The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1865-12-22
farmers department.
Feeding Cattle.

cire oi DOMESTIC animals. hegulailt
cleanliness comfort and quiet repos
are elements Of thrift, not TO be light
considered. II the application G
these is shown the skill of the herds
man. One man will make the sam
amount of feed 60 further and accom-
plsh more than another A great dea
depends on knowing how A herds
man does not become full tedged in
simultaneously. Among the first steps
in progress are the consciousness OF
ignorance, and the desire to learn. To
such we offer the following methods.
by way OF comparison
Major George Taylor, of Westfeld,
who is literally head and shoulders
above most other men. has had some
seventy years experience in feeding,
and his father was feeder before
h'ih' Some of the best cattle in that
ialnqus fat-cattle town have graduated
'iS HNtiiHs bilu hiiOWlhS success
10 % the test, his practice and obser-
Vatlois are worthy of consideration
his usual practice is to feed coarse hay
hrs' in the morning, then dry meal,
and then two or three fodderings of
finer hay and rowen After the cattle
are well filed, and about | / A. NJ, they
are turned out to water, and while out
the stalls are regulated, cleaned and
strawed. They are Immediately sta
bled again, as they gain faster sut up,
and are expected to lie down and rest
till feeding time again. About 3 P NJ,
dry meal is given, then one or two fod-
behring's of hay, and lastly stalks, which
answers for the night. Only such
quantities and qualities are fed as are
likely to be eaten entire and clean.
The hay is mostly pulled with hay
hook in order to draw from dil1e ent
layers of the nov and thus secure
greater variety. The meal is mix
ture OF corn, rye and oats Eight
quarts of meal day per animal, is
Il common regular allowance, and less
likely to overload the stomach than a
greater quantity Coarse herdsgrass
is poor stuff to fatten cattle. Fine En-
glish clover and rowen hay are best.
Poor hay, if any, is fed to old cattle
that can bear it. The best fat cattle
are kept growing from birth. They
should never be allowed to waver or
decline, as their recovery is more ex-
pensive than their continual advance
An animal fed heavy one day aud light
another becomes big-bellied and a
great eater. Regularity is indispensa-
bic to success. The cattle thus know
what to expect, and do not fret over
deferred hopes Cattle at five years
old have all the bone and lean meat
possible, and have done growing. They
1HCieuse hltti tneh III luI, WHICH NJ
first smoothly shoves and juts over the
muscles, and in the last stages of ripe !
ness manifests itself in punches and |
misshapen projections. There is no
profit in feeding beyond this period !
Comfort is another requisite in good |
management. Animals should have
a clean, soft bed Cattle have been
known to loose their hoofs and be-
come lame by standing on manure.
Heating manure induces fouls. The
major does all his feeding by daylight,
but likes to feed so well that his crea-
lures will grunt over it. This is all
the exercise fattening animal needs.
He has sometimes got up at midnight
because of sounds of distress at the
barn, and only found his cattle grunt-
ing and stretching with fulpess. He
prefers large cattle because they eat
but little more han small ones. and
shSf 0Si5h HVh'iSi, uuu urt more
p.of able.
Wilbur Wilson, of Agawam, has hac
much experience with mich COWS, anc
thus he practices The cows ar
MIXED before eating, SO as to give un
divided attention to that bushes,
They are fed with cut feed, twice day
aud watered at noon. The feed is
mixture of hay, stalks and straw, CT
from two to four inches long for COZ
venience drinking with meal compose
of equal parts Of corn, rye and bucl
wheat. He would not wet the fec
more than enough to make it stick, lie
they eat too fast. Porridge oft,
makes milk at the expense of L
health of the animal. lie would fe
all COW can bear, without founderi
if his sole object was milk. Flies
cows fed high and MIXED till
enough for the butcher, when I'll
should be turned of, are the M
profitable for milklnen A COW un
customed TO meal should begin on t
quarts day, and thus gradually a
safely may be worked up to six or eli,