232 DAIRY FARMING 



cows, or cows that are giving little milk, often return a half 

 more than these amounts. 



If one wishes organic matter to plow under to make humus, 

 he can feed cows and still have 40 per cent of the humus- 

 making material left. For this reason, it is usually more 

 profitable to feed stock than to plow under green-manure 

 crops. 



If one desires nitrogen as a fertilizer, he can feed cows, 

 and still get back nearly half of the nitrogen of the feed. If 

 he needs phosphorus and potassium, he can feed cows, and 

 get back over half of these materials that are in the feed. 

 In addition to the above all of the bedding may be recovered. 

 Some of the manure may be lost, but for the time cows are 

 in the barn, if the manure is reasonably well cared for/ 

 it is safe to estimate that over a third of the fertilizing value 

 of the feeds will actually be applied to the land. 



209. Losses of Manure and their Prevention. On many 

 farms the manure is allowed to lie around in the barnyard 

 until a very large part of it is lost. Exposure for five months 

 resulted in a loss of over half of the value of the manure. 1 

 One of the important reasons for keeping cattle is to obtain 

 manure, but there is no object in this if the manure is wasted. 

 If manure is kept moist enough so that it will not heat, and 

 yet if neither the liquid in it nor rain water that falls on it, 

 is allowed to escape, it will keep with practically no loss. 



The safest place for manure is on the land. On some farms 

 it is possible to haul it every day. This is the best possible 

 way to save it. When this practice is followed, it is con- 

 venient to have the barn so arranged that one can drive 

 through between two rows of cows that have their heads 

 toward the wall. In regions where little is done except to 



1 Elements of Agriculture, G. F. Warren, p. 141. 



