FORAGE AND FERTILISERS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 143, 19 June 1913, Page 6

FORAGE AND FERTILISERS.

IMPROVEMENT OF CHOPS

"There is one phase of the question of soil fertility which has a. direct bearing upon the folding of animals, ami is worthy of consideration, namely, the influence which fertilisers have upon the composition and feeding value of crops," said Professor Henry Snyder. It is well-known that fertilisers, particularly farm manures, increase the yield of forage crops. In ' addition to this they also favorably influence the composition and. quality of the crops. In trials it has been found1 that Timothy hay grown oil manured land . contained 8.75 per cent, albuminoids, while that grown on poor soil contained 6,45 per.cent., a difference of 2.3 per cent, in favor of that grown » on the first. This is an increase of over 30 per cent, of the. total 'albuminoid content of the crop, due to the use of manure. Equally as great differences were observed vn samples of hay grown.on rich and poor soil. The forage grown upon tine manured Jaild■'•'contained not only the maximum amount of albuminoid, but also showed a tendency .to contain the minimum.amount of fibre. Numerous digestion experiments have shown that forage crops and grain which contain the least fibre are the most digestible; hence the gain in digestible albuminoid resulting from the use of manure is greater in timothy than 30 per cent. Forage grown on manured land baa a oark, noh green color, indicating great «,activity of the plant cells, particularly of tho protoplasm and chlorophyll, the two most active agent® which take a part m the production of plant tissues. The larger amount of plant food in tie manured soil places at the disposal • of the crop a larger amount of building material in the form of the esseue\ ra6nts ' <ancl a result a, crop of higher feeding value is secured. Urops feed 'upon the -soil, and if the soil fails fco contain the requisite amount of nourishment an inferior crop is produced. In. feeding for milk production, and beef production as well, the largest returns at minimum cost are secured from using the most valuable and nutritious fodder. The quality of the torago is generally the deciding fac- ?? r in determining economy of production. When forage crops contain the maximum amount of albuminoids, less gram and milled products are requirT? s<f nre returns than when low quality forage is used. To secure the maximum nourishment in forage farm manures are very valuable, and the farmer who feeds crops grown upon ■ i«atile soiLs has a decided advantage over .tho one who feeds crop's from poor soils. Increasing the fertility of soil through the use of farm-yard manure and fertilisers will result not only m larger yields but also in better quality of crops.