Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-11-03


4 correspondent of The Auri01. S'l-.
journal gives his experience as follows.
II tie winter Of 1886 : commenced steam
ing feed for COWS, my fr,; experiment being
made with @ Notes furnace. A wooden
cover was fitted and wired down. and a lead
Iipe communicated with % large cask close
ty. which was hung 90 ri5ots Sd as 10 dis
charge into whccnrr1w when the food
was steamed. ! filed this cask with cut
corn stalks and suglr-aeets- The food being
ready. wheeled my barrow 90 the barn and
entered the alley way between the cows. 1t
was not long after feeding time, and IN 80 OF
OF them were wing down. Before / had got
ten feet tAcy commenced getting up, and in
two minutes every ann NAL was on her iect
and every nose stretched out to catch the sa-
worry od5r.-I gave 90 each one about peck,
as far as il would 90. 10 was as warm as !
could bear my hand In, and apparently an
utter ast0nishmeut % them; they sme.let,
then tasted, then looked around but in a few
minutes every head was down and busy. IL
was al. eaten up, the managers licked clean,
and unu.-.4s4l.c requests s1r more came
from every side. could at that time, find
no one who had tiei stcaming, my books
gave very liJtle information on the subject,
and wished 10 ascertain how they would
eat 1t. That question was settled at once.
The economy Of food, the opportunity to save
all waste. use all my coarsc fodder,
and regulate the mixing of food and
the probable increase of milk, were be-
fore me at once. and went INTO it with con
siderable enthusiasm. first bought small
upright, tubular boiler. made a tank Of
chestnut plank with three compartments,
and set up horse power and hay cutter.
cutting two thirds corn fodder and one-third
straw, until towards srring, when was
obliged to cut some hay. ! sliced the roots
and mixed with the chat in proportion Of one
peck to each COW, the dry COWS having tur-
nips. and those in milk, carrots and beets.
The iiayor OF the roots peTmeated the whole
mass and made 1t more sav0ry. | coon found
that more water was needed 20 soften the dry
substances and help the steaming, and grad
Gally increased the quantity. Ny plan Of
feeding was as follows: Steamed food morn
ing, noon and night, in proportion to the
SIZE anc appetite, giving all they would cat
up clean.-Cotton seed meal and wheat or
rye bran was given in a warm thin gruei
twice day, in proportion to the yield Of
we're let ont in the yard to water, morning
and afternoon, and remained out a couple of
hours, if the weather was fine, otherwise
only a few were let cut at once and returned
to the barn as soon as each animal had q
chance to drink. \ card was hung up in
the steam room with precise directions as OF
time OF feeding, watering, steaming, cleaning,
milking, and the amount Of extra feed to be
given to each animal. and the men held to a
strict compliance with it. We steamed
every day, about five hours being required to
to soften the feed thoroughly. In regard TO
the expense and the amount of feed necessa-
ry, | found much difficulty in arriving at
correct results My cornstalks weighed
twice as much in November as in March.
had no facilities for weighing my animals,
and as some kinds Of food 20 to flesh while
Others produce milk at the expense Of fat, no
trial can be accurate that does not take their
weight into consideration.
The effect Of steamed food Is particularly
noticeable in increasing and sustaining the
flow of milk. Many of my COWS, (new milch
in autumn } would 20 through the winter
with a loss Of only three or four quarts from
their flush. My Ayrshires did better than
others in this respect, one OF them going
through six months of winter with her full
flush, giving in fact one pint more at the end
Of six months.
Some estimate the increase Of milk or sav-
il of fodder by steaming, at fully one-third
1t g difficult to estimate the gain, so many
cire, instances enter into consideration. but
when the yields kept up, influencing the
produ,rl for the whole year, much greater
amount is actually realized than the trials at
the time show.
The fist winter Of steaming led dry hay
on the Sa bbsth, and found that the cows
fell off fro IN one 10 two quarts each at once,
not regain ing theis usual quantity until
Wednesday, and Of course with strong
tendency to lessen their yield for the future
| found it n ecessary to cut double portion
on Saturday, fill our tanks, and lay the fire,
so as to hestup Sunday morning.-At any