The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-12-27
FARM AND GARDEN.
ON the Management of Cattle.


To make the most money on Of given
product, every care has to be used in the man
ipulaton, from the inception to the perfect
Ssh of the article. The same rule Will ap'
ply to the raising and management OF stock
We must not expect good animals from
calves that are allowed to get thin ana weak
every winter until they are finally turned Oh
to the butcher. We cannot realize excellent
beeves or breeders from calves that have only
had skinned milk from the time they were
two weeks old, until they were ten weeks Old
with such grass as their hunger may nave
forced them to eat, although they have been
thenceiOrth, through the summer, gwen good
Dasturngc, and wei fed through the winter
They viii never thereafter be able To digest
and assimlatc the necessary quantity of food
TO make heavy beef. They will always be
"ruuts" We can never ret first class stock
if the animal, of whatever kind, bc allowed
to shrink seriously from the time Of its birth
until it reach maturity.
Too many farmers seem entirely TO forget
that the true object to be aimed at is, the
steady and progressive Improvement of the
animal through all the different stages of its
growth. Growth is constant process and il
checked it is at the expense of the animal
itself, and can never be entirely resumed, for
the flesh required is at the expense Of GER
NIlI lbhIll'INI tillbhut vi lbtII, NIlSSC
lent has been wasted in the act of getting poor,
Therefore, to say nothing of the economy in
many other directions that might be named,
certain amount of food has been lost.
There are various ideas among our farmers
as To the best means of raising the calf; some
Contending that the animal should suck the
milk directly from the dam, others contend
ing that equally good ,calves may be raised
by feeding the calf new milk, warm from the
cow, giving less and less milk as the calf
increases in age, the decrease being supple
mented with ground feed until the calf learns
to subsist entirely without milk. Certain ii
is that good calves are raised by both these
means, and that the calf by the latter plan
earlier learns to eat However this may be,
if the calf have not an abundance of new milk
during the first three months Of its life it will
never make Il satisfactory mature animal,
from a critical standpoint
It may be therefore set down as an axiom
that to get the best results possible, an animal
must progress constantly trotn its birth up
ward. The advantage gained in the first week
or month, must be supplemented by a
progressive and continual advancement; to
attain which not only the kind, quantity and
quality of the food given must be looked to-
but also the care and attention paid to the
comfort and well being of the animal.
III INC NcSl tIltlc 10 no ldCh vi CHEAP lOOu
Grain is plenty and cheap. The Western
RuruL has heretofore clearly shown the
necessity and economy of feeding this cheap
food to stock rather than that the farmer
impoveriSh himself IN the vain attempt to
make ends meet by the expectation of the
coarse grains. The time IS not far distant
when this Will come to be generally apprcCi-
ated and understood. The great and crying
want OF the west is not prcycnder bnt shelter
However good the feeding may be- the most
perfect results cannot he attained without
comfortable quarters for sheterng the stock
from the piercing storms of wind, rain, and
snow but more especially Of wind, such as
swept over Iowa Illinois, and some portions
of Missouri Minnesota &nd Indiana last
week.
In housing cattle. and the rule will apply
of course to all other farm stock, regard
should DO had to cleanliness, pure air and
plenty of room. 1t is not necessary that they
he tied up. This must be question in con
sidering which, the cost Of the extra care and
attention and the price Of the feed must be
taken into consideration. Shelter from storm.
and plenty of dry bedding must be furnished
at any cost, else the farmer certainly loses
the full profits Of the food given. This shel
ter is especially necessary in the Iall and
spring, when it is too often neglected, and Is
tOuDlJ ncCceSail Win caves NIl S'ul lungs
If carefully attended to, the sagaCious feeder
who buys young stock would not offer more
in the autumn for wel-summercd calves ;han
he would give the succeeding spring for The
same calves badly wintcreG This class
knows very well that the flesh and vigrr lost
can never again be recovered
There is no one thing that las cost the
farmer ofthc west so much money rs allow
ing young stock to trough it' through tn,
winter to make them tough. Il does make
them tough in many senses of the WORD. Il
also toughens and hardcns the heart Of tho
master. Il is nol our purpose TO tel! tht
farmer how to erect sheds and stables for III,
wntering of stock. They may be Is yaricC
IS the means of the owner will allow. 1t i:
only necessary that thoy be dry and warm
and this may be accomplished As certainly il
the rough structure built of crotChcs anC
poles and slough hay, as in the most finished
stable But to get the best results they mus
be used early III winter and often late in thu
spring-IVcsterR Rura'.
A Sosthcrn Corn Crop.
Holm Carmichael of lIabersham county