410 



MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



the fertilizing value he may secure, depends upon the success with 

 which loss is prevented, but since cottonseed meal has a fertilizing 

 value of about $28 a ton, one who feeds meal and saves the manure 

 ehould get at least $15 a ton more value from his meal than one 

 who uses the meal for fertilizing purposes only, or who feeds the 

 meal and wastes the manure. 



The value of stable manure depends on the system of feeding 

 practiced, the kind of animals kept, and the method of caring for 

 and applying the manure to the land. Rich feeding produces rich 

 manure, since the most valuable farm foods are almost without ex- 

 ception very rich in fertilizer ingredients. The amounts of the fer- 

 tilizer elements retained by farm animals in the body or made use 

 of in their products will vary with different animals and with the 

 same animals at different periods of growth. Milch cows will void 

 in the excrements about 75 per cent of the nitrogen, and about 90 

 per cent of the ash constituents contained in the food. Young 

 growing animals will give somewhat similar quantities, while fat- 

 tening animals will void about 90 per cent of nitrogen, and 96 per 

 cent of the ash materials in the liquid and solid excrements. We 

 may assume that on the average at least four-fifths of the nitrogen 

 and nine-tenths of the other fertilizer elements in the feeds eaten 

 will be obtained in the manure of farm animals. 



The following table, showing the amounts of fertilizing con- 

 stituents in 1 ton of different agricultural products, indicates direc- 

 tions in which such an exchange may be effected with advantage: 



Manurial Constituents Contained in 1 Ton of Various Farm Products. 



The exchange of 1 ton of corn for 1 ton of wheat bran, for in- 

 stance, will result in a gain of 21 pounds of nitrogen, 46 of phos- 

 phoric acid, and 24 of potash. With an exchange of milk or pota- 

 toes for the concentrated feeding stuffs the gain is still more striking. 



