. If the nitrogen in the air were available for plant growth and 

 could be easily procured, what would 35,000 tons of this gas be worth 

 at 15 cents per pound? 



NOTE Of course the difficulty in procuring nitrogen ready for 

 plant use is responsible for the high price of nitrogen on the market. 

 The price is subject to the law of supply and demand. 



Manures. 



The following facts and figures have been the results of 

 experiments and demonstrations by The Ohio Agricultural 

 Experiment Station:* 



1 . From steers fed on cement floors there were recovered about 

 ; 8,500 pounds of manure per 1,000 pounds live weight in 6 



months; and from those fed on dirt floors about 7,400 pounds 

 of manure per 1,000 pounds of live weight in the same period. 



2. Of the plant food in feed given fattening steers on cement 

 floors, 75 per cent of the nitrogen, 78 per cent of the phos- 

 phorus, and 88 per cent of the potash were recovered in the 

 manure. Of the plant food fed on dirt floors, there were 62 

 per cent of the nitrogen, 79 per cent of the phosphorus, and 

 78 per cent of the potassium recovered in the manure. 



3. A large part of the nitrogen and potassium was contained in 

 the liquid excrement and was lost which reduced the value of 



. the manure. 



4. Manure exposed to the weather in 1,000 pound piles from Janu- 

 ary to April, lost about one-third of its fertilizing value. 



5. Open barnyard manure is worth about one-half as much as a 

 fertilizer as fresh stall manure under ordinary farm conditions. 



6. From $679 worth of feed and bedding used in fattening lambs, 

 $257 worth of plant food was recovered in the manure. 



7. In an experiment with cattle it was found that, dairy cattle 

 produced more manure than fattening steers. 



S. It costs about $1.13 per square yard to put in cement floors 

 in stalls, or about $4.25 to floor a stall 5 by 7 feet. 



9. In the field experiments it was shown that a ton of manure 

 produced by fattening steers, has returned a 13-year average 



* \Yrite for Bulletin 246, Ohio Experiment Station, Wooster, O. 



