The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-02-04
Feeding Meal TO ca tie.


some statements are made which farmers
ought to consider lie says -
The stomach Of rumiuant animals is
compound organ. 1t is divided into
four compartments. When grass, hay,
or any coarse food is eaten by the rumi-
nant, it passes, after partial mastica.
ton, down the esophagus, or meatpipe,
and is lodged in the ruman, or first stom-
ach, more commonly called the pauuch.
1t is retained in this receptacle or res
ervoir till the animal has leisure to re-
masticatc it. 1t does not lie at rest, but
is constantly stirred up and kept in mo-
ton by the peristaltic action Of The sack
that contains it, and is mixed up and
soltened with mucus by this means and
by fermentation, preparation is made for
the work Of digestion, if it is not in the
strictest sense actually here begun For
the purpose of reconstruction, according
to Youatt, it is gradually moved INTO the
second stomach, honey-comb bag, and
them by a spasmodic motion 20 the mouth.
After sufficient mastication, it is swal-
lowed again, but instead Of going back to
the place from viii h it was raised, or to
the receptacle where is went the first
time it was swallowed, it now goes, &C.
cording to the authority just cited, to the
third stomach, or maniplies, where it un.
dcrgoes further and material change.
and thence to the last division, or fourth
stomach where the process Of digestion
is completed
Though digestion proper is only car
ried on in the fourth division of the stom-
ach, it is evident that the action Of the
other divisions of that compound organ
is useful to the digestive process, or they
would not have been placed where they
are. That the changes wrought upon the
food in passing through tbs several d.
visions, hasten and perfect the action of
the true (lourth) stomach and can hardly
be questioned.
MEAL ALONE NOT REMAsTICATED.
But the food eaten by cows does not
always pass through all the appendages
to the real stomach. This complicated
arrangement Of the ruminant stomach,
was made for coarse, herbaceous food,
and not for that which is finely pulvcr.
lied or very concentrated, and hence it
does not manage such food alone to the
best advantage. When meal alone is fed
to cows, it drops into the fourth stomach,
missing entirely the other three. 1t does
not even stop at the third division, where
the food that has been made fine by re-
mas,cation goes. | learned this fact BY
accident some years ago Finding, one
spring. that ] had not hay enough to car
ry my cows through, and believing that
1t was cheaper to purchase grain than
hay, bought corn meal and middlings
for substantial support and barley straw
Tor bulk. The straw was well cured and
early cut, and with six pounds Of ground
feed per day they did well on it, rather
better than they did on hay, and it was
cheaper After n while they seemed to
get tired Of the straw, and to make them
eat it up clean, wet it and spread the
meal over it. As expected the straw
was eaten up clean, but | found in few
days what | did not expect that their
milk increased little in quantity and
considerably in richness, the quantity Of
meal und straw being the same in each
way OF feeding. 1 changed the mode OF
! feeding several times during the spring
: with the same result every time. The
: difference was not very large; | cannot
; now say exactly how much. The ex'
periments were made for my own salts.
: faction only, with no thought Of publish
ing, and the figures we're not preserved
rs the difference was evidently due tC
the manner of feeding the meal, deter.
, mlucd to be positive as to where 1t was
! lodged when eaten, coniecturing that il
failed Of perfect digestion from not being
carried to the rumen where they would
receive the necessary preparation fo'
complete digestion With this intent,
followed to the slaughter house pair Of
J four ear-od bullocks, sold to the village
butcher, and. just before killing, fed them
) peck Of corn meal.
As soon as the stomachs could be
reached, they were examined, and the
meal was found deposited in the fourth
stomach. Not particle could he found
either in the first, second or third divis
. ions. Since then | have several times
, made similar tests with cattle slaughtered
E on the farm, with like results Whether
the meal took this direction by the vii
of the animal, or whether the papilla
: which line the rumen and lower part o
: the gullet, were too large to grasp anc
| work along into the rumen such FINE
; food, as they are supposed to do with thu
r coarse food, | cannot say. 1t must SUIT
I flee for the present to know where it went
= Bnt [ will say on this point that fine
2 food goes into the rumen or paunch o
! young cattle than into that of old ones
When | feed corn in the ear to cattle
one, two or even three years old, just be
fore killing them, | found nearly all of i
t. in the paunch, hut when | fed full grow
COWS in the same way, especially ole
cows, found nearly all the corn in thu
, fourth stomach. Nothing but the who'll
kernels or large pieces went into the frs
stomach But | found all Of it Their
. when the ears we're fed with a wisp o
green hay wrapped around them To thi
. way corn may he fed with very little los
from having it pass the cattle whole. TIL
/. masticated corn mingles with and adhere
r to the hay, and goes along with it to tn
first stomach, the natural reservoir 70
|, coarse food, whence it passes through al
the digestive apparatus and receives tn
most thorough digestion.
b. MEAL TO DE FED WITH STRAW.
. So when straw or hay. cut or whole
b, is well wetted, and finely ground mral i
Y sprinkled on and mixed with il. tho Who'll
r goes, in like manner, to the first stomach
= and tho action of every part Of the stom
Il j 1 &