VALUE OF MANURE OF FATTENING CATTLE. 267 



" Accordingly, Dr. Gilbert and I selected linseed cake as 

 the best-known article of purchased cattle food; and after 

 deducting my estimate of the manure value from the cost 

 of the cake, we endeavored to calculate whether the remain- 

 der of the cost could be recovered in the increased value of 

 the animal. The best linseed cake was then quoted at 12 

 10s. per ton, and deducting the manure value as given in 

 my table, namely, 4 12s. 6d., there was left 7 17s. 6d. to 

 be charged against the animal ; and calculation led us to 

 the conclusion that it was extremely doubtful whether this 

 amount could be recovered in its increased value. In fact, 

 linseed cake appeared to us to command what may be 

 called a fancy price. At any rate, it was quite certain that 

 it could not be profitably used, if- not fully as much or 

 even more than the amount of my estimate were charged 

 against the manure. If the same mode of calculation were 

 applied to sheep and to pigs, it would be found, in their 

 case also, that the cost of their food is more than the value 

 ot the increase it produces." 



This shows us how difficult it must be in England to 

 grow beef with such dear food, even with the exceptionally 

 high price he mentions of about 11 cents, our money, per 

 pound live weight for the increase. Dr. Lawes has studied 

 this question more carefully than any other farmer in 

 England, and in examining the experiments of others he 

 finds this most important item almost universally left out 

 of the statement the amount and quality of the food fed 

 to produce a given result, and the weight of the animals 

 at the commencement of feeding is usually unstated. It 

 seems that farmers in that country, usually regarded as in 

 advance of nearly all countries of the world, are about as 

 careless and inexact as their cousins on this side of the 

 water. This want of exactness in all the details of feeding 

 experiments is almost universal with farmers everywhere 

 the weight of the animals is often given without the age ; 



