Charlevoix county herald., 1917-06-22
FERTILITY OF SOIL
is DEPENDENT UPON
KEEPING LIVESTOCK.

East Lansing, Mich, June l9.-The
yield of Michigan's crops in the future,
in the opinion of Prof. George A..
Brown, OF the beef husbandry depart
ment of the Michigan Agricultural
College, will be great or small only as
the number of Michigan livestock is
increased or decreased. Therefore, in
pushing crop production, he adds, an
equal effort should be eXerted towards
enlarging Michigans herds OF beef
cattle and swine and its flocks Of sheep.
The maintenance of soil fertility and
the extent of the beef supply will both
of them, he believes, hinge upon this.
Maintenance of soil fertility in
Michigan, factor of much moment if
Michigan is to do its best in produc-
ton, will be possible in the state only
if our livestock population is increas-
ed" declared the animal husbandry
man. "Yet despite this fact, the ex-
treme prices commanded by grain and
provender, and the relatively poor out
look for the hay crop, are causing the
sale of much young stock. In other
words, in the face of the call for more
livestock, the tendency is towards a
decrease OF what we have. If there
ever was a time in Michigan's Agricul-
tural history when young stock should
be grown out to the limit, it is the pre-
sent. OF course the immediate reason
for this may be found in the demand
for meat, but there is at the same time
not so immediate but an equally i'm.
portant consideration-that OF main
tanning soil fertility. Bountlful crops
in years to come will only be possible
provided livestock is conserved.
"To appreciate this fully it is only
necessary to consider the immense
amount of fertility which is sold in the
various crops. The Importance of feed
ing out every animal possible can then
be realized.
Gan acre of oats yielding fifty bus
hels of grain, by way of illustration,
will remove from the soil in grain alone
approximately 81 .6S pounds of nitrogen,
1896 pounds of phosphoric acid and
S.96 pounds of potash. To replace this
amount of fertility by the use of COM
mercial fertilizer would cost not less
than 6.S4, even at the prices prevailing
three years ago.
"But an acre Of corn yielding 100
baskets, or fifty bushels Of shelled
corn, removes still greater quantities
of plant food. The grain alone con-
tains 45.36 pounds of nitrogen, 1892
pounds of phosphoric acid, and ll.2
pounds of potash, having fertilizer
value of $9.69. The fertilizing ingredi-
ents in a ton Of clover hay have value
of SO. So
"When these figures are thought
fully considered every farmer will
readily see that he cannot afford to sell
all he raises. Rather he should devote
only a set area to cash crop and make
it fixed policy to feed the remainder
of his crops. The reason for this lies
in the fact that only very small per-
centage of the fertilizing ingredients of
a feed are extracted by animals. 1t is
safe to say that where manure is care
fully handled, fully eighty percent Of
the fertility value of a feed finds its
way back to the soil. Figuring on this
basis, an acre of oats would remove
from the farm s547 worth of fertility,
an acre of corn s7.75 worth of fertility,
and ton of clover hay $7.4S worth of
fertility, if it isn't fed to stock.
"When we consider accordingly that
for each bushel of oats fed we get back
eleven cents worth of fertility, for
each bushel of corn fifteen and one
half cents worth of fertility, and for
each ton of clover hay $7.48 worth OF
fertility in the form Of barnyard
manure, the advisability of raising
more livestock becomes apparent,
though part of the feed must be pur-
chased.
"The protein.rich feeds, which are
the ones most economical to buy, have
a much greater fertility value than the
homegrown feeds. The fertilizing
value of the manure obtained from the
feeding of ton of bran is 1854, from a
ton of linseed meal s1785; and from
ton OF cottonseed meal $3.50. Both Of
the last named feeds can be fed in
combination with homegrown feeds
and profit obtained on the livestock
produced, to say nothing Of the fact
that the manure resultant from their
feeding is practically equal in value to
a ton of many brands Of commercial
fertilizer