The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-11-13
agOme, garden and farm
--.- Feed for Cows

Winter Feed for Cows
Nowwe have stepped over into No
= and the latter harvest Is sup
- to be all in, so that farmers kno"
i,,st what they have TO depend upon 1or
winter feed for their farm stock; and
each one will use such feed as he may |
chance to have. Those who have plenty |
of good meadow hay viii not need any
thing better as a principal feed, and can
nir in corn meal or mill feed as a dos
sert. Those who have plenty of corn !
fodder. have a tolerable basis OF coarse
Feed, but win need more Of something
else as an Alternative; and the same may
be said of those who have plenty of fair
straw, and less Of hay or corn fodder.
In the preparation Of these sorts Of feed,
/ discussed the question Of cutting and
steaming, at some length, last winter,
with the general conclusion, that for
people who have a taste and skill and ia
ciiities for such operations, there is de
cided economy and benefit in them; but
as these necessary conditions do not ap-
ply to a majority Of our dairy farmers,
it is hardly worth while to spend much
talk upon them, but to consider most Of
all, how best TO use the main feed to
most advantage in the ordinary way Of
giving il out whole. Feeding dry COWS in
winter is quite a different process from
feeding milch COWS in summer. While the
COWS are giving milk in the warm season,
the main object or use for feed is to sup
ply the waste of the system from the pro-
duction of milk, and for this purpose an
abundance of good grass is all sufficient.
But in the winter the necessity is to
build up the system so as to enable it tc
resist the cold and renew the tissues of
the body. The process is more like sup
plying fuel to stove than grist to
mill, though it includes both. And for
an intelligent practice in this direction,
a knowledge of the constituent proper
ties of the several kinds of feed is essen
tial have said that in summer an
abundance of good grass will furnish a
complete bill of fare, so in winter an
abundance of sweet meadow hay will
nearly do the same thing, this contains
the elements of building up the tissues
and for supplying heat to the system.
But in the winter before us, there is to
be scarcity of hay in this dairy region,
and resort must be had to something else
to piece out the winter feed. And the
most available material which / can see
in the country is corn and corn stalks.
Corn meal alone will supply the greatest
heating material of anything which
famers can use, while its iesh-forming
quality is very low in the scale of COM
paratiye values. Oil-meal is much bet
ter as fiesh-forming material, and so is
shorts or other like mill-feed. Ripe corn
stalks and straw are the lowest in the
scale of comparative values as flesh
forming material, but good corn fodder
is as high in heating material as good
hay. The high price and scarcity of oats
puts this material out of the question in
this region; but when oats are plenty
and cheap as corn, a mixture of corn and
oats is better feed for COWS than corn
meal alone, as there is a better balance
between the flesh-forming and heating
qualities of the mixture than of either
feed by itself The scarcity of root
crops, too, rules them out of the list of
of stock feed for the coming winter,
otherwise we might have most valu-
able auxiliary to our main feed as an al
terative, of which potatoes and beets are
a capital article.
What is the conclusion of the whole
matter? For cattle that are to be ex-
posed to the rigors of the wintry wealth
er, discriminate in favor of the heat
producing material in their feed, and for
cattle which are 20 be warmly housed,
keep an even balance between heat and
fiesh-forming material. This reminds
me of a remark once made by one of our
most poetical poets, whan asked if sense
might even be subordinate with rhyme
The poet answered: ''OnIy in case of
extreme necessity, but the necessity should
1eoeT occur" So about sheltering cows
in winter; let them lie out only in case
Of extreme necessity, but be sure that
the necessity shall neoer occur, and then
in feeding during the winter, you will
not be obliged to feed as you would put
feed in a stove which is required to
warm up all out doors-too hot to stand
close by, and not hot enough to keep
one warm any other way. To enclose
from the weather is prime necessity in
the economy of fodder and the comfort
of animals.