Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1853-01-05
Guupsr'HClarksburg Arglstrr
Boom the eenessae Farmar.
WINTERING CATTLE AND HoR-
Sen.

winter feed will be exceedingly scarce
and the most rigid economy will be ne
ssssary to enable farmers to carry thei
ordinary stock through the winter. VIVA
u the cheapest method of wintering cat
Ole. sheep and horses? always an interes
ting question, becomes now an importan
one /; and though we, by no means pre-
ssnd arbitrarily to answer it, yet we will
sndeayor to throw out few hints that
may be useful. We would premise that
no particular method can be laid down.
that will be applicable to all cases the
climate. locality, nature of the crops
grown, and prices obtained for them, in
tsrGere with any such calculations. A
more serious draw back, however, is the
deplorable ignorance of US all on the sub.
ieet of nutrition for were the principles
of nutrition well understood, it would be
easy to alter our modes of feeding to suit
ihs circumstances, and so keep the ami.
mails in the best and most economical
manner.
Different breeds of animals doubtless
require different amounts of food yet,
n general rule, it may be stated that
animtls require an amount of food in
proportion to their weight. That is to
say, an animal weighing 1900 lbs. would
one weighing 600 lbs, other things being
equal More food too, is required in cold
than in temperate weather-more when
the animal is worked than when doing
nothing. Also, cows giving milk or when
in calf. and young animals require more
than an animal of the same weight in a
perfectly normal state. II, too, we wish
an animal to lay on fat, we must give
more food-or rather the same quantity
or bulk of food, but of more nutritious
quality-than would be necessary to
keep 1t in 4 normal condition, or without
increasing or decreasing the weight.
The amount OF food necessary per
week to keep an animal in normal con-
dition under the most favorable condition
of warmth, Is not accurately ascertained.
The amount of food. however, which ami
mails eat when given al li6ifum, depends
70 grea. extent on the per centage of
drdtIdAs, Hon-HitrogsnEtS substances 1t
contains, and not the heterogeneous. Thus,
an animal fed on oil-cake, peas or beans,
and clover hay, will eat near three times
rs much nitrogen, as when fed with corn
meal, hay, &C., though it is probable that
the amount of available non heterogeneous
substance, is not in the less amount re-
quired by the animal, but in the increas-
sed value of the manure and the increased
quantity of fat given amount of non
food viii produce when eaten
In conjunction with heterogeneous substan.
ee2.
We are, however, by no means to sup
pose that the rate of increase is in exact
to the per ceutage of nitrogen
in the food, for it is not rapility of in-
crease being attained only Ut an increased
consumption of heterogeneous
substances.
BY available non-nitrogenous substan-
ses, we mean such substances as sugar,
starch. oil, gum, &c. which are readily
dissolved in the stomach. and easily as
simulated; and not such substances as
woody fibre, which. though non-nitro-
genous substance, anil composed precise
" OF the same elements as sugar, &C., is
not available as food, being incapable of
sulutfon in the stomach, and is passed
through the body Of the animal I'M
changed.
In providing our stock with food, espe-
sally in season of scarcity, our object
will be to give them sufficient amount of
neutrality-suspicious. substances in
the least expensive form, That is, lea
wing out every other relative question,
such as value OF manure, and increase of
animal, and aiming only at keeping the
animal in q normal condition without
work, We should prefer those foods, the
price being the same, which contain the
most sugar, starch, &C., supplying the
necessary bulk with some cheap SUBJ
stance, such as straw.
The prices of some of the substances,
used as food for cattle, taking Rochester
wholesale prices as the basis of caIcula-
ton will be an indication practical far
mers put upon them. We give the
price per ton for it is weight and not
bulk, that we desire in purchasing food,
or in estimating its value.
Bran at cts. per bushsl Of 10 lbs, II 90
Shorts at cts. per bu. of IA lbs. IL Sd
Coarse middlings. at Il cts per bu 90 lbs. IL 90
Fine middlings at zoe per bu. of gibbs IA OF
Fine middlings at SOC Der pu. of 81 lbs, II ca
Indian corn ut so cts per bu. of 81 lbs., 20 90
Oats ut 8se per hu. OF ~ lbs, % rs
Oilcake, 90 90
Had we complete analysis of these
substances, it would be easy to decide
accurately which would be the cheapest
food for our purpose. We have no doubt,
too. that horses can be kept in the same
way, at Il much less cost than feeding
them hay. If, however. they be worked
much during the winter. they would re-
qulre more heterogeneous food to supply
the wear and tear of muscles, and a lit
tie oilcake meal might be mixed with the
cut straw. NC, instead of, or in addi-
ton TO the corn meal-with ADVANTAGE
Boussingault estimates, from exneri-
ments and chemical analysis, that 100
lbs. OF good meadow hay may be re placed
by
Bran, 81 lbs