Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-04-11
THE WASTES or rHE DAIRr


. THE WASTES or THE DAIRI
4 Recent Experiment station Bulletin,
As the season Of the year is approaching
when our farmers are most actively en-.
gagged in dairying, it seems an opportune
time for calling attention to the great and
needless wastes that are annually incurred
in the GARY
The waste Of fertilizers is enormous. The
common custom Of the state is to turn the
cows back into pasture during the night,
for the summer season, which will average
about five and a half months During
this time no manure is made at the barn
from these cows. whatever they produce
being scattered over the barnyard, lane
and pasture Some farmers are beginning
to practice the method Of keeping their
cows in the stanchions every night in the
year Leaving out of account the saving
Of labor and increase Of milk from this
method, let us look at the saving of manure.
The best authorities unite in saying that a
ton Of manure at the barn of farm is
worth twice as much to the farm as that
same manure dropped in the pasture by the
cows while grazing. theoretically there
ought to be but little difference, but in prac-
tice it is found that manure scattered in
small quantities irregularly over the pas
ture has not more than half the value Of
the same manure properly stored at the
barn, ready to be put wherever on the farm
it is most needed. 1t is safe to say, then
that one half the value of the manure pro
duced during the night equal TO one quar-
ter of that produced in the whole twenty
four hours, is wasted under the present
system. This amounts to one quarter of
all the manure made by the cows of the
state during the five and half summer
months To determine the cash value Of
this loss it will be necessary TO know the
value of the manure made 10y a COW dur
ing the summer. A COW will eat at least
enough pasture grass daily to weigh, if
made into hay, % pounds. Such hay would
have a fertiizing value, after passing
through the animal, of So 80 per ton. Dur
ing the 1866 days of pasture feeding, the
COW would eat the equivalent of two tons
of such hay, having fertilizing value of
$3.50. On the first day of January, 1890
there were in the state of Vermont very
nearly 235, 900 cows If each COW pro
duces Sl160 worth of manure during the
summer the total amount made would be
81, 1856, 600; and if one-fourth of this is
wasted by the system of turning the cows
the farmers of the state from this source
alone, amounts to 81 ,034 900.
But this is far from the only source Of
loss of fertilizers from the dairy. Our
farmers do not save carefully enough the
manure that is made at the barns during
the winter. This is a subject that has been
talked about a great deal at agricultural
meetings, and it is gratifying to note the
decided improvement that has taken place
in this respect. There is still room for and
great need of further improvement. 1t is
not the intention here to enter fully into
the subject, but t. call attention to the i'm
mense waste that is still going on in the
state. The largest part of this waste could
be cheaply avoided by the use of absorb
ents and a simple shed roof over the ma
nure pile to keep off rain and the drppings
from the caves. Experiments that have been
made TO determine the waste of manure un-
der the methods still used on the majority
of our farms, show a loss in individual
cases of from 10 to A. per cent. 1t would
probably he safe to estimate that at least 20
per cent of all the plant food contained in
the manure made during the winter on the
farms of this state is lost and never finds
its way back to the fields that are so much
in need of it. 1t takes at least two and a
half tons of hay or its equivalent to feed
COW through Vermont winter, which for
our 235, 600 cows. would be jS1 800 tons of
hay The manure from this hay, allowing
20 per cent of the plant food rs taken in
passing through the animal is still worth
1921 per ton or 50 GAS, 375 per winter. A
loss of 20 per cent of this sum means S129,
G15 worth of fertilizer needlessly wasted in
the diaries of this state each winter or
total of 81, 1913 ,61j wasted during the year.
Vermont buys about $3.50. 600 worth of
commercial fertilizers annually, or, in 9th
er words, she wastes about ten dollars
worth for each dollar expended
Other wastes occur besides those i'm fer.
tilizers, and it is to two of them, the waste
in the skimmilk and the buttermlk, that
we wish to call attention. The 23j, 900
cows of Vermont produce not far from 1853.
$50, 900 pounds of milk annually of which
about 10000, 900 pounds is made mp at
creameries and cheese factories, and 90
600, 600 pounds used as milk in towns and
in'the country, leaving 513, $50, 600 pounds
to be made into butter on the farms This is
finally divided into about %, 900, 900 pounds
of butter, 9l,1jO,O 900 pounds of buttermilk
and 459, 900, 600 pounds skimmilk Our
station has made great many tests of but
termilk and skimmik from creameries and
private dairies, and in almost every case
the creamery has done the better work,
that is, there is less loss in each hundred
pounds of skimmilk and buttermilk from
the creameries than from the farm diaries
An average of large number of analyses
shows less than half of one per cent of
fat left in the skimmilk from creameries,
while the average of all our analyses of
gEipnillT from farrng sbox.-g Of laagt
quarters of one per cent of fat 1t is
probably well within the facts to say that
there is loss in all the skimmilk produced
on the farms of this state of quarter of one
per cent of fat more than would be lost if
the same milk had been handled at a cream
cry. Part of this gain in the creamery is
due to the greater care and part due to the
fact that it is always more economical to
handle large than small quantities of milk
Few farmers have in their huttermilk less
than one per cent of fat, and we have ana.
lyzed samples containing three and four
per cent. In creameries the average is a
little over half of one per cent, so that
creamerles will average saving at least half
of one per cent of fat in the buttermilk
more than is saved in the private dairy.
A quarter of one per cent of fat lost in all
the skimmilk on our farms means loss of
at least 1.147, 800 pounds of butter annu-
ally, and one half of one per cent loss in
buttermilk means an additional loss of 45S,.
$50 pounds of butter, or total of ,606,-
$50 pounds of butter wasted from making
up the milk at home instead of in a cream
cry. At 20 cents pound this would be
worth 1921, $50, sum sufficient in five
years to build and equip enough creameries
to handle the entire milk product now made
into butter on our farms.
1t would seem, then, that there is an an
nual needless waste in the diaries of this
state in manure skimmilk and buttermilk
of 81, OS4,925 or about 50 per COW. When
we consider that the average annual prod
uct per COW in Vermont is not over 500
worth of milk and its products and SIP
worth of manure, the possibility of adding
seven per cent to the value of the milk
products and 80 per cent to the value of
the available manure, is well worth the Sc
rious consideration of our farmers.
w. W. COOKE, Director