176 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



of manure. The proper care and utili- 

 zation of this manure will determine in a 

 large measure the degree of success at- 

 tained by the stock farmer. The proper 

 method of caring for the manure, there- 

 fore, is well worthy most, careful consid- 

 eration, for the more manure, the bigger 

 the crops; the bigger the crops, the more 

 animals ; and the more animals the more 

 profit and the more manure. There are 

 as many failures among stock farmers as 

 among grain farmers and the chief rea- 

 son is because the manure produced is 

 not properly husbanded and utilized. 

 The by-product which gives the profit is 

 overlooked. 



Quantity and value of farm manure 

 produced — The money value of the ma- 

 nure produced on a farm during the 

 seven winter months where 4 horses, 20 

 cows, 50 sheep and 10 hogs are kept, is 

 estimated by Professor Roberts at about 

 $250. By the usual method of handling 

 from one-third to one-half the value of 

 the manure is leached out or otherwise 

 lost before it is put back on the field. 



The quantity of manure produced and 

 its value varies greatly with different 

 animals. It has been estimated by Arms- 

 by that a horse requires about 2500 

 pounds of straw for bedding purposes 

 per year, and that this, with the normal 

 amount of manure produced, will, under 

 favorable conditions, result in about 6 

 tons of fresh manure, but ordinarily 

 hot more than 5 tons, and under unfav- 

 orable conditions, as where only one 

 horse is kept, or the manure infrequently 



hauled away, perhaps not more than 

 2V2 tons. Heiden estimates that 100 

 pounds of dry matter consumed by a 

 horse will yield about 210 pounds of fresh 

 manure. The same amount with a cow 

 will produce 384 pounds of manure, in- 

 cluding tirine. Sheep produce about 183 

 pounds for 100 pounds of dry matter 

 consumed. A hog produces from 8 to 12 

 pounds of manure a day, or from IV2 to 

 2 tons a year. 



The following table is based on results 

 secured at the New York Cornell station 

 and shows the average amount of manure 

 produced per day by animals fed liberally 

 and given sufficient bedding to keep them 

 clean, calculated to a uniform basis of 

 1,000 pounds live weight : 



AMOUNT AND VALUE OF MANURE 

 PRODUCED PER 1000 POUNDS OF 

 LIVE WEIGHT OF DIFFERENT 

 ANIMALS 

 Amount Value Value 



per day per day, a per year, a 



Pounds Cents 



Sheep 34.1 7.2 $26. OS 



Calves 67.8 



Hogs 83.6 



Cows 74.1 



Horses 48.8 



a Valuing nitrogen at 15 cents, phos- 

 phoric acid at 6 cents, and potash at 4V 2 

 cents per pound. 



Value of manure — The fertilizing 

 value and the cash value of the manure 

 produced by different animals under 

 normal conditions, is shown in the table 

 below prepared by Beal, the manure 

 being understood to include both solid 

 and liquid excrement: 



ANALYSES AND VALUE PER TON OF MANURE OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS 



/alue 

 per ton 



$3.30 

 2.18 

 3.29 

 2.02 



7!07 



The two tables taken together show 

 :hat, with equal weight of animals, hogs 

 produce more manure a day than any 

 other animal. Cows and calves come 

 next, followed by sheep and horses. If 

 we consider the money value of a ton of 

 manure, as shown in the last table, we 

 see that the most valuable manure is 

 that produced by hens, followed by that 

 produced by sheep, then hogs, while that 

 produced by calves, cows and horses is 

 about equally valuable. Under ordinary 



farm practice, it is not common for each 

 kind of manure to be saved separately but 

 all are put into a common heap. The 

 composition of manure thus made varies 

 a?cording to Beal, about as follows: 

 Nitrogen, 0.4 to 0.8 per cent ; phosphoric 

 acid, 0.2 to 0.5 per cent; potash, 0.4 to 

 0.8 per cent; water, 60 to 75 per cent. 



Preventing losses of plant food in 

 manure — In ordinary handling of 

 barnyard manure enormous losses occur 

 because the liquid portion is allowed to 



