Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-01-24
Maata OF Food.

A farmer who has an abundance OF
food for his stock may not feel the me-
cessity of practising economy, and while
feeding large quantities may think he is
doing his whole duty to his animals.
To give animals more than they actually
need TO keep them healthy and in good
condition Is waste, and the prudent far
mer will endeavor to learn the exact
quantity of each kind under certain con-
ditions, and thea supply 1t accordingly.
But the conditions under which stock
are placed has much to do with the quan.
tity of food required; for an animal ex.
posed to the cold OF winter without pro-
lection will need far more than one kept
in warm stable, and 1t is Just here that
many farmers waste large amount which
might be with proper care placed on the
profit side of the farm accounts.
The clothes which we wear and the
shelter for our domestic animslsBerye in
winter as an equivalent for a certain
amount of food, and the more warmly
we are clothed, and the better sheltered
our animals, within certain limits, the
less food will be consumed. Liebig says:
"If we were to go naked like certain
savage tribes, or IL in hunting and fish.
ing we were exposed to the same degree
of cold as the Samoydes, we should be
able with ease to consume ten pounds Of
flesh and perhaps a dozen tallow candles
into the bargain daily, as warmly clad
travellers have related with astonish-
ment of these people. We should then
he able to take the same quantity of
brandy or train oil without bad effects,
because the carbon and hydrogen of these
substances would only suffice to keep up
the equilibrium between the external
temperature and that of our bodies"
A want of attention to the effect of
comfortable external heat upon the inter-
nal aliment, causes an annual waste of
many millions of dollars worth of winter
provender in America alone. How often
do we see farmers carrying out hay,
straw or corn-stalks in winter and spread.
ing them upon snow banks, so that the
animals, to obtain food, must stand not
only in the snow but exposed to cold
winds while obtaining poor and scanty
meal. Animals will not take sufficient
time to masticate their food, or even eat
enough under such unfavorable circum-
stances, any more than man would who
was obliged to eat his dinner under the
same conditions, and 1t is not only
cruelty to animals, but a waste of the
produces Of the soil to feed stock in this
manner.
This is but one of the numerous 'leaks"
that occur in the system generally follow
ed by our farmers. Taking the whole
country together we may safely assert
that twenty per cent. of the food saved
for feeding stock in winter is wasted just
for the want of proper shelter for our
animals. We do not suppose that our
farmers are really willfully negligent
in these matters, but they have never
given the subject any attention. They
do just as their fathers did before
them, and perhaps some of them
still believe that these animals are made
more hardy and vigorous by exposure to
hardshIps. Such things are often talked
of among farmers, and we have heard
men declare that young colts should be
allowed to run in the bern-yard in winter
exposed 10 the cold, and have nothing
but coarse food to eat, in order to make
them tough and hardy.
But this kind of acclimation is not
practised among the breeders of improved
stock, and the best horses or cattle of
any kind are not raised in this way. 1t
is time that this waste upon the farm was
ended, and we believe that every man
who will try to ascertain the truth of our
assertion, that twenty per cent. of the
food can be saved by giving warm win
ter quarters, will be satisfied with the re-
suits. 1t is by attending to all these ap.
parently unimportant things that our
Eastern farmers are enabled to compete
with and often excel the Western farmer
in the profits of cattle raising. Where
there is nothing wasted there is pretty
sure to be something gained.-N. z. San.