ORGANIC MATTER AND NITROGEN 



203 



Pennsylvania Bulletin 63 reports an experiment covering two 

 months, with four steers, two fed on a cement floor with the manure 

 kept tramped under their feet, and two on an earth floor from which 

 the manure was piled into an adjoining stall and kept under 

 cover. If we assume no loss from the litter used, the following 

 percentages were recovered from the food consumed: 



PERCENTAGES RECOVERED OF PLANT FOOD IN FEED 



Of the total dry matter used for feed and bedding, 40.35 and 

 31.03, or, as an average, 35.69 per cent was recovered in the manure. 



In Table 32 are given data (in part estimated) from an experi- 

 ment by the Ohio Station (Bulletin 183) in which 28 steers were 

 fed on a cement floor from December i, 1904, to June i, 1905, a 

 period of six months, or 182 days, during which time the average 

 weight of the steers increased from 872 to 1230 pounds. 



At best, these results can be considered only as approximations, 

 except as to the composition of the manure and the phosphorus 

 added in the raw rock, but they are of interest and of some value as 

 indicating what can be accomplished under the conditions. 



The amounts of feed and bedding used were accurately weighed, 

 but their plant-food content was computed from accepted averages 

 from each material. "The steers were turned out of the stable 

 once a day to get water, and were allowed to run in the yards from 

 one to two or three hours, consequently some manure was left in 

 the yards." One would assume from this that one tenth or more of 

 the excrements were voided in the yards. 



An experiment with 100 sheep (averaging 84 pounds each) for a 

 feeding period of 112 days was conducted by the Ohio Station, in 

 which more definite data were secured. Of the feed, 26,936 pounds 

 consisted of hays which were analyzed; while accepted averages 

 were used only for the standard concentrates, including 20,057 

 pounds of corn, 905 pounds of cotton-seed meal; and 905 pounds 



