100 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



of plant food. With an exchange of milk or potatoes for similar con- 

 centrates, the gain would be still more striking. 



Amount and Character of Bedding Affects Value of Manure. — Straw 

 is a by-product on most farms, and is best utilized as bedding for animals. 

 In this way the plant-food constituents are not only all returned to the 

 soil from whence they originally came, but the straw becomes an absorb- 

 ent and prevents the loss of the liquids in the manure. Straw utilized 

 in this way is probably more valuable than it would be if applied directly 



as such to the soil. In the manure it is intermingled with the solid and 

 liquid excrement, and inoculated with the bacteria in the voidings of 

 animals, which facilitates its decomposition in the soil. Straw contains 

 less plant food than an equal weight of dry matter in manure. An 

 abundance of straw, therefore, used as bedding tends to dilute the ma- 

 nure and slightly reduce its value per ton. This, however, is not a logical 

 objection to its use on the farm, although it might become so on the 

 part of the farmer who is purchasing barnyard manure from outside sources, 

 providing, of course, that no distinction in price is made in accordance 

 with the concentration or dilution of the manure. 



Some farmers use a great abundance of straw for bedding their ani- 

 mals. It is not, however, deemed good practice to use more than is suf- 

 ficient to keep the animals clean and absorb and retain all of the liquids. 



