THE COST OF BEDDING 39 



Water absorbing Pounds of bedding 



Material. power of bedding, required to absorb 



for 24 hours. 



Cut stover 2.5 4.0 



Cut wheat straw 2.0 5.0 



Uncut wheat straw 2.0 5.0 



Sawdust 0.8 12. s 



Shavings 2.2 4.4 



Before making a calculation of bedding cost it is necessary 

 to know the system practiced — whether the cows are kept in 

 at night, or for how long each day, and the length of time on 

 pasture. We may assume that they are kept in the barn 24 

 hours per day for 8 months. The other four months of the 

 year they would be in the barn a few hours perhaps, but 

 would likely not use bedding, except a little to absorb the 

 liquid manure if there were no other means of collecting it. 

 The amount of bedding needed per cow per year would there- 

 fore be s X 240, or 1,200 pounds of wheat straw, 12.5 x 240, or 

 3,000 pounds of sawdust, and 4.4x240, or 1,050 pounds of 

 shavings. If we assume straw to cost $5 per ton, sawdust 

 $1.50, and shavings $6, we get costs for bedding with straw, 

 sawdust, and shavings of $3, $2.25, and $3.15, respectively. 

 The prevailing price can be substituted in particular cases. 

 Rasmussen ^ says that bedding cost at the New Hampshire 

 Station one-half cent per bushel for sawdust and one and one- 

 half cents for handling, making a total of two cents, and that 

 on the average 200 bushels are required per cow per year, 

 making a total cost of I4. Minkler,^ of the New Jersey Sta- 

 tion, bedded cows with one bale of shavings per 20 cows, at 

 a cost of $5.30 per cow per year. 



1 N. Hamp. Exp. Sta., Ext. Bull. No. 2, p. 14. 



2 New Jersey Exp. Sta., Thirty-first Annual Report. 



