171 



It should be clearly ui derslocd that when the farmer sells meat, 

 milk, grain, hay, fruits, vegetables, etc., frcni his faim, or neglects to 

 save and use the manure produced, he removes from his soil a certain 

 amount of potash, pbosphoiic acid, and ritrogen that must be restored 

 sooner or later if productiveness is to be maintained. 



1 he following table compiled by Armsby shows the amount and 

 value of fertilising constituents carried away frcm the soil in different 

 products : 



Manurial value of farm products. 





Pounds per ton. 





Value- per ton. 























Manu- 



















rial value 





Nitro- 



Phospho- 



Po- 



Nitro- 



Phospho 



Po- 





of «10 





gen. 



ric acid. 



tash. 



gen. 



ric acid 



tash . 



Total. 



worth. 



Meadow Hay . 



20.42 



8.2 



26.4 



$3-47 



$0 57 



$106 



$5.10 



$5.10 



Clover Hay 



40.16 



11.2 



36 6 



6.83 



0.78 



1.46 



9.07 



9.07 



Potatoes 



7 01 



3.2 



11.4 



1 19 



0.22 



0.46 



1.87 



12 



Wheat Bran 



49.15 



54.6 



28 6 



8.35 



3.82 



1.14 



13.31 



8.32 



Linseed meal . 



105.12 



32.2 



24.8 



17.87 



2.25 



0.99 



21.11 



7.54 



Cotton seed 



135.65 



56 2 



29.2 



23.06 



3 93 



1.17 



28 16 



10.05 



meal 



















Wheat 



37.53 



15 8 



10.6 



6.38 



1.11 



0.42 



7 91 



2.63 



Oats 



30.42 



12.4 



8.8 



6.21 



0.87 



35 



7.43 



3.86 



Corn 



33. CG 



11.8 



7.4 



5 62 



0.83 



0.30 



6.75 



3.78 



Barliy 



39.65 



15.4 



9.0 



6 74 



1.08 



0.S6 



8.18 



3.03 



Milk 



10.20 



3.4 



3 



1.73 



0.24 



0.12 



2.09 



0.8* 



Cheese 



90 60 



23.0 



5.0 



15.40 



1.61 



0.20 



17.21 



0.69 



Live Cattle 



53.20 



37.2 



3.4 



9.04 



2.60 



0.14 



11.78 



1.18 



We learn from the above table [says Armsby] that the farmer who sells a ton of 

 hay, for example, tells in his ton of hay ftrtilising ingredients which, if purchased 

 in the form cf con mercial ferti'iseis, would cost him about $5.10 ; that if he sells 

 2,C00 poi nds of wheat he sells an amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash 

 which it would cost him $7.91 to replace in his soil in the form of commercial fer- 

 tilisers. Or, looking at it from a somewhat ditfeient standpoint, a farmer who sellp, 

 for example, $10 worth of wheat sells with it about $2 63 worth of the fertility of 

 his soil. In other words, when he receives his $10 this amount does not represent 

 the net receipts of the transaction, for he has parted with $2 63 worth of his 

 capital, that is, of the stored up feitility of his soil, and if he does not take this 

 i nlo account he makes the same mistake a merchant would, should he estimate 

 his profits by the amount of cash which he received and neglect tp take account 

 of stock. 



If the farmer, instead of selling off his crops, feed them to live stock 

 on the farm as far as possible, a large proportion of this fertility, as 

 has been shown above, is retained on the farm ; and "if the business 

 of stock feeding is carried to the point where feed is purchased in addi- 

 tion to that grown on the farm, a considerable addition may in this way 

 be made to the fertility of the farm at an almost nominal cost, since 

 it is assumed that feed will not be bought unless its feeding value will 

 at least pay its cost." This commendable system of indirect purchase 

 of fertilisers in feeding stuffs is practised largely in England and other 

 European countries, and accounts for no small share of the pi ofits of 

 stock-raising in those countries. 



But it is evident that these advantages will not be secured unless the 

 manure produced is carefully saved and used. 



