164 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



Value of Animals in Manure. 



In the operation of our fruit and dairy ranch zve have the manure 

 from some forty head of Iiorses and cattle, ivhich is distributed over the 

 place. We cut our alfalfa and feed it and do very little pasturing. In 

 order to give our dairy the proper credit, zve would kindly ask what 

 you consider a fair price for the manure of a cow for one year. Also 

 what would the manure from a horse for one year be worth? 



A compilation of a considerable number of weighings, analyses 

 and valuations in Europe, cited by Prof. Roberts in his book on the 

 "Fertility of the Land," gives an average value of the voidings of 

 a cow for a year as $32.25 and of a horse at $24.06. This is based, 

 of course, upon the collection and saving of all excrements which is 

 never secured except in careful experimentation. The value of 

 manure depends upon the quality of the feed. In two experiments, 

 sidered a safe substitute for the straw, apart from the fact that the 

 gave a value in manure of $1 per ton of hay fed; cows fed on clover 

 and bran gave value in manure of 3.80 per ton of mixed feed. 

 Your alfalfa feeding would approach the higher value. You will 

 have to make an estimate from the above data to serve your purpose 

 and you can figure it either by the number of animals or by the' 

 tonnage of the feed. 



Value of Fresh and Dry Manure. 



What is the relative value of the zveekly or scmi-zueekly corral 

 scrapings which are tramped fine and air-dried; and of the fresh, zvet 

 manure from the stable? I do not understand that the latter has ap- 

 preciable water added, and the amount of sand in the corral scrapings 

 would be small. 



Fresh, mixed animal manure is usually calculated to contain 

 about 75 per cent of water. Manure which has been quickly dried, 

 without fermentation and without leaching by rains, may be worth 

 four or five times as much per ton. Nothing, however, short of 

 analysis would determine the value of any particular lot, for that 

 depends somewhat upon the way the animals are fed, as well as 

 upon the moisture content. 



Shavings in Stable Manure. 



Is barnyard fertiliser containing shavings instead of strazv, desirable? 



Barnyard manure containing shavings is chiefly objectionable 

 because of the amount of inert material. The shavings are exceed- 

 ingly slow to decompose, and in light soil in considerable quantities 

 would cause a serious loss of moisture. If applied, on the other 

 hand, to a heavy soil and accompanied by sufficient irrigation water, 

 the effect of making the soil more friable might be very desirable. 

 It depends then upon circumstances whether shavings can be con- 

 cited by Prof. Snyder in his "Soils and Fertilizers," cows fed on hay 

 straw is more valuable not only because more easily decomposed, 

 but because its content of plant food is greater. 



