16 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



A compilation of our own observations in this direction 

 will be found at the close of our present report. 



The close relation which quite necessarily exits in most 

 farm managements between the system of cultivating the 

 lands and the keeping of farm live stock for farm work, for 

 the dairy and for the supply of food for the general market, 

 imparts to the barn-yard manure a special if not a con- 

 trolling importance as a valuable manurial resource. The 

 barn-yard manure ought to remain, in a judicious system of 

 mixed farming, not only the main reliance of the farmer for 

 plant food, but also the cheapest manure at his disposal. 

 The objections raised at times against a liberal use of barn- 

 yard manure ought not to rest on its higher cost of produc- 

 tion, when compared with other manurial substances in our 

 market. The name, "barn-yard manure," is, however, too 

 frequently used without any particular discrimination with 

 reference to all kinds of manurial refuse obtained in con- 

 nection with stock feeding and stock raising, which are 

 frequently of widely differing composition. To approximate 

 even fairly the comparative value of two samples obtained 

 on different farms remains a hopeless task as long as a more 

 definite information regarding the following points is want- 

 ing : — 



(1.) The character of the fodder consumed. 

 (2.) The kind, the age and the function of the animal 

 which served for its production. 



(3.) The nature and the quantity of the material which 

 served for the absorption of the animal excretions. 



