Feeding Dairy Cattle 



II. The Manurial Value of Feeds 



ALL true farmers believe in a s\-stem of farming which 

 is a little better than permanent agriculture. A sys- 

 tem of permanent agriculture means one in which as 

 much fertilit^• is added to the soil each year as is taken off in 

 the farm crops, thus the farm is permanent. Every good 

 farmer believes in having his fields a little richer and better 

 each \-ear than they were the }ear before, and that means 

 that he must have added a little more fertilit}- than he has 

 taken away. If he does this he is carrying on a system 

 which is more than permanent. Consequently, one of the 

 big questions is how to maintain fertility at the least expense. 

 Some help on this question is the aim of this pa]ier. 



The cost of nitrogen per pound from }-ear to year has 

 averaged about i8 cents, of phosphoric acid 4.5 cents and of 

 potash 5 cents. Due to the war, current prices are some- 

 what higher than these but are coming down gradually. 

 Therefore anything at this time that will help keep up the 

 fertility of the farm will be of great service. One source that 

 must not be overlooked is the fertilizing constituents in 

 feeds. Here is where the dairj^ farmer has an advantage 

 over his neighbors, hay and grain farmers, because he has a 

 lot of manure to use, and is a big purchaser of feeds. From 

 a manurial standpoint how can he get the most for his 

 dollar in maintaining and building up the fertility of his 

 farm? There are two main things that he must know, and 

 concerning them he must put his knowledge into practice. 

 First, he must know in which feeds he will get the most 

 fertility. Secondly, he must so care for the manure and 

 urine that none of the fertility will be lost. AA'e will endeavor 

 to show first how much fertility there is in the common feed- 

 ing stuffs and show how he may quickly compare feeds on 

 this basis. 



No one questions the importance of growing all the 

 legume roughage that it is possible to grow. In this we 

 have a happy combination of circumstances. On practicallv 

 every dairy farm in the whole country it is possible to grow 

 either clover or alfalfa. These hays make the foundation of 

 the ration and are ideal roughages, hi growing them the 

 farmer gets one fertilizer constituent, nitrogen, to some ex- 

 tent free from an inexhaustible source, the air. The amount 

 of nitrogen gathered in this way by large crops of legumes 

 amounts to a great deal, and adds directh? to the permanent 



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