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CtfJ Vol. X. INDIM^OUS, IND11NA, NOVEMBER 27th, 1875. .-.-, r.... No. 47. Live Stock. Editor Indiana Farmer: Philosophy of Stock Feeding. When a mechanic undertakes to build or repair a maohine, he must not only have a supply of materials, but he mu«t know the character and properties of each variety of material. In tbe absence of such knowledge it is hardly to be expected that a very efficient machine should be built, or if built, it would likely be at an unnecessary outlay of time and material. If this be true of an inanimate machine, it is true in a still more important sense when the sentient, more wonderful and complicated maohine of the animal system is the subject. In the very outset of these papers, I ■wish to impress on the minds of my readers the fact that the animal system is not a machine for organizing living tissues from inorganic substances. No animal, above the Radiates, can assimilate unorganized matter. They must have their food organized and prepared for their use before hand. This material must be organized, not only in some form, but in that particular form that is necessary to build up the animal struoture. A careful examination and comparison will show that the various^ substances that go to make up the animal body may be found already arranged in the food on which they subsist. The plant is the great instrument for organizing the organic matter of the soils and of water ; and presenting them for the use of animals in a form that enables them to appropriate these materials to their own use. All animals live directly or indirectly on the food furnished1 bt plants. A man or carnivorous animal may eat meat, but that meat was made from grass or other vegetable food upon which the animal fed. The feeding of stock is generally done, without much regard to physiological or scientific principles. It is true that there is such a general distribution of the various nutri ent elements in the, different plants used for animal food that a thorough knowledge of them is not necessary te moderate success in feeding, but the man who would make tbe largest possible amount of bone muscle, or fat, at the least ex penditure of feed, must know of what, the substance he wishes to increase^ in largest amount is composed, and the kind of food that will furnish it in the greatest proportion This will be found a very complicated question. No rule cao be given by which it can be asserted that a given amount of feed will give a certain result in animal growth. Jt will be found to vary not only with every kind of feed employed, but, also, with every flifference Iii age, size, cbmi.t.on and ex posure to extremes of temperature. H will also vary with the different purposes for which the feeding is done. If the object is to impart a vigorous growth to 3>oung stock, it is evident that the food furnished should abound^ in_ bone .and muscle producing food, while if the desire is to cause the animal fed to lay on fat as fast as possible, the food chosen should contain a larger share of nils and other fat producing properties. In some future papers on this subject, I hope to show the importance of this discrimi nating knowledge and also to point out the relations between the food and the animal fed, so that all may be directed into the best practice in this department of labor. L. J. Templin. Potatoes for Horses. L. T. Scott writes in the Country Gentleman : Nearly every winter when I have my horses up in stable, I think I will call the attention of your readers tothe practice of feeding potatoes to their horses 1 once came near losing a very valuable horse by feeding dry hay and oats, with nothing loosening. I have never believed in dosing a horse with medicine, but something is actually necessary to keep a horse in the right condition. Many use powders, but potatoes are better, arid safer and cheaper if fed judioiously. If_those, who are not in the habit of feeding potatoes to horses will try them, they will be astonished at the result. I have known a horse changed from a lazv, dampish one to a quick.active headstrong animal, in five dajs, by simply adding two quarts of potatoes to his feed daily. \* Very much clear corn meal is fed, they <*°rr,n0t nee^ S0 maDy POtatoeS. >oo many potatoes are weakening, and bo are too nr.oy apples. When I was a lad, I was away from home at school one winter, and had the care of one-horse, One yoke of oxen, and one cow, every one of which I had to card or curry 6<ery day. Tbe horse had three pails of w»ier, four quarts of oats, two quarts'of small pota*oes, and two quarts of coru > extra every day he worked, with what hay he wanted, and a stronger and more 3active horse of his inches I have never I yet seen. HOO CHOLERA—HO WIT IS CURED. An Interesting Letter from a Farmer in Hamilton County. Lamong Ind., Nov. 19th. Editors Indiana Farmer:—I see in the Farmer that you offer to print recipes for the cure and prevention of hog cholera, free of charge, provided they are so given. Mine is simply this : Each and every one who has a hog to die, should immediately burn or bury it, and not allow it to be removed from the premises..-.,,.. This section, like many others, has been the resort of persons hunting hogs that have died with disease, which they have hauled to your city. Many such persons, and all, for aught I know, are perfectly honest, and would do all in their power to stop the malady that is gaining them a livelihood; but there have been a number of instances in this county, of hogs dying, that looked very suspicious, and the presumption was very strong that there had been foul play as the cause. Be that as it may, let us judge every man innocent until he is proven guilty. Yet I have not the slightest doubt that the death of hundreds of the hogs has been caused by the farmers allowing these men to haul hogs through the country, that have died with the cholera. .Wagons loaded with dead hogs have passed# through this section, the stench of which was almost unbearable, while in many instances the filth from the hogs dropped from the wagons as they passed along the roads. If the disease is contagious, and but few if any deny that it is, such a practice presents hundreds of opportunities of spreading the malady. I think our next Legislature should take the matter in hand and enact laws that will fully protect every one, whether willing or unwilling* tostop the further spreading, of the disease. In the meantime, brother farmers, let ni take the matter in hand ourselves. We can accomplish all that the Legislature should do. That is, stop the traffic for the carcasses of cholera hogs. Have the subject discussed in every Grange, and Farmer's Club, and then let us resolve that we will neither sell nor give away the carcass of a hog that has died with the cholera or other malarious disease, and by so doing will do more toward stopping the ravages of disease among our hogs than all the recipes combined, which are being hawked over the country at from one to ten dollars. J. E. Walker. SCAB IN SHEEP. The following is from the transactions of the Hifihland Agricultural Society of Scotland: It is clearly ascertaind by scientific men that the scab in sheep, like the itch in the human being, is connected wi'h and propogated by certain minute insects belonging to tbe class of acari, which inhabit pimples or pustules. But the question naturally arises, how came it first into existence? This problem is very difficult of solution, and puzzles the most fminent physiologists. But, as I have already said, I have never known it to break out spontaneously among a flock of sheep, properly managed, during thirty years' experience as a shepherd in pastoral districts. Various and conflicting opinions exist as to what extent the disease is-infectious. Some affirm that it requires sheep to «ome in coutact with the disease before it can be communicated, whilo others maintain that the disease is propogated by the mere traveline on the road, such as a public drove road, from large markets or lairs. I, however, do not thiuk the disease is so catching as the latter advocates affirm. Fur example, I acttd as shepherd tor sixteen >ei.rs on various farms where the dr ve road from Falkirk to the south passes through the sheep pastures, and every year tome of the lots of sheep were mure or less affected, wi.h scab, and during all that period not a i-ingle sheep of which I had oharge caught the disease. THE CURE OP SCAB lies in the destruction of the insect, but the imp irtatit question is, what is the best compobi'inn or infusion for that purpose? The remedies that are commonly applied ore numerous, but tbe most effectual, with the least danger of injur- inu the animal, that I have ever seen applied is the eommoo spirits of tar; and, if properly applied, will penetrate and destroy tbo laseot concealed iu thc pustules, or buried beneath the skin _ The quantity applied may Vary accoiding to the age of the Bhegb, but for hill, or or dan&ry breedibu stock, one bottl-*# of spirits of Iter, mixed with twelve times the quantity of water, is sufficient i'or twelve sheep; or one common wine glass of the spirits of tar, mixed with twelve times the amount of water, is sufficient tor ».ne It mixing for a hundred, six gallons of water with six pounds of common soda ought to be warmed to the boiling pitch; then add the spirits of tar. .Late Purchases of, Short-Horns!' ' Mr. Claude Matthews, of Canton. Vermillion Co., Indiana, .lately purchased from J. O'B. Renick, of Oolumbus, O., five females of the famous Rose of Sha-, ron tribe: Sharooess 2d; red; calved 1§67. " 3d; red and white; calved 1868. " «th; red; calved April, 1K1. " 7th ; r. and w.; " April, 1871; . 9th ; red; '■ •' June, 1875. This now gives him seven head of this family. C. M. e en . Stock Sales.—Henry Comstock, 'of* Liberty Mills, Wabash county, has lateX ly, sold a pair of Poland Chinif pigs, to Jerry Lewis, of Butler, Ind.; a trio of pigs to Messrs. Pence & Marion, Xenia, Miami county, Ind.; one pair, JS. F.'Reed, Tiosa, Pulton county, Ind.; a sow pig to Messrs. L. & S. G. Kern, of Marion, Grant county., Ind.; and< One male to G; D. Custer, of Logansport; Indiana; ■■'■ ..;,.-,., Sheep on the Farm. That sheep can save poor farms from iitter ruin, and improve the condition of good farms, is beyond doubt. However much we may prize the horse and cow for their valuable service to mankind, still we must admit that the keeping of sheep is very profitable to the farmer, in that it brings money to his pocket and improves the condition of his land. Experience has shown that sheen husbandry is directly profitable. Early lambs, fat wethers, _ wool and pelts, always bring good prices and find ready market. Besides sheep bring up the condition of the larm, and as the old adage has it, "turns the earth to gold wherever their footprints are found." Nothing will improve a farm so well as a course of husbandry in sheep, well selected, and judiciously followed. Sneep can be made the salvation of a poor farm, and if more of our farmers would keep more sheep, a larger share of prosperity would be the result.—Rural Sun. Our- Premium No. 6. Brown's Corn Planter. The abova cut represents our Premium No. fl. The Planter is manufactured hy George W. Brown, orGalesburg; Ills., probably the oldest manufacturer of Corn Planters in the country, having had 23 yea*, experiencean the business. This Planter is the latest, most improved, and best of all that he has marlJBand gives universal «itisfiction for its reliability and durabilit>.).ba.D^raa(lM,tbroug^oi^t^iiV^ \t,-> bc-t mat< n il k*£Mjfa*&mf ^-^MA^^^^Si^^S^^M^^ir • This cut represents tlie A\EHY STALK CUTTi.il, bj the s«,„e manufacturer. Mr. Brown kindly gives our agent who is entitled to this number the choice between this machine and the Planter, both being sold at the same price, $50. This Cutter operates with a spiral knife, by which the jerking on the horses' neck and jolting ofthe driver, so common in other stalk cutters, is entirely avoided. The work is done easily and thoroughly. The stalks are cut into short pieces, which are readily ploughed under, and become valuable fertilizers, loosening the soil, and keeping it moist. It is a very valuable machine, and ought to come into general use. JOCHIGAN SWINE AT THE GREAT FAIRS, There has been a good deal of work done and considerable capital expended to improve the breeds of swine throughout the pork-raising districts of the west, yet there would seem to.be still a very large field to be occui»red. The breeding of good hogs is not difficult to those who give it the time and attention that is requisite; but to keep up the breeding stock to the standard is a task that but few farmers are prepared to undertake, and like other stock he must have recourse to the professional breeder for boars and sows. They will find it cheaper in the end than to depend on the chance pigs which they may happen to raise themselves. In fact the product of the farmer is generally a chance animal, while_ the animal procured from a well established and professional breeder is the product which is speciallyadapted by certain processes at the command of the breeder for the production of profitable stock. The manufacture of breeding stock or stock of the best kind for the purpose of turning the feed given them into a marketable product of the best quality at the least possible expense, is just as muoh a business as the manu- faomredf plows or wagons; and afarmer who would undertake to make his wagon, or his plow »t home, without being either a waeon maker Ot a pioff nuker, would not be regarded as a sensible business man. Oar attention is called to this subject by the fact that here is a breeder of the improved varieties of swine in Michigan sweeping away a vast proportion of the large premiums^ offered at the great exhibitions of Ohio, Indiana and Slissouri, against a large crowd of exhibitors from the States that are most noted forpro- ducing hogs and pork products, which supply not only a large proportion ofthe people of the United btates, but also a large portion of the people of Great Britain and of some parts of Europe. To Mr. Smith of Detriot, who for the past five years has given his whole attention to the breeding of swine—dismissing cattle and sheep and making hogs a specialty—has been awarded this year 70 premiums and a diploma for the best exhibitions of hogs. Of these premiums twenty were awarded at the gieat St. Louis exhibition, a fair that ranks the highest in the United States for its large premiums and the competition which must be expected from its numerous entries and their high character. Eighteen of the chief prizes offered at the Indiana State Fair were awarded to Mr. Smith. Now Indiana is a State in which the hog has the first standing as a product of the farm, and where feeding the hog and making pork is a business on which the income of the farmers depend to a large extent. Yet here was the great breeder of Michigan coining in and sweeping off, in spite of the great competition, a large competition, a large proportion of the most important premiums. At the State Fair of Ohio, and at the Fair of the Northern Ohio Association held at Cleveland, the first prizes were taken by Mr. Smith. Here also the great proportion of the first-class premiums were taken in a State in whieh the hog is ot the first importance as a stock on which the farmers depend for the carrying of their immense corn crops to market.—Michigan Parmer. A Premium for Spencer County. Another Flue Poland-China Pig tor one of onr Agents. James II. Parker, breeder of Poland-Chinas, Rockport, Spencer County, writes as follows: "I will give to the agent who gets the most subscribers to the Indiana Farmer in 8pencer County before March 31st, 1876, a fine Poland- China pig. I hope this will prompt a good number to get to work for the paper and pig, for both are needed badly. My breeders are from selected strains Of Butler County, Ohio, from the stock of Wm. Greer, who had the swcepstajkes Poland-China hoar at the Indiana State Fair, in 1873, and D. M. Magie, who has a World-wide reputation for raising hogsof thisbreed. I have taken 37 premiums in two years, at eight connty fairs, and diploma at the Evansville Fair and Exposition. The agent who gets this premium may have a choice of pigs from my fine sow, Maggie Magie, that never was beaten in this State at county fairs, or in Kentucky; or he may select from any of my other breeders. My regular price for these pigs is $15. THE INDIANA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Will hold its Fifteenth Annual Meeting in the Circuit Court Room, Terre Haute, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Hec. 2,1st, 22d and 23d, 1875. To the Editor of the Indiana Farmer. The citizens of Terre Haute extend a cordial welcome, and the hotpitalities of their homes to those who may attend, and the privileges and benefits of the meeting are free to all. It is to be hoped that the liberal programme announced below, and the magnitude ofthe horticultural interest, together with the accommodations offered by the citizens, the railroads and the hotels, may result in a full'attendance. Specimens of fruits, flowers, plants, seeds, scions, horticultural implements, etc., are solicited for exhibition. Contributions, essays and papers on topics pertaining to horticulture, are also invited. railroad fare. The following railroads will return members from the meetings free : The Vandalia from any point within the State, on presentation of certificates, to be furnished by the Secretary of the Society; the E. & C. from Evansville; the E.. T. H. & C. from Danville, Illinois; and the Illinois Midland from Peoria, by the purchase of round trip tickets, which will be on sale at the principal stations. The L., C. ct S. W. road will sell excursion tickets from Logansport, Frankfort, Colfax, Crawfordsville and Rockville. It is thought the I. & St. L., when it can be heard from, will grant thc same liberal terms to delegates. Members who would prefer to stop at hotels will be entertained at the Terre Haute House at a reduction of one-third from the usual rates. Persons who cannot attend the meetings, and yet desire to become members, will be enrolled, and furnished with the reports of the Society, upon the receipt of tlie fee of membership, ($1.00) which may be forwarded by mail to W. H. Ragan, Secretary, Clayton, Hendricks county, Indiana.' NEWS OF THE WEEK. Programme of the Meeting. Tuesday Forenoon, Dec. 21st. lst—Arranging of the fruits, flowers, etc., for exhibition. 2d—Welcome address in behalf of the Terre Haute Horticultural Society, by H. D. Scott. 3rd—Response by Dr. A. Furnas. Tuesday Afternoon. 1st—Address ofthe President. 2d—-Reports ofthe Secretary and Treasurer. 3d—Election of Officers, Installation, etc. 4th—Reports of District Fruit Committeemen. lst Dirtrict, R. Mitchell, Princeton; 2d " S. Burnett. Vincennes; 3d " I. C. Ferris, Seymour; 4th " J. V. Milhous. Butlerville. Tuesday Evening. 1st;—Paper on Pear Culture, by Parker Earle, of Illinois. 2d—Discussion on the same. 3d—Vegetable Gardening, Sylvester Johnson. Wednesday Forenoon, Dec. 22d. 1st—Horticultural Observations in Foreign Countries, by Calvin Fletcher. 2d—Revision of Fruit Lists. Wednesday Afternoon lst—Trees, tlieir Destruction and Propagation, by S. V. Morris. 2d—Reports of District Fruit Committeemen. 5th District, J. A. Mendenhall, Richm'd; 6th " B. Parker, Raysville; 7th " W. A. Ragan, Clayton; 8th " L. Heine, Terre Haute. 3d—Report of Delegates to the American Pomological Society, Dr. A. Furnas. 4th—Revision of Fruit Lists. Wednesday Evening, 1st—Entomology, address by the State Entomologist of Missouri, Prof. C. V. Riley. 2d—Ad-interim Report. Thursday Forenoon, Dec. 23d. lst—The Relations of the Study of Botany to Horticulture, by Prof. John Hussey. 2d—Reports of District Fruit Committeemen. 9th District, Wm. Sleeper, Oxford; 10th " A. N.Miller, South Bend; llth " L. B. Custer, Logansport; 12th " I. D.G.Nelson, Ft. Wayne; 13th " H. P. Hanford, Bristol. 3d—Historical Sketch of the Society, by W. H. Ragan. Thursday Afternoon. lst—Examination of Fruits, Flowers, and Vegetables, Distribution of Books, Scions, etc. 2d—Fixing Place of next Meeting. 3d—Final Resolutions and Adjournment. W. H. Ragan, Joseph Gilbert, Secretary. President. INDIANA PATENTS. The following patents have recently been issued to parties residing in this State: Bit Gages, A. B. Batson, New Castle. Making Patterns for Castings, W. E. Craig, Indianapolis. Corn Markers, T. B. Kirkwood, Bentonville. Basket Bottoms, S. H. Wheeler, Peru. Lamp Extinguishers, J. C. Hehr, South Bend. Feather Dusters, J. L. Little, Muncie. Sawing Machines, Niles M. Miller, Evansville. Grain Drills, E. Morgan, Dublin. Vice President of the United States, Henry Wilson, died of apoplexy at Washington on Monday morning last, the 22nd. He was sixty-three years old. The dead Vice President will be buried at his home in Natic, Massachusetts, where his family are buried. Congress meets on thc 6th of December. Treasurer New will probably stick to his position-. Mount Washington is enjoying snow four feet deep. % Brick Pomeroy has failed. His liabilities are $140,000. Senator 0. S. Ferry died at Norwalk, Conn., on Sunday last. One "crooked whisky " conviction has been had at Milwaukee. A. Armel * Co., of Greensburg, Ind., expect to pack 10,000 hogs this season. The insurance losses in the late Virginia City, Nevada, fire amount to $2,007,200. The evangelists, Moody and Sankey, havo begun a revival meeting in Philadelphia. Jesse L. Smith a soldier of the war of 1812 died at Spiceland, Henry county, on the 19th. Arkansas has made an appropriation to secure proper representation at the Centennial. Trains on the Union Pacific railway have thus early been delayed by heavy enow storms. The vicinity of Seymour was the scene ofa murder on Saturday last. Whisky, the cause. Five table manufactories of Goshen, Ind., make 545 tables per week, mostly of black walnut. Terre Haute recently had a baby party. Twenty-one were congregated — with tlieir mama s. Additional indictments have been found against the members of the whisky ring at St. Louis. » The prohibition candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania received 13,244 votes at the late State election. Logansport arrests all tramps visiting there as vagrants; they are fined, and then set to working it out. Over five thousand head of hogs have been sold and shipped from Rush county since the first of September. Harshraan, McKenzie & Co.'s harness manufactory, at Union City, burned a fgw days since. I-oss $20,000. An appeal is to be made to the admirers of Washington Irving for funds to erect a monument to his memory. Gen. Sherman's annual report of the army shows our present standing army to consist of 24,031 men, and 1,540 officers. The residence of Rev. J. R. Davis, of Wabash county, was burned recently, the family escaping with only their clothing. Thc report comes from Mobile, Ala., that if the present cotton crop can be safely gathered it will be the largest since the war. George Painter, and a soldier under Gen. Harrison, at Tippecanoe, died at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on the 22d, aged eighty-six. The Government is pushing the St. Louis whisky thieves to the wall. One is already in the penitentiary, and others soon will be. Now comes a rumor that Charlie Ross is in the possession ofa woman in Connecticut. A short time ago the papers had him in England. Through the death of Vice President Wilson, SenatorT. W. Ferry.of Michigan, becomes President of the U. 8. Senate, and acting Vice President. Mr. II. C. Meredith will erect a beautiful monument to the memory of his father, Gen. Solomon Meredith, recently deceased, at a cost of $10,000. Burglars entered the drug store of W. II, Reed, New Corydon, Ind., recently, and possessed themselves of $1,000 in currency and $600 in notes. The Mexican banditti have again been plying their vocation on the Texas border. A large number of cattle have been stolen and run over into Mexico. An assessment was not made upon the U. S. Treasury clerks, as reported, to cover the loss of the missing $2,000. Treasurer New made the loss good out of his own privato purse. A Mrs. Hicks, who some time ago shot and killed a man at Kentland, Newton county, has been convicted of murder in the Benton Circuit Court, and sentenced to prison for two years. A couple of distillers, of Evansville, and ono or two Government officers, and other parties, have been brought to this city for trial for conspiring to defraud the Government of the tax on whisky. A great religious revival has been in progress at Shelbyville for sonic time. The various church denominations participated, perfect harmony reigned, and many conversions has been the result. The Connersville High School has contributed, by a festival held for that purpose, the sum of $50 to the State Centennial fund. The schools throughout the State will largely follow the example of Connersville. The entire cost of getting everything into readiness for the opening of the Centennial is put at $7,000,000, of which $5,500,000 has been raised, leaving a balance of a million anil a half to raise. Of this amount, Pennsylvania contributed $1,500,000. Gen. McDonald, another of the government officers in the whisky ring at St. Louis, has been convicted on several counts. He will languish in the penitentiary for several years. And still the war goes bravely on against other of the thieves. At a meeting of the State Association of School Superintentents, held in this city last week, the following resolution was adopted: "That it is the sense of this Association that pupils should not be required to study out of school hours during the first four years of tlieir school life." Brigham Young has evaded the payment of a monthly stipend and alimony to Ann Eliza, 1 and has been released from his arrest for | contempt by a decision of Chief Justice Wait, of the Supreme Court, who holds that Ann* Eliza's marriage to Brigham wan in violation ofthe United States statuUs.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1875, v. 10, no. 47 (Nov. 27) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA1047 |
Date of Original | 1875 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2010-11-01 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript |
CtfJ
Vol. X.
INDIM^OUS, IND11NA, NOVEMBER 27th, 1875.
.-.-, r....
No. 47.
Live Stock.
Editor Indiana Farmer:
Philosophy of Stock Feeding.
When a mechanic undertakes to build
or repair a maohine, he must not only
have a supply of materials, but he mu«t
know the character and properties of
each variety of material. In tbe absence
of such knowledge it is hardly to be expected that a very efficient machine
should be built, or if built, it would
likely be at an unnecessary outlay of time
and material. If this be true of an
inanimate machine, it is true in a still
more important sense when the sentient,
more wonderful and complicated maohine of the animal system is the subject.
In the very outset of these papers, I
■wish to impress on the minds of my readers the fact that the animal system is not
a machine for organizing living tissues
from inorganic substances. No animal,
above the Radiates, can assimilate unorganized matter. They must have their
food organized and prepared for their
use before hand. This material must be
organized, not only in some form, but in
that particular form that is necessary to
build up the animal struoture. A careful examination and comparison will
show that the various^ substances that go
to make up the animal body may be
found already arranged in the food on
which they subsist.
The plant is the great instrument for
organizing the organic matter of the soils
and of water ; and presenting them for
the use of animals in a form that enables
them to appropriate these materials to
their own use. All animals live directly
or indirectly on the food furnished1 bt
plants. A man or carnivorous animal
may eat meat, but that meat was made
from grass or other vegetable food upon
which the animal fed. The feeding of
stock is generally done, without much
regard to physiological or scientific principles. It is true that there is such a
general distribution of the various nutri
ent elements in the, different plants used
for animal food that a thorough knowledge of them is not necessary te moderate success in feeding, but the man who
would make tbe largest possible amount
of bone muscle, or fat, at the least ex
penditure of feed, must know of what,
the substance he wishes to increase^ in
largest amount is composed, and the kind
of food that will furnish it in the greatest proportion This will be found a
very complicated question. No rule cao
be given by which it can be asserted that
a given amount of feed will give a certain result in animal growth. Jt will be
found to vary not only with every kind
of feed employed, but, also, with every
flifference Iii age, size, cbmi.t.on and ex
posure to extremes of temperature. H
will also vary with the different purposes
for which the feeding is done. If the
object is to impart a vigorous growth
to 3>oung stock, it is evident that the
food furnished should abound^ in_ bone
.and muscle producing food, while if the
desire is to cause the animal fed to lay
on fat as fast as possible, the food chosen
should contain a larger share of nils and
other fat producing properties. In some
future papers on this subject, I hope to
show the importance of this discrimi
nating knowledge and also to point out
the relations between the food and the
animal fed, so that all may be directed
into the best practice in this department
of labor. L. J. Templin.
Potatoes for Horses.
L. T. Scott writes in the Country Gentleman :
Nearly every winter when I have my
horses up in stable, I think I will call
the attention of your readers tothe practice of feeding potatoes to their horses
1 once came near losing a very valuable
horse by feeding dry hay and oats, with
nothing loosening. I have never believed
in dosing a horse with medicine, but
something is actually necessary to keep
a horse in the right condition. Many
use powders, but potatoes are better, arid
safer and cheaper if fed judioiously.
If_those, who are not in the habit of
feeding potatoes to horses will try them,
they will be astonished at the result. I
have known a horse changed from a lazv,
dampish one to a quick.active headstrong
animal, in five dajs, by simply adding
two quarts of potatoes to his feed daily.
\* Very much clear corn meal is fed, they
<*°rr,n0t nee^ S0 maDy POtatoeS.
>oo many potatoes are weakening, and
bo are too nr.oy apples. When I was a
lad, I was away from home at school one
winter, and had the care of one-horse,
One yoke of oxen, and one cow, every
one of which I had to card or curry
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