10 BEEF PRODUCTION 



for the cattle. This, we believe, is true, yet such a state- 

 nient is not sufficiently definite to meet the requirements 

 of this discussion. The writer appreciates how ex- 

 tremely difficult it is to determine the agricultural 

 value of farm yard manure, but there is, fortunately, 

 sufficient data at hand to throw some light on this intri- 

 cate problem. 



Director Charles E. Thorne of the Ohio Station has 

 published the most valuable data concerning the use 

 and value of farm manures of which the writer has 

 knowledge. In this connection the reader's attention 

 is called to Circular 54 of the Ohio Station at Wooster, 

 from which many of the facts used in this paper are 

 quoted. From unpublished records at the Ohio Station. 

 Director Thorne writes me that the average daily pro- 

 duction of manure for a thousand pound steer (records 

 secured from weighing the manure from 106 steers for 

 an average period of five months) amounted to forty 

 pounds in one instance and forty-six pounds in the other. 

 Seven pounds of these amounts was straw used for bed- 

 ding. In other words, the normal production of manure 

 from a thousand pound steer varied from three to four 

 tons for a feeding period of six months. The same au- 

 thority states that "a ton of average mixed farm manure, 

 as taken from open barn yards, may be expected to con- 

 tain nine pounds of nitrogen, ten pounds of potassium, 

 and three or four of phosphorus." Professor Thorne 

 states that "when properly cared for and properly bal- 

 anced, the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in such 

 manure are as effective, pound for pound, as those in 

 the best fertilizing chemicals." And again: "As the 

 cereal crops approach maturity there is a partial sep- 

 aration of their chemical constituents, the nitrogen 

 and phosphorus accumulating in the grain until about 

 three fourths of that held by the entire plant is found 

 there, while the straw or stover contains the major por- 

 tion of the potassium. Hence, when the grain is sold 

 it carries away from the farm an undue proportion of 



