CREDIT FOR CALVES AND MANURE 47 



milk consumed and the labor invested in them. With a fair- 

 sized cow, such as is assumed in this discussion, an average of 

 $4 per calf is a fair sale price, and if fed 6 weeks the value 

 of the calf for veal would likely not warrant an initial charge 

 of more than this. Three-fourths of this gives a credit of $3 

 per year for each cow in the herd. Under conditions prevail- 

 ing in many sections the demand for heifer calves from cows 

 as good as the standard assumed herein would command as 

 much as $10, but of the three-fourths that could be sold about 

 one-half would be male calves, so that the credit possible 

 under these conditions would add but little to the credit per 

 cow allowed above. 



The actual value of the manure produced by dairy cows 

 depends upon the kind of concentrates and roughage fed, the 

 nature and condition of the soil, and the productive value of 

 the land and the value of the crops grown. In cost estimates 

 various methods have been used to calculate the credit to be 

 allowed each cow for manure, and values of $8 to $36 are 

 given. Perhaps the most commonly used figure is $15. Ras- 

 mussen ^ arrives at this figure by assuming that 13 tons are 

 produced and the fertilizing value of fresh manure is $1.90 

 per ton, making a total value of $25. From this he deducts 

 two-fifths for hauling and loss due to leaking and fermenting. 

 The cows, however, should not be charged for careless hand- 

 ling of manure, but should be given credit for it to the limit 

 of practical methods of conserving the material. Rasmussen, 

 like most other authors, bases the value of the manure upon 

 the cost of mineral fertilizers required to furnish the fertiliz- 

 ing elements in similar amounts. If the land of a particular 

 dairy needs these elements, and if they must be purchased in 

 the form of mineral fertilizers where not supplied by the 

 dairy, the method of basing the value of the manure on the 

 cost of the commercial fertilizers needed to supply the same 

 quantity of the fertilizing elements is correct. The humus 

 furnished by manure is of considerable value on some fields, 

 while others seem to produce as well with commercial fertil- 

 izers when a proper rotation is followed and green crops are 

 ' New Hampshire Exp. Sta., Ext. Bull. No. 2, p. 16. 



