MANURIAL VALUE OF FEEDING STUFFS 



215 



typical feeds and animal products are given in the following table. 

 The fertility value of each has been computed at the rates for nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash previously given. The last column gives 

 the average manurial value of the feed ; i.e., 80 per ct. of the fertility 

 value. On the average, the manure resulting from feeding 1 ton of the 

 feed will have this value, if so eared for as to prevent loss. 



As shown in the fourth column, the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and 

 potash removed from the soil in a ton of corn grain would cost about 

 $6.85 if bought in commercial fertilizers. On account of its richness 

 in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, the fertility value of a ton of 

 wheat bran is $13.49, while that of wheat is only $8.43. Because the 

 legumes usually obtain much of their nitrogen from the air, only a 

 part of the fertility in a ton of clover, worth $9.36, may have been 

 taken from the soil. Clover hay is 80 per ct. richer than timothy hay 

 and about 2.5 times as rich as oat straw in fertility. 



Of the feeds listed, cottonseed meal has the highest fertility value, 

 $29.63 per ton ; this explains why it has often been used directly as a 

 fertilizer. Millions of dollars worth of this feed, one of the richest 

 and best for dairy cows and fattening cattle, are annually applied to 

 southern cotton fields to make another crop of cotton. The farmers of 

 New England also spread thousands of tons of this valuable feed on 

 their fields. Where the meal is first fed to live stock, the milk or flesh 

 produced should easily pay its cost, and under good management also 



