214 



FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



feed. When animals which are nearly mature are fattened, but little 

 nitrogen or mineral matter is stored in the body, over 95 per ct. being 

 put out in the manure. Pigs fattened while still growing and storing 

 nitrogen in their lean meat tissues return in the manure but 85 per ct. 

 of the nitrogen in their feed. Very young animals, growing rapidly 

 in bone, muscle, and body organs, will store in their body most of the 

 fertilizing constituents of their feed. As milk is rich in nitrogen and 

 mineral matter, the cow in milk returns in the manure but about 75 

 per ct. of the nitrogen and 90 per ct. of the mineral matter of her feed, 

 the rest going into the milk. 



Considering the proportion of the various classes and ages of ani- 



Result of Allowing Manure to Waste Away 



When manure is allowed to waste away as in the preceding illustration, not 

 only is much of the weight of the manure lost, but that which remains contains 

 much less fertility per ton than fresh manure. The pile of corn at the left was 

 grown on a plot fertilized with manure which had been exposed to the weather 

 over winter. The large pile at the right was grown on a plot fertilized with 

 the same amount of fresh manure. (From Wisconsin Station.) 



mals on the average farm, probably about 80 per ct. of the nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash of the feed is recovered in the feces and 

 urine. 



Fertility and manurial value of feeds. — In buying or selling feeds 

 far too few farmers consider their value as fertilizers as well as their 

 feeding value. The amounts of fertilizing constituents in all important 

 feeds are given in Appendix Table III. For comparison, the data for 



