The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-22
QUA ARRICULTURAL COLUMN.
ReadInE 1or me Farmers. !.
STOCK m AUTUMN.

dT Reading for the Formers. .,5e
slA y FATrENINe STOCK IN AUTUMN. 2
Sheep or cattle that are Intended for
the butcher, either ,,late In the fall or
during the winter, should be pushed
with grain while they are eating grass
int thelmonths of October and N6Vem-
Der. II IS economy to do this. And
more flesh and fat can be laid on with
one bushel of corn during these months
than in cold weather with dry hay, in
stead of grass, for the balance OF the
food. What is gained at this time OF
year can be cheaply kept until the PEI
riod of marketing arrives. - $50
Fattening, stock frequently suffers
ana declines in weight and condition
tor lack of sufhcient food during the
seven or eight weeks preceding the
time of yarding or stabIing for the win
ter. Grass Is neither SO nutritious nor
plentiful as 1t should be for their good;
pastures get bare very quick because
there Is no growth to replace what is
eaten. The cold weather, constantly
increasing in severity as winter APP
proachesS sharpens the appetite of the
animals, which, on FROST Bitten grass,
they are scarcely able to satisfy, They
are consequently restless; they take
much exercise, and their coats lose
thelr smooth, glossy appearances. They
-S@ASA AOSAs IL IL ID given Lu9Y
shrink great deal when changed on
TO hay, and 1t will take month or two
ot winter feeding to bring them to the
same weight they had on full grass.
No matter how abundant the grass
may pc at the period in autumn we
have indicated, it will pay richly to
Feed grains. Sheep will lay on fat won
t..y a.eriuIly fast with some grain at this
Llme, and they will go into the yards
without shrinking, and be fat in adj
vance by the lst of January of those
that nave had the same amount of
grain, but have eaten it wholly in the
yards and with dry fodder
, a hock of wethefs might hardly hold
thelrown during the last sixty days of
Ppts6tl1nlg PtassG9lF1lng on ordinary grass without
other teed1 with certainty of shrink
ing and remaining stationary for some
weeks when yarded and put on dry
1000; buttt half bushel of corn Der
head We're given them during this time
and under these conditions they would
each gain at least fifteen pounds on it,
EVERY feeder can figure the cost of the
grain and the price of the mutton and
satisfy himself whether such feeding
would be n paying operation.
WHAT STOCK MOST ENRIcHEs PASTURE.
It is generally accepted as a fact that
SOIL under pasture grows fertile, When
land is plowed and cropped, and pas
ture forms part of aisystematicr rotation,
the SOIL under grass lrecuperates in
power to grow grain. This is due to
several causes, prominent among
which Is the thick turf formed and
Plowed under, thus supplying guam
tity of manure for the.succeeding crop.
II heId We're left in grass for n long
time, and all tho growth allowed to rot
on the ground, we see no reason WHY
the soil would not increase in fertility
so long as this practice was continued.
Pfut where the grass is removed in the
formot hay each year, and no compen-
Sation made, no practical farmer would
contend that the soil grew richer when
subjected to such treatment for long
time. Land in grass, then, becomes
rich only in Proportion as the CrowtlYof
vegetable matter from it-as roots,
stems, leaves and seed-is returned for
manure.
Land is enriched by pasturfng for the
production of grains in two ways; the
formation OF a sod to he rotted for ma
nure, and the deposition OF the solid
and liquid excrements of tho stock. It
IS important for the grain farmer to
consider the kind of stock which, feed
ing on his pastures VIII enrich them
most: There is, perhnps, not much
practical difference In che amount of
manure made by various animals on
the same pasture. but the form IN
which 1t Is deposited, and the habits of
stock in choosing their resting places
ought to be we'll considered Horses
are the very worst ferti ilizers OF pasture;
they are very close feeders, and they
delight 70 Craze the submits OF knobs,
and all spots where the herbage is short
ana sweet. On such spots they are
continually fielding, yet, they manure
them very little. The observer will
ind their droppings mostly enrich hol-
lows ana places where the herbage is
rank and coarse, showing that the
soil is already fertile above the
average of thee fields In this. respect
cattle have not the same instinct as the
horse, and they are neither SO close nor
so dainty feeders, but the objection
hotdS against them, as the horse. that
their manure Is not catered sufficient
~ for the good of the land. This is, in
deed, the chief objection to employing
horses or cattle to enrich land by pas
Gnr1ng. III the graSs Is turned into liaV
and fed to them in the yard or stable
the manure therefrom may all be saved
and applied iudiciouslY.S But this
course involves much labor! In the
held every aobaervant farmer knows
that the dropptngs OF horses and cattle
seem to fertilize the soil but little when
thelr bulk ls considered, and the best
enects are invariably seen not from the
solid but from the liquid tnanure5 that
tall on the field. In pastnring cattle
and horses we conclude that not more
than one part in hundred receives any
az while the ninety-ntne other
parts are. Impoverished as, mulch rs
!. .tnopgh the grass were cut and removed
IN the form of hay.
Without doubt sheep are the very
best stock to enrich land by pnsturinE.
They range over the whole field and re-
fuse hardly anything. Their manure
" scattered in the very best form, It
could be applied as a top-dressing. III
they frequent the knolls where the
grass is sweet they also enrich them,
and they choose for their resting places
at night, and therefore fertilfzs,, the
highest part of the field. If desirabIe,
q flock may, with little trouble, be hight!
" folded on the poorest spots of Che
held. In hot weather they will frequent
the shade of trees, but from such places
the accumulated manure is easily
scraped up and distributed TO other
parts. And the farmer who Is mainly
q grain grower will find no stock more
profitable and convenient for, all his
purposes than sheep. - r. -.