Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1868-07-25
Vermont Daily Transcript
FecdiRg C0tcs.
,sT. ALBANS, W.;
SATURDAY, JULY %, 1858.

DR.. c. V. SMITH, read before the Am
crican Institute Farmers Club at a re-
cent meeting paper entitled " Thc
L{objts and history Of the CoiO."
DR.. Smith is a gentleman of much
ability, improved by extensive reading
and observation in this and foreign
lands, but he is withal an cold fogy."
With all his extensive reading and OBJ
servation, Ct cannot we'll be called prac-
teal ilnowledge), he is great sticIller
/ for natural and venerable objects, and
/ practiccsin contradistinction from those
more recently improved or discovered,
hence hi, adherence Of any depar-
/ turc from the ''RdtuF0P' method of
feeding cows on grass He says -
"Glass, fresh or dried is her ma
tural pabulun' concentrated feed is
not suitable for them, "there is neither
economy, humanity, or morality III
cooking for animals designed in the con-
stuution of things for chewing the cud. y
Onthe other hand, Mr.. William Birnie,
Of springfield, Mass, al the last meeting
Of the Massachusetts, state Board OF Ag-
riculturc said Tt is we'll known that
! have practiced steaning thc food for
my cattle for ten or eleven years, and /
am satisfied that iSavc more than TWEEN
ty-fve per cent by doing it, [ cut and
steam almost all my fodder, feeding twice
q day with steamed food and i'll the mid
! die of the day with hay. Corn stalks,
rye straw, bog hay, anything happen
to have in The way OF coarse fodder, is
cut and mixed with English hay, per
/ haps onc-half OF the mess is good hay,
The balance il 4 mixture Of the coarse
fodder, with a little rye or wheat bran.
Ii is put through the cuttingmachine
then put into the steam-boX and steam
ed, and led warm, taking care to keep
my cattle warm, meantime. / make
my stable just as warm and comfortable
as | can, and never let my cattle out
except on warm days when the sun is
shining warm. Water is carried int.
the stable 80 that they can drink with
out going out. Sometimes, in tn,
coolest weather, they do not go out fo
a fortnight.
steam twice week. ! put into any
team box about fourteen hundred
pounds of good hay, corn-staiks or ry'
straw, and one hundred pounds OF whea
bran, that feeds my stock twice da,
for three days and half | have forty
two COWS and animals over one wear old
six horses, and ten head Of cattle young
er than that.
They are ali fed out of the steanl-box
the horses getting little in addition
! bran when they are not at work, mea
when they are al work. | find tina
quite young colts eat it eagerly. IN
the middle OF the day they have abou
one hundred and fifty pounds of hay
so that about five hundred pounds o
good hay and fourteen hundred pound,
of steamed fodder last that whole stock
three days and a half.
Ia putting the fodder into the box,
intend to put in just rs much water as
can make it carry, the object being t.
make it absorb as much water as pos
sible, and reduce the mass to as soft,
pulpy state as possible. OF course my
apparatus does not admit on much pres
sure, and | boil as long as possible
Sometimes there is little leaks out, anC
| have arranged to save that What
ever is not eaten is collected and thrown
in again. Sometimes, for a COW that is
fresh in milk, | throw in a little oat
meal but | usually intend to feed my
milch COWS on half q bushel ofmangold-
wurzels each day.
/ have cultivated cabbage for num-
Der of years orthe purpose Of feeding il
to my mich COWS, and | feed it largely.
| know the theory is that cabbage would
taste in the milk, but | have heard no
complaint from my customers of that
kind.
l give my COWS as much as they vii
eat. | have found no green feed that
will put flesh on COWS like cabbage; con-
sequently | cultivate several acres for
the purpose of feeding to my cows. At
ter the cabbage is gone | feed mangolds