The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1861-12-04
Is Feeding Grain Better than Sell
ing it?

|
ing it?
"A bird in the hand is worth two in
the bush,' is not always true-for in
stance, if the bird in the bush have u
nest there. Acting upon The teaching of
the above proycrb, cultivators have TO q
very large extent sold their crops rather
than fed them out on the farm. Grain
thrcsbed and sold, brings the ready cash,
and it is fed grudgingly, if at all, to stock.
There may be times when the prices of
cattle, sheep, and hogs are proportiolmlly
lower than the price of grain, so that there
is apparently a loss in converting rye, oats,
aud corn, into beef, pork and mutton, but
it may be doubted whether there will not
always be gain enough in the quality Of
the manure from grain fed animals, 10
overbalance this apparent loss. Careful
ly conducted experiments have proved
conclusively that the quality of manure
depends very greatly upon the richness of
the food consumed. An Illustration OF
this fact was communicated TO tho New
England Farmer BY Hon. F. II. Hol-
brook, to which VIC will call the attention
of the readers of the 1griculturist. He
says:
"How true is the remark of Mr.. Coke,
late Earl of Leicester, that the value Of
farm-yard manure is in proportion to what
it is made Of. If cattle eat straw alone,
the cattle are straw, the farm is straw,
and the farmer is straw--they are all
straw together. Not long ago had four
cows come up to the stable in the Fall,
which ! thought might yield a good sup
ply Of milk through the Winter, if well
fed. also had four other animals, cows
and heifers, which were not expected TO
give much milk until the following grass
season. The first four were tied in the
stable, side by side, and received each, in
addition TO hay and stalks, four quarts Of
small potatoes each morning, and two
quarts of corn and oatmeal each evening,
through the Winter. AS we expected,
they gave n good mess of milk, and came
out well in the Spring. The manure Of
those four cows was thrown ont Of n sta
ble window under the cattle-shed, by it.
SELF The other four animals were tied
in the same stable, next TO the first four,
and received only hay and corn fodder.
Their manure was thrown out by itself
at the next stable window, and under the
same shed, so that the two heaps lay side
by side. The heap that was made by the
four COWS that were daily messed with
potatoes and meal, kept hot and smoking
all Winter, and was wholly free from frost.
The heap made by the. other animals chat
had only hay and stalks, showed no signs
of fermentation, and somewhat frozen.
Observing This difference from time to
time, curiosity prompted me in the Spring
to apply those Two heaps Of manure sop
arately, but in equal quantities, side by
side, on a piece of corn ground. The
superiority of the corn crop where the
manure from the messed cattle was ap-
piled, over that where the other heap was
spread, was quite apparent and striking,
and called my attention more particularly
than it WAS ever before directed, TO the
Importance Of feeding out our best or
richest products, if we would have the
best kind of manure for our lands, and
large crops from them"