Farm Manure. 117 



pounds of milk contain on an average about 0.53 pound of nitro- 

 gen, 0.19 pound of phosphoric acid and 0.17 pound of potash. 

 An annual yield of five thousand pounds, therefore, removes in 

 the milk fertilizing material amounting in value to $4.90. If the 

 milk is sold, this is lost to the farm. Where butter is made and 

 sol'd, practically none is carried away, as all the valuable ingre- 

 dients are left in the skimmed milk. The fertilizing value of 

 500 pounds of butter amounts to about ten cents. Even when 

 the milk is sold, fully 85 per cent of the manurial value of the 

 food is recovered. 



Eighty per cent of plant food recovered in manure. Taking 

 into account the relation between matured and young stock, milk- 

 producing and non-milk-producing animals, as found on the 

 average farm, it is conservative to assume that at least 80 per 

 cent of all the fertilizing constituents present in the materials 

 fed on the farm, is voided by the animals in the solid and liquid 

 excreta. This includes the amount removed in the milk, that re- 

 tained by the young animals during their growing period, and 

 consequently, the fertility removed from the farm by the sale of 

 animals grown thereon. The fertilizing value of the excrement 

 produced from one ton of feeding material is therefore readily 

 ascertained by taking 80 per cent of the fertilizing value therein 

 stated. From this it will readily be seen that the composition 

 of the feeding stuff really determines the value of the excrement. 

 The manure (combined solid and liquid excrement) from one ton 

 of wheat straw would be worth $1.92, while that from one ton of 

 corn meal, wheat bran, or linseed meal, would be worth $5.24, 

 $10.01, and $15.37 respectively. 



Reference to the table will show that in most cases the amount 

 of nitrogen is the factor determining the fertilizing value of a 

 feeding stuff. This is due to the fact that nitrogen is usually 

 present in larger proportion than phosphoric acid or potash, and 

 is miich more costly when purchased. Wheat bran and linseed 

 meal, however, are particularly rich in both phosphoric acid and 

 potash. 



