VALUE OP MANURE. 43 



CHAPTEB XI. 



THE VALUE OF MANURE DEPENDS ON THE FOOD 

 NOT ON THE ANIMAL. 



" If," said I, " you should put a ton of cut straw in a heap, wet it, 

 and let it rot down into manure ; and should place in another heap 

 a ton of cut corn-fodder, and in another heap a ton of cut clover- 

 hay, wet them, and let them also rot down into manure ; and in 

 another heap a ton of pulped-turnips, and in another heap a ton 

 of corn-meal, and in another heap a ton of bra-n, and in another a 

 ton of malt-sprouts, and let them be mixed with water, and so 

 treated that they will ferment without loss of ammonia or other 

 valuable plant-food, I think no one will say that all these different 

 heaps of manure will have the same value. And if not, why not ? " 



" Because," said Charley, " the ton of straw docs not contain as 

 much valuable plant-food as the ton of corn-fodder, nor the ton of 

 corn-fodder as much as the ton of clover-hay." 



" Now then," said I, " instead of putting a ton of straw in one 

 heap to rot, and a ton of corn-fodder in another heap, and a ton of 

 clover in another heap, we feed the ton of straw to a cow, and the 

 ton of corn-fodder to another cow, and the ton of clover to another 

 cow, and save all the solid and liquid excrements, will the manure 

 made from the ton of straw be worth as much as the manure made 

 from the ton of corn-fodder or clover-hay ? " 



" No," said Charley." Certainly not," said the Doctor." I am 

 not so sure about it," said the Deacon ; " I think you will get more 

 manure from the corn-fodder than from the straw or clover-hay." 



" We are not talking about bulk," said the Doctor, "but value." 

 " Suppose, Deacon," said he, " you were to shut up a lot of your 

 Brahma hens, and feed them a ton of corn-meal, and should also 

 feed a ton of corn-meal made into slops to a lot of pigs, and should 

 save all the liquid and solid excrements from the pigs, and all the 

 manure from the hens, which would be worth the most ? " " The 

 hen-manure, of course," said the Deacon, who has great faith in 

 this kind of " guano," as he calls it. 



" And yet," said the Doctor, " you would probably not get more 

 than half a ton of manure from the hens, while the liquid and 

 solid excrements from the pigs, if the corn-meal was made into a 

 thin slop, would weigh two or three tons." 



