MANURING FOR MEAT 179 



produced from an equal area of mixed farming, whilst that 

 area, if entirely cultivated, would not be so productive, 

 unless the farmyard manure could be replaced. The 

 greatest efficiency, therefore, can be produced by combining 

 crop and stock production. The first efforts to measure 

 meat production in terms of fertilizers were those initiated 

 in Tree Field, Cockle Park, by Dr. William Somerville, 

 continued by Professor Middleton and Professor Gilchrist, 

 and repeated in other places with similar results. The 

 general effect of the use of basic slag on the heavy types of 

 clay land have been to very markedly increase the amount 

 of meat produced, as measured by means of the sheep 

 grazing. After allowing for the cost of manure the profits 

 are several times larger than the rental. By employing 

 larger plots, grazed by mixed cattle and sheep, better results 

 have been obtained. The most economical system has proved 

 to be the application of ten hundredweight of basic slag, 

 followed by five hundredweight every three years. Where 

 the animal is set grazing it may be regarded as a machine 

 for converting low-grade into high-grade food, that is, food 

 of low value to human beings is converted into food suitable 

 for human consumption. 



In this process of conversion of crude materials into 

 articles valuable for human purposes, considerable changes 

 have to take place in the animal body. Grazing beasts may 

 generally be said to be composed of about 9 per cent, bone, 

 40 per cent, muscle, 24 per cent, fat, and 27 per cent, blood, 

 intestines, and other offal. Of this, the muscular part, 

 together with the fat, forms the chief eatable material. 

 The actual amount of human food is roughly about one-half 

 of the total beast. At birth, young animals contain large 

 quantities of water, about 80 to 85 per cent., but in a very 

 fat beast the amount of water will only be about 40 per cent. 

 If the various parts of the beast are corrected for the amount 

 of water contained, there will be about 6 per cent, of dry 

 material in the bones of an average farm animal, in the 

 muscle 13 per cent., in the fat 20 per cent., leaving about 

 7 per cent, dry matter in the offal, the whole body containing 



