96 Barn and Field Experiments in 1916 



The Experiment At Highmoor Farm In 1915-16. 



As previously stated, in the experiment in sheep husbandry- 

 begun in 1914 an apparently large waste of the plant food con- 

 tained in the feeds was observed when the manure was kept un- 

 der the sheep during the winter. As the value of the manure is 

 of great importance in the margin between profit and loss an ex- 

 periment was planned and conducted during the winter of 1915- 

 16 so that the manure would be stored under what seemed to be 

 the best conditions practicable. The plan was to keep account 

 of all food eaten, store the manure in a water-tight manure 

 platform, keep it worked by swine so as to prevent fire-fang- 

 ing. As there are two cows and three horses kept during the 

 winter at the farm, the manure platform was built in two sec- 

 tions so that an experiment with this mixed manure could be 

 carried on at the same time as that from the sheep. 



The feed and bedding used by the about 100 sheep con- 

 sisted of 52,575 pounds of mixed hay, 7,075 pounds oat straw, 

 6,000 pounds cull apples, 34,150 pounds rutabaga turnips, 4,700 

 pounds bran, 600 pounds middlings, 1,500 pounds corn meal, 

 2,160 pounds oats, 475 pounds' linseed meal; and 200 pounds 

 of gluten meal. The cows and the horses used 24,650 pounds 

 mixed hay, 3,250 pounds straw, 1,000 pounds bran, 1,300 pounds 

 corn meal and cracked corn, 4,625 pounds oats, 300 pounds 

 gluten meal, 300 pounds linseed meal and 100 pounds middlings. 

 A bunch of swine was kept on the manure so that they could 

 go from one part of the manure platform to the other. They 

 were fed 10,850 pounds rutabagas, 1,700 pounds corn, 1,600 

 pounds middlings and 500 pounds bran. As the droppings from 

 the swine were from the most part made on the sheep manure 

 part of the platform, the plant food in their feed was added 

 to that of the sheep. 



The feeding stuffs were not sampled and analyzed but their 

 plant food content was computed from average analyses of 

 similar materials. The manure was weighed when it was drawn 

 to the fields and each load was sampled. The final composite 

 sample of each kind of manure was analyzed, with the follow- 

 ing results : 



