The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-01-15
Feeding Cattle

In the selection of our cattle for both
grazing and stall-feeding we look for
the best general characteristics, more
mature age being desirable for winter
feeding. The practiced eye takes in at
a glance all the advantages and disad-
vantages presented in the points of the
animal, and at once completes his mental
calculations with remarkable accuracy
as to the weiget of the beef, when fat
ted and slaughtered, six months or
year hence. A good judge will select
a score of cattle from a drove of 100
head-every bullock as he points him
out. being superior to all others in the
herd-in less time than it will require
for me to describe that go to make up
excellence He first notes the general
make up" or form of the beast; next
his hair or coat and skin, and finally his
eyes, as indicative of his general dispo-
sition.
A moderately thin skin, soft or mellow
to the touch, with a degree of elasticity,
and of yellow color; hair soft, long
and fine; form, symmetrical and devoid
ofsharp points; the ribs rounded, spring
we'll from the back, giving the body a
cylindric shape; the back, straight
line from the head to the base of the
tail; hips, round and moderately broad,
rising nearly to q level with the back;
chest, broad and deep, to allow full play
for the vital forces which give constitu-
ton and vigor to the beast; the legs
short, neat, and the bones of moderate
size and well turned, for it is of these
we Judge of the frame on which we are
about to finish our beefy structure;
thighs, full and we'll extended down
ward; head, clean and devoid of
fleshy appearance; neck tapering sharp
to the head, and with little or no appen-
dagc of useless skin; tail well set at the
base, slender and finished with good
brush; eyes, placid but genial, and
horns of clear color, gradually taper
ing to the point.
A few things strike me which ought
always to be remembered in the man.
agement of cattle; First, never buy a
poor-bred beast: secondly, buy them
cheap, and they are half sold; thirdly,
feed them on the best of food; fourthly,
give them food regularly, and let it be
clean and wholesome; filthy, keep them
warm and comfortable; and lastly, sell
as soon as they arc good beef, and that
is the time the farmer gets the most
profit out of them.
Nearl V every farmer has a system of
his own, and it would be great presump-
ton on our part to say which is the
best. Every feeder starts on the same
great principle, which is to make the
most money in the shortest time.
There is far too much hap-hazard in
feeding; many have an idea that by
simply feeding the animals stomach
and keeping it full, it must feed; there
never was greater mistake, for it is
absolutely necessary for the well-being
of the animal, that at certain times its
stomach should be almost entirely
relieved of food.
1t is also very important that the
food of the animal should be mixed
with saliva before it is swallowed
when dry meal is fed by itself the cat.
tie often, especially if hungry, swallow
it without chewing, and consequently
without mixing it with saliva; hence
the benefit of mixing the meal with cut
straw, chaff or hay.
The value of the different articles OF
food used in fattening cattle may prop.
erlv be considered in two relations: first
as nutritivc, second as digestible. Those
which are the most nutritive in proper.
ton to the quantity of carbon, oxygen
hydrogen and nitrogen which they con.
tain; they are digestiblc in proportion
to the facility with which they are acted
on by the gastric juice.
We once strongly advocated the prin
ciple of making most of our corn walk
away in the shape of beef and mutton
but on thoroughly going into the mat
ter, we found it more profitable to sell
our corn and buy pure linseed cake
We cannot refrain from saying few
words about this cake. A few years
ago it was thought impossible to manu-
facture pure cake, through being SC
soft, but this has been proved to have
been only policy on the part of the
manufacturers who found the profits
larger in producing a mixed cake; and
what will some men not do to make
money? No doubt consumers have
been, and still are gulled to fearful
extent 1t is too much the case among
farmers, if one man will only sell then
cake at $3.50 per ton less than another
they buy, without at all considering the
quality.