104 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



food contained in the food given it, but because some take out 

 more of it for their own use. 



In general it may be said that the loss of nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, and potash in feeding will be : in feeding animals 

 that are neither growing nor giving milk, practically none; in 

 fattening full grown animals, from five to ten per cent; in 

 young animals that are growing rapidly or giving milk, from 

 twenty-five to fifty per cent. In common farm practice the real 

 loss is always much heavier than this because the manure is 

 never entirely saved. All scientific calculations must of course 

 be made with reference to the whole amount of manure pro- 

 duced by the animal. The farmer must make his own calcula- 

 tion as to how much of this manure he allows to go to waste. 



Second. Some animals produce a larger quantity of manure 

 from a given quantity of food than others, which of course 

 makes it worth less per pound. This is due to the fact that 

 some animals consume in their systems a larger proportion of the 

 carbonaceous matter in the food than others and also because 

 some animals drink more water than others. To illustrate : If 

 ten bushels of corn were fed to a fattening steer, and another ten 

 bushels fed to a flock of fattening poultry, there would be very 

 little difference in the value of the two piles of manure, but the pile 

 made by the ox would be three or four times as large as that 

 made by the poultry. The latter would be worth three or four 

 times as much per pound. 



The food given to the animal which produces the manure 

 has a great influence on its value. This is evident from what 

 has already been said. The manure made by an ox while eat- 

 ing a ton of bran will be worth more than that made by another 

 ox while eating a ton of corn, which again will be worth a great 

 deal more than that made by another ox while eating a ton of 

 straw. This result is inevitable: poor food makes poor manure; 

 rich food makes rich manure. In making a selection of foods it 

 is always a matter of importance to consider what will be the 

 value of the manure produced. If the farmer wishes to buy 

 fertilizers from outside his farm, there is usually no more profita- 

 ble way than to buy good food and feed it to stock on his farm: 



