Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-08-07
Farm Stock in Summer.

Farm Stock in Summer.
"OUT of sight, out Of mind" far too
| frequently characterizes the treatment
which farm stock receives during the sum-
mer months. Young stock in particular
| are usually turned out into some pasture
| far away from the owners residence,
where they must shift for themselves, fire.
quently suffering for full supply of
| good fresh water, food salt, and other
| necessaries Of life. Probably there is not
one thing for the want of which cattle suf
| fer more in summer than a supply of pure
water On thousands offarms animals are
obliged to drink from a mud-hole filled
with warm, sinking water, instead Of
from pure cold springs, wells or running
streams. Cattle may have plenty of food
but they cannot thrive without an abund
ance of pure water 1t is not enough that
| they are watered once or twice day, and
| at stated times allowed to drink to excess
as they will usually do in very hot
| weather; but animals that run out to pas
| ture should have water where they can
get to it whenever disposed to take a
| drink. If allowed this privilege, they will
| not wait until choking with thirst before
| visiting their watering places.
SUMNER PASTURE.
| Ii water becomes scarce on account Of
| droutn, the pastures will also fail, and one
needs to have an eye on the food as well
as drink for stock Better feed some
grain occasionally than to permit animals
| to fall away in flesh at this season. If our
readers have followed the advice we gave
| them early in spring, and now have a
supply of drilled corn, green rye or oats
which can be cut and fed out to theft ami
mails, the short crop of grass in pastures
will not be SO severely felt
| Our climate is so variable that farmers
should never depend wholly upon pasture
| for a full supply of food, for while it may
answer five years out Of ten, during the
other five we are pretty sure to find the
grass in all upland pastures burned up by
| drought. Then again, there is never a loss
in this raising of an extra amount of any
forage crops which can be cut for summer
or winter use, because, if not needed in
summer it will surely be wanted in win
| ter; and, if not the first year, it may be
| kept over until the next. We have had
| five times as much corn fodder as our
| stock would eat, but in such cases the
| animals were allowed to pick out the
| leaves and best portions, and the remain
der was spread over the barn-yard and
| there trampled down for manure. OF
| this latter material no farmer ever had too
much, even on the rich prairie soils Of the
| Western States, where the straw of nearly
| all the grain raised is usually burned to
ret it out of the way, and where land is
now growing poor for lack Of these very
materials which have been destroyed.
Another benefit Of feeding animals in
summer. especially young stock, is that
| they become accustomed to the presence
| of those who have them in charge, and
are therefore readily handled whenever it
is necessary. Those who have wild and
unruly stock should remember this and
commence the tanning process at q time
when their animals are in want of food
water, or other things which will contri-
| butte to their health or comfort
SALT FOR STOCK.
| Much as has been said and written for
and against giving salt to animals, it is
now pretty generally admitted that they
do better with than without a supply. Salt
certainly gives a relish to all kinds of
green food and acts stimulus to diges-
| ton, rendering coarse food more nutri-
tious and moist and less injurious. Salt
also prevents the attacks Of parasites upon
animals, and it is we'll known that horses
| which are constantly supplied with salt
are seldom attacked by bots.
| Farmers may advance theories in any
| number against the giving of salt to stock,
| but when they do this they assume to
know more than their Creator, for He has
distributed this substance throughout the
| habitable globe, and planted in animals a
taste for it. The cruel and conceited theo-
rist is the only man that would deprive
his animals of full supply of this almost
| indispensable article.
| SHELTER IN SUMNER.
| Whatever cOnduceS to the comfort OF
| cattle must necessarily be beneficial to
health, and shelter from cold rains or the
| hot scOrching sun must certainly come
under this head. We know that many
stock-raisers object to shade in pastures
for they claim that animals will rest in
| consequence when they would otherwise
be feeding. But this we think is poor
argument, even if true, which we doubt;
| for an animal need not be taking food into
| its stomach constantly, in order to grow
fat or remain healthy. Rest as well as ex-
| ercise is necessary to promote fattening,
and the more comfortable the resting
place the better. The objection to cool,
| shady place for cattle in summer is only
one form of the 1human idea so preva-
| lent among farmers, that animals have no
| rights which men are bound to respect,
| and that an abuse Of them is no sin.
If the owners or those who have the
charge of cattle will not provide shade in
| pastures, they should at least provide shell
ter for all animals during long, cold rains
in summer Many an animal has con-
! tracted diseases during cold storms in
summer which terminated in death during
the winter Our domesticated animals
are not as rule afforded as good pro-
lection as the wild ones are; for the latter
can usually find shelter in deep woods or
among rocks, while those we pretend to
care for are usually debarred from even
this primitive kind of protection. 1t is
not reasonable to suppose that our ami
mails can remain exposed for several days
in succession to heavy rains, and sleep
upon ground saturated with water, with
out being injured more or less. They may
not show the effects of such exposure i'm
mediately, but it is sure to manifest itself
in time. Any extreme, whether it may
| be lack of food. water, or shelter, weakens
the animal, and invites disease and para
sites of various kinds. Bots, heaves,
founder, grease, hoove, scab, lice, worms,
and hundreds of other ailments of stock
are only the legitimate results of neglect
at some period in the life of the animal
! Neu York Sun.